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DisplaySearch says netbook sales will slow as ULV laptops get cheaper
Netbook sales have been on a solid upward tick for about as long as the product category has existed, so it shouldn't come as much surprise that research firm DisplaySearch is now forecasting that shipments will exceed a hefty 33.3 million units by year's end, which translates to a full 103% jump in growth over the previous year. What is somewhat surprising, however, is that the firm is also predicting that growth will slow considerably in 2010 (down to "just" 20%) as more and more laptops with ultra-low voltage processors dip under the $500 mark. Of course, 20% growth still means that netbook shipments should be in the neighborhood of 40 million for 2010, and DisplaySearch even estimates that growth will hold steady at about 20% for 2011, so we wouldn't be so quick to put them on deathwatch just yet.
Capcom game delays cause lowered 2009 sales forecast
Unsurprisingly, in the announcement of delays of several games out of Q1 2010, Capcom also lowered its financial forecast for that period (which is its fiscal Q4), and for the fiscal year as a whole. The publisher adjusted its expected net sales for the year from ¥95 billion ($1.04 billion) to ¥65 billion ($711.62 million) as a result. In addition, the company is posting a "special loss" of 4.5 billion yen, associated with the costs of restructuring its businesses -- a move that mostly involved changes in the company's pachinko operations in Japan. Capcom closed two arcades, and plans to downsize its pachinko and arcade businesses to put more resources into home video games. Source - Presentation Material of Forecast Revisions and Plan for the Next Fiscal Year (PDF link) Source - Capcom Announces Special Loss and Forecast Revision
Get your current weather from Outside
Outside [iTunes link] is a new, personal weather app for the iPhone/iPod touch that provides a visual forecast with some paid options for push notifications. I like the idea of the app; it has some nice graphics and a fresh approach to weather information. The GUI is based on a metaphor of looking out a window: you can get the current conditions or a five-day forecast, if you want to glance into the future. For the relevant stats, like humidity, cloud cover and winds, you just flick up the screen, and it'll tell you everything you need to know. The app also features an interesting pay model: when you buy the U.S $2.99 app, you get 30 days of push notifications for free. Then it's $0.99 for the notifications every three months. Notifications include letting you know if rain is in the forecast, the UV index when it goes above a set level, a warning if the temperature goes below your preference, and a notification that the weather is OK to wear a T-shirt. There are a few things that would make this app better. First, it'd be nice to reduce the need to flick the screen so often. The five-day forecast could be placed on one page, not five. And the notifications are unique, but a bit strange. I'd much rather be notified of upcoming storm warnings rather than T-shirt weather, but there is no such option -- especially since the notifications are so pricey (getting them for a year costs more than the app itself), it'd be nice to have some more options. And if you want weather from a different location, you have to enter that location manually. There is no list of favorites. I think weather junkies would be better off with the Weather Channel app [iTunes link], which is free, Weather Channel Max for $3.99 [iTunes link], or MyWeather [iTunes link] mobile which provides very detailed info for a one-time $4.99, and includes (free) push notifications for severe weather. There is some clever thinking behind Outside, and it's a fresh approach to a function that's seen its share of rainy days. But I wish it had more information on the individual screens, and it wasn't so expensive to get notifications.
Nintendo profits sink on declining console sales, weak game selection
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Nintendo just announced that its interim net profit was cut by more than half to ¥69.49 billion (about $770 million), from ¥144.83 billion last year at this time -- figures that won't be helped by the cheaper Wii price tag announced at the end of September. Speaking of which, Nintendo sold only 5.75 million Wii consoles from April to September (down 43% from last year) and cut its full year sales forecast for the April 09 to March 2010 period to 20 million units, down from an expected 26 million. DS sales were also off 15% from last year and we doubt that a bigger screen on the new DSi LL model will change that dramatically.
Futuresource predicts 100 million Blu-ray Discs sales in 2009
Futuresource Consulting has produced some rather controversial predictions before, so it's not at all surprising to find that it was this firm that forecast a whopping 100 million Blu-ray Disc would be sold in 2009. As we wait for BD sales to exceed DVDs in 2012, we're told that consumers are on pace to purchase in excess of 100 million Blu-ray Discs across the US, Western Europe and Japan this year. Mai Hoang, Senior Market Analyst, even concluded that in America, BD has moved from "early adopter phase through to early majority," noting that in the US last year, BD video retail sales increased some 320 percent to 24 million units. Couple that with rampant growth in the UK, and that 100m figure seems just a wee bit more believable. Of course, it's not like these guys really have any accountability in any of this, but at least these conjectures will lead to some pretty fiery discussions, right? [Warning: PDF read link][Via Joystiq]
What recession? CEA sees the Super Bowl selling 2.6 million HDTVs
Despite the economy, it looks like a lot of people love their in-laws, with things looking good enough for a Consumer Electronics Association survey to indicate 2.6 million HDTVs will be sold as a result of the Super Bowl (are you ready?), up from the two million predicted last year. For the year the group sees sales rising to 29.8 million (out of 34.5 million total digital TVs), topping 2008's tally by a good three million, mostly because prices have continued to drop. Probably due to that price factor, plasma TVs are expected to make up only 10 percent of the year's sales. Still not buying an HDTV for the Super Bowl? Don't worry, there's always March Madness, the Oscars, World Cup, World Table Tennis Championships, the day after next Tuesday...
