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NVIDIA puts its Tegra 2 eggs in Android's basket, aims to topple Apple's A4
Microsoft's Kin One and Kin Two might not turn out to be the most auspicious devices for Tegra's debut in the smartphone arena, but NVIDIA seems to be learning from its mistakes. Admitting that the company committed too strongly to Microsoft with the first-gen iteration, Jen-Hsun Huang has now said that the second generation of Tegra will look to Android devices first and foremost. This newfound focus will materialize with both smartphones and tablets in the third and fourth quarter of this year, and will, according to Jen-Hsun, offer device makers a viable competitor to Apple's A4 SOC. In other news, NVIDIA has now shipped "a few hundred thousand" Fermi cards, and has also achieved 70 design wins with its Optimus graphics switching technology. Eleven of those are now out in the wild, but the vast majority are still to come, mostly as part of the seasonal "back to school" refresh at the end of the summer. These revelations came during the company's earnings call for the first quarter of its 2011 fiscal year, and you can find the full transcript at the source below. [Thanks, TareG]
Mario, Sonic, and Profits in Sega's fiscal 2010
Despite recent troubles in the North American and European branches, Sega overall had a good fiscal 2010, which ended March 31, financially speaking. The company as a whole saw its operating income rise to ¥36.7 billion ($397 million), a huge increase over fiscal 2009's operating income of 8.3 billion ($89.8 million). Operating income refers to profits minus expenses incurred in running the company -- in case you wondered why we picked up on that random statistic. The consumer games division made ¥6.3 billion ($68.2 million) in operating income, returning to profitability despite a year-over-year drop of 7.5%. The profits in this division were driven by ridiculously strong sales of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (6.53 million copies!), as well as million-plus sellers Aliens vs. Predator (1.69 million), Bayonetta (1.35 million), and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (1.07 million). Source [PDF] - Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements Year Ended March 31, 2010 [Via Andriasang]
EA posts $677 million loss in FY2010 alongside downed revenues
EA has reported the results for its fiscal year 2010, which ran from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010, showing a downed revenue stream for the year and an improved loss. The company took in $3.654 billion (down from $4.212 billion in FY2009) and, measured against money spent, lost $677 million (an improvement from last year's $1.088 billion in losses). Additionally, Q4 2010, running from January 1 – March 31, 2010, saw $979 million come in, compared with $860 million in Q4 the previous fiscal year and $1.243 billion last quarter -- a profitable final quarter for the company, contrasting last year's Q4 loss of $42 million with $30 million earned. CFO Eric Brown said of the coming fiscal year, "We are affirming our FY11 and Q1 non-GAAP guidance and expect to grow profitably in the year ahead. Our digital businesses are expected to grow approximately 30 percent." For all of you wondering what that means in human speak, he's saying that, regardless of today's announcement, he's confident in what the company has predicted for the coming year (as you might imagine, EA predicts it's going to do better than last year). It also means that Brown and EA expect to see a lot more dollars coming in on the digital front in the coming year, a likely possibility given initiatives like Project Ten Dollar, the EA Sports Online Pass and the usual stream of DLC for new games.
Namco Bandai game segment records annual losses ... but Ben 10 sales soar!
Namco Bandai's "Content" segment, which combines its video game software and arcade machine products, recorded ¥6.86 billion ($74.68 million) in operating losses for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010. The division proved the most costly for the company, which also runs a successful "Toys & Hobby" segment, in addition to several other businesses. Overall, Namco Bandai suffered ¥29.08 billion ($317.28 million) in net losses for fiscal 2010, but the company forecasts a modest turnaround in net income of ¥4.5 billion ($49.1 million) for the current fiscal year. The games segment, which this fiscal year includes the previously separate "Visual and Music Content" division, is forecast to post ¥3.5 billion ($38.19 million) in operating income over the next four quarters; aided by an estimated 90 game releases, which are predicted to bring in ¥88 billion ($960 million) in sales. In fiscal 2010, Namco Bandai software sales, which encompassed 86 titles (or 225, if you're counting localized versions), totaled 22.737 million units and ¥77 billion ($840 million); with portable games accounting for a significant 9.701 million units sold. Multiplatform versions of Ben 10 Alien Force and its sequel, Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks, in the US and Europe during the fiscal year, combined to sell 1.89 million copies alone. The console version of Tekken 6 was the publisher's only title to move more units than either of those two Ben 10 games. A third Ben 10 title, Protector of the Earth, added another 610,000 units sold in the fiscal year. Across all Namco Bandai products, "Ben 10" the franchise racked up ¥17.9 billion ($195.3 million) in sales. Not quite Mobile Suit Gundman numbers (¥34.6 billion), but still. Head past the break for the complete list of Namco Bandai's top-10 bestsellers and sales distribution by platform.
Activision Blizzard doubles profit in first quarter of 2010
Activision Blizzard beat out its own revenue estimates during the first quarter, taking in a whopping $1.3 billion in revenue. The company raised its forecast last month after the incredible launch of the Modern Warfare 2 "Stimulus Package" on Xbox 360, along with continued demand for MW2 and, naturally, that World of Warcraft phenomenon. The company earned $381 million in profit, generating over double the $189 million in profit it took in the same quarter last year. Activision plans to release Blur, Singularity, Shrek Forever After and Transformers: War For Cybertron over the next quarter. With that said, the company expects to bring in about $900 milllion -- lowering its expectations from the same quarter last year. The company maintains it'll still generate $4.2 billion in revenue for the year -- on par with last year -- but that could be the company just being coy (can a company be coy?) with Starcraft 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops and maybe, just maybe, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm this year.
Nintendo net profit declines for first time in six years, panic remains inadvisable
Nintendo's 2009 financial results have just been released and, shockingly enough, the company hasn't been able to break its profit record yet again. In fact, annual net profit dipped -- for the first time in six tenths of a decade -- to $2.44 billion, a 12 percent drop from the previous fiscal year's $2.79 billion. Sales of the Wii were down 21 percent year-on-year, but Nintendo still managed to shift 20 million units globally, so it's not exactly all doom and gloom at Mario HQ. And while Microsoft and Sony are working on their own motion-sensing offerings, Ninty is reloading the only way it knows how -- bringing the noir Wii to fashion-conscious Americans, and an all-new 3D portable console for the rest of us. Anyone willing to bet against Nintendo's income sheet improving next year? [Original image courtesy of Anarkyman]
THQ records turnaround fiscal year, still loses $9m
THQ lost $9.6 million in its 2010 fiscal year (ending March 31), but that's nothing compared to the $431.1 million it lost the previous fiscal year. Yeah, we'd say this qualifies as a decent start in the company's proposed turnaround. THQ's software sales rose 8 percent this past fiscal year, which begin in April 2009, to $899.1 million, having established, as CEO Brian Farrell puts it, "three major core game franchises" in UFC, Darksiders and Red Faction. In a conference call this afternoon, Farrell described fiscal 2010 as the company's turnaround year. Fiscal 2011 will be its "rebuilding" year, according to the CEO, and then 2012 should see the establishment of the fully operational and financially profitable "New THQ."
HTC expects 36 percent increase in Q2 sales thanks to Android
If Apple created the first round of disruption to the business-as-usual lethargy infecting the cellphone industry then Google appears poised to bring round two. When looking around at choices, it's the Android OS backed by Google's cloud-based services and the 50k app-strong Android Market we usually find underpinning the sexiest and most powerful hardware on the market. And guess who's making the hardware? Right, HTC. Now HTC -- thanks to its recently introduced Desire, Legend, HD Mini, Smart, EVO 4G and Droid Incredible -- says it expects record revenues of $1.6 billion in Q2 on sales of 4.5 million handsets, up from 3.3 million handsets sold in Q1 and ahead of analyst expectations. Cheng Hui-ming, HTC chief financial officer, credits the bump to the "growing popularity of the Android platform in Europe and the US". One can only imagine what HTC sales will do when its long-standing Microsoft partner releases Windows Phone 7 OS later this year.
Sony Ericsson posts surprise profit from unsurprising handsets
Can it be, did Sony Ericsson just post its first quarterly profit since Q2 2008? Make.Believe it: the fantastically handsome crew from Stockholm is reporting a Q1 2010 net profit of €21 million, besting analysts who were expecting a €128 million loss. Importantly, SE managed to bump the average handset selling price to €134 on 10.5 million sold compared to the 14.5 million sold at an average of €120 a year prior thanks, in part, to the launch of its uneven X10 and buggy Vivaz. For those keeping track, that drops Sony Ericsson's share of global handset sales down from 5% last quarter to around 4% currently. So yeah, slashing head count and closing facilities has earned Sony Ericsson a short-term win on Wall Street. Remains to be seen, however, if they're now spread too thin to continue juggling Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Android with expectations for even more Sony Ericsson supported OSes in the future.
TiVo posts $10.2m loss, remains on deathwatch
We've had TiVo firmly on deathwatch since 2005, and although the company's shares have recently surged with the launch of the TiVo Premiere and another legal victory over Echostar, things are still looking somewhat bleak: the Q4 numbers are in, and everyone's favorite DVR company just posted a $10.2m loss. Why? For the same reason that's plagued the company for five damn years now: it's hard to sign up new subscribers when the cable company offers a similar good-enough product for less money, especially when TiVo can't access cable VOD. And let's be brutally honest here: we love TiVo and we're more than excited to get our Premiere review units, but we don't think a revised interface is going to stem the tide -- almost every feature of the Premiere is available on the TiVo HD, after all. We've offered up our suggestions on how to re-energize the company in the past -- that new QWERTY remote is a great start -- but until TiVo stops playing ball with the same cable companies that actively try and cut it off at the knees and starts going for the jugular with features and pricing, we don't think things are going to get any better.
Activision: Farmers Could Kill WoW?
No, not those kind of farmers, but rather the 82 million+ users currently growing the garden of their virtual dreams on Facebook's wildly popular Farmville sim. Activision-Blizzard's annual 10k report, filed on March 1 and analyzed by Robert Purchese over at Eurogamer.net, is chock full of worrisome anecdotes about the future of their massively multiplayer behemoth as well as some interesting tidbits regarding payment models. While the report stops short of painting a completely dire picture, Acti-Blizz clearly considers the growing social gaming scene a major threat to its stranglehold on the massive genre. "A substantial portion of our revenue and profitability will depend on the subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game category," proclaims the report. "If we do not maintain our leadership position in this category, our financial results could suffer." Sound like common sense? Maybe, but it should be interesting to watch the current market leader adapt to the rapidly expanding online gaming space.
Palm sales 'lower than expected,' revenues to miss targets
Ruh-roh. Palm just confirmed what we heard from analysts yesterday: sales aren't going so well. The company's updated its third quarter financial guidance to say that consumer adoption of its products is "taking longer than expected," leading to lowered order volumes from carriers and deferral of some orders to "future periods." That certainly puts that "Chinese New Year" Pre / Pixi work stoppage in a slightly different context, doesn't it? Looking at the new numbers, Palm says it expects non-GAAP Q3 revenue to be about $300m, or about the same it pulled in Q2 before the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus launched on Verizon. That's not a good sign, but we'll see if that kicks someone at Verizon or Palm into realizing they might need a new, less-stupid ad campaign focused on capabilities, not stereotypes.
Garmin and TomTom cling to profits, hope
As everyone knows, Garmin and TomTom have their backs against the ropes in a fight to remain relevant in an age of free GPS turn-by-turn navigation on smartphones (thanks Google and Nokia). While dedicated personal navigators are almost always superior to their converged competition, the gap has certainly narrowed such that it's become difficult to justify another device when an increasing number of people already carry a fine navigation device in their pockets. But that's just gut instinct talking, where's the hard evidence? Certainly not speculative stock prices. A good place to start is in forward-looking financial statements like the one Garmin, the leading navigation device maker in the US, just issued. Gamin says that it expects competition to cause prices to decline by about 10% in the personal navigation device (PND) industry putting pressure on margins, and thus profits, in 2010. It also sees flat or slightly declining revenue over the same period. Fortunately for Garmin, it has a diversified product offering that includes the Nuvifone. However, Garmin admits to being disappointed by sales of the handset that "won" our Editor's Choice award for Worst Gadget of the Year. Things aren't all doom and gloom, though. Garmin has a pair of Nuvifones in the chute including the Android-powered A50. And its Q4 results of $1.43 per share easily beat analyst expectations of 95 cents a share. Even TomTom surprised many last week with a 1% increase in Q4 revenue and net profit of €75 million compared to a €989 million loss a year ago. So there's some hope left for the dedicated PND market... but not much.
Atari fiscal Q3 results indicate revival for embattled publisher
Atari may not have published a ton of games in 2009, but that doesn't mean the company hasn't been picking up the bottom line. In a press release that reads like the exact opposite of those we saw from the company just a few years ago, CEO Jeff Lapin celebrates the €92.5 million ($126.25 million) in revenue earned in the nine months ending December 31, saying "the company has now strengthened its equity and is in a position to work on an expanded publishing plan." In so many words, Lapin's suggesting that Atari is financially bouncing back and maybe even gearing up to (dare we say it?) make more games. The company cites sales of Ghostbusters, Chronicles of Riddick, Backyard Football, and Champions Online for bolstering revenues in fiscal Q3 and looks forward to a better 2010. The recent release of Star Trek Online certainly doesn't seem to be hurting his confidence in that department. Lapin says that he's "very enthusiastic about the launch" of the "promising MMO game." But things aren't all gumdrops and money hats -- the Q3 revenues were still down by 1.9% year-over-year. We won't find out the full year's earnings until late May, but for now we'll comfort ourselves with the knowledge that the publisher's next title, Project Runway, is coming in a few short weeks. Finally! Source (PDF) - Atari announces 9-month revenues for FY 2009/2010; [via Big Download]
Activision reports $113m in profits for 2009; 2010 game plan is predictable
Today Activision Blizzard reported the financial results of its December quarter and the entire 2009 calendar year. For the year, Activision recorded a net income of $113 million, a modest turnaround from the $107 million in net losses for the company in 2008. Led by sales of Modern Warfare 2, all signs -- at least, this one -- pointed to an outstanding Q4 for the publisher. However, figures released today indicate that Activision actually posted a $286 million net loss during the period. "Despite these challenging times, in 2010 we remain focused on expanding operating margins by growing our high-margin digital/online revenues, directing our resources to the largest and most profitable opportunities and realizing operational efficiencies globally," CEO Bobby Kotick said. "In calendar year 2010, we expect our net earnings and operating margin growth will be driven by our product slate that includes Blizzard Entertainment's Starcraft II and the World of Warcraft expansion pack, Cataclysm, as well as a diversified lineup based on Activision Publishing's best-selling franchises including Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk, together with other well-known titles such as True Crime, Spider-Man and Bakugan." While few details were give about Activision's pending slate of sequels, spinoffs and possible reboots, Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing, did share a few words about the next True Crime game. "We'll be releasing a game in the $4 billion action genre, based on our True Crime franchise," Griffith said. "The game blends intense Hollywood-style driving with martial arts combat and shootouts to deliver an Asian cinema-inspired action thriller. This is a big open-world action game that looks especially strong." Griffith also confirmed that a new 007 game is still in the works for 2010. Additionally, Activision noted that two new IPs are in development for its 2010 lineup and assured that additional DLC will continue to be released for Guitar Hero 5 (and presumably Band Hero), as well as for DJ Hero. The next installments in both music game franchises, Guitar Hero and DJ Hero, are due in "the back half of the year," according Griffith. Activision also announced that it has ceased developing new Guitar Hero games for the PlayStation 2 platform. Aw, shucks.
Disney Interactive to be more 'judicious' with HD games as losses abate
Though Disney's gaming division saw improved operating results during the company's first fiscal quarter of 2010 (which ended January 2) -- a loss of $10 million compared to a $45 million loss in Q1 the previous fiscal year -- CEO Robert Iger has maintained a prudent stance on upcoming projects. "Disney-branded games seem to perform better on the Wii and DS platforms," he noted during a recent investor call (via Computerworld). It seems Disney will continue to target non-Nintendo platforms, but with fewer shots and steadier aim. "While we'll continue to make high-end games, we'll be very judicious in how many we make and which ones we choose," Iger said. Iger is also likely to keep an eye on the performance of upcoming "high-end" titles like Tron Evolution and Black Rock Studios' Pure follow-up, Split/Second. And if neither of those work, you send in the spandex. "We have some interesting opportunities with Marvel," he said. "That's a brand we think would do extremely well on higher-end consoles." Source: ComputerWorld [via GamesIndustry.biz] Source: The Walt Disney Company Q1 results
Ubisoft reports fiscal Q3 sales of $679 million, hints at unannounced titles
Sure, $679 million may sound like a lot of money (it sure does to us!), but when you're a company CEO reporting that number to investors and it's 2.7 percent lower than last year's equivalent time period ($697 million), it's not quite as impressive. And that's just what Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot had to do earlier today when the company reported its fiscal Q3 (October 1 through December 31) sales for 2009. Given the publisher's French HQ, we're not privy to the period's revenue until later this year. In discussing plans for the upcoming year, the company cited "at least seven franchise titles" being launched this year, calling out this morning's (finally) officially-announced Ghost Recon: Future Soldier among others, leaving one (presumably unannounced) title unmentioned. The publisher then indicates "at least two new brands (R.U.S.E. has already been announced)" will see the light of day in 2010 -- leaving one unannounced new brand. Getting murkier yet, it appears "at least 5 online games" will be heading to the information superhighway, though only three are mentioned (yep, you guessed it -- that means two have yet to be revealed). With GDC, PAX East, and E3 not too far off (already?!), there's still plenty of 2010 left for announcements.
EA loses $82 million in fiscal Q3 2010, revenue down 25%
Right off the bat, you should know this: for EA, losing $82 million in the third quarter of a fiscal year is an enormous improvement. Compared to the same period last year ("Q3" for EA is October 1 – December 31), the company lost 559 million fewer actual physical dollars. Yes, really. Now that we've told you that, we should also note that the publisher pulled in 24.85 percent less revenue year over year (down to $1.243 billion in Q3 2010 from $1.654 billion in Q3 2009). That said, Playfish had "two of the top ten Facebook games" for the quarter! Good thing EA spent $300 million on those folks, eh? Okay, okay, real talk: the company also points out that it was the "#1 packaged goods publisher in North America and Europe" for its entire fiscal year. CEO John Riccitiello even notes that Mass Effect 2 is "the first blockbuster of 2010." And hey, with 2 million units already shipped, we tend to agree.
Microsoft still beats Apple in cash and investments, for now
Back during the earnings call a few weeks ago, it was mentioned that Apple has a jaw-dropping almost $40 billion just sitting around in cash. In the chat, we started talking about other companies that might have that much money in the hopper -- Google came up, but I don't think we were able to guess another one. But it turns out Apple isn't even the most flush company out there, and the name of the first might surprise you: According to this chart on Silicon Alley Insider, Microsoft is currently sitting on just slightly more money than even Apple, with Google and Intel coming close behind; although Apple briefly pulled ahead of MS at the end of 2008, the Redmond Revenue Racers had more cash through most of '09 than Apple did. Well how 'bout that. Of course, the current curves are not so favorable to Microsoft (after the Win7 update push slows down a bit) so it may not be long before Apple's pile grows even bigger. We can probably look for some significant acquisitions from all of these companies very soon -- with the rest of the economy down and lots of interesting ideas looking to sell, odds are we'll see some of this money spent on worthy purchases. [via Cult of Mac]
Square Enix summons strong sales for first nine months of fiscal year
According to Square Enix's financial report covering the first nine months (ending this past December) of its fiscal year, the company is going to finish its annual business cycle with plenty of glistening gil. Overall, the company's profits are up 48 percent from the same period last year, and it forecasts a profit of ¥10 billion (which is far less shocking when converted to $112 million) for the fiscal year ending in March 2010. The company's games division saw limit breaker sales and profits during the period due to Dragon Quest IX, Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Batman: Arkham Asylum -- which it obtained as part of the Eidos buyout. Square Enix's games group saw sales of ¥72 billion ($806 million, a 97 percent increase over last year), along with a profit of ¥18 billion ($202 million, a 99 percent increase during the same time). Kupos to you, Square Enix.