Virtual worlds industry leaders provide forecast for 2009
The Virtual Worlds Management Industry Forecast 2009 (say that three times fast) is now available. What is this Forecast, you wonder? Virtual Worlds Management -- a provider of media, research, and online services related to virtual worlds -- collected the responses from over 60 industry leaders on issues ranging from business/product goals and challenges to be faced, to how they'll adapt to economic changes in 2009. The Forecast for 2009 is a condensed bit of collective knowledge from the movers and shakers in the virtual worlds industry, and certainly worth a read if you're curious about where virtual worlds may be heading over the coming year.
HTC expects to move over one million G1 handsets in 2008, party hard in 2009
Given just how awesome HTC's most previous quarterly results were, we don't blame it for being a tad optimistic about overall G1 sales. CEO Peter Chou was quoted as saying that the G1 should sell just over a million units this year, with the second Android-powered handset coming in Q1 2009 at the "earliest." Interestingly, the report also stated that HTC was hard at work on its third Google-infused mobile, which isn't at all mind-blowing considering that we're talking about a phone company that has to make new phones in order to stay afloat.[Via mocoNews]
Blu-ray reportedly doing more than alright in Europe
Before you get all shocked and awed, may we remind you that Blu-ray has been performing well across the pond pretty much all year. We know, this beacon of shining, happy news from Futuresource is quite the contrast from what we've been hearing lately about the industry overall, but it's far from surprising. The numbers show that British consumers purchased around 462,500 Blu-ray Discs in November, which is an increase of 165% from October. 'Course, a little film called The Dark Knight probably helped out, but we digress. The figures are looking mighty good for the future as well, with Blu-ray's share in the optical disc market expected to double to 6% in France next year. Who knows -- maybe Europeans are so sick and tired of waiting for a decent HD channel lineup that they're using BD to get their high-resolution fix.
DisplaySearch revises LCD TV forecasts for 2009, takes 'em lower
No surprises here, but the analysts at DisplaySearch have evidently been working overtime in order to revise the 2009 forecast for LCD TV shipments. We're not particularly sure where the originals sat, but if these new numbers prove true, we'll see LCD TV revenue fall year-over-year for the first time in the history of LCD TV shipments. The updated report notes that key factors in the downturn are "reductions in forecast TV prices and revised forecasts for year-over-year shipment growth for LCD and PDP TVs in 2009, down by 7 and 6 points from previous, respectively." As of now, LCD TV revenues are slated to drop 16% year-over-year, with total TV revenues falling 18%. Get a few big-screen OLED TVs out for under two large, and we bet all that changes -- don't mind that we're asking for the impossible or anything.
Blu-ray forecasts slightly lower due to wild economy
It's hard to know what to believe these days. Just weeks ago, we heard that the worldwide economic situation would actually increase at-home entertainment sales; now, we're hearing that overall home entertainment spending will likely decline 3% to 4%. Regardless of what actually happens, Blu-ray backers are still scaling back their expectations for the format, with Warner Home Video president Ron Sanders and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president David Bishop each estimating that total BD software sales in 2008 will reach $750 million. That's compared to earlier forecasts of around $1 billion, though it was noted that Paramount Home Entertainment president Kelley Avery nailed the revamped estimate a few months back. As it stands, year-to-date Blu-ray sales have surpassed $500 million, which means BD still needs a big holiday season to hit the fresh figures -- do see you it happening?
Research finds mobile TV as unseductive as ever, though VOD seems interesting
News flash: mobile TV is not enticing. Like, at all. The viability of watching TV on one's handset has been questioned for years, and now we've got the numbers to prove that interest is waning. Recent research has found that mobile TV adoption sits at just 1% now, and interest in all types of mobile TV is just over 50% of what it was in 2006. The report places the blame on "patchy network coverage, limited channel lineup, poor video quality, excessive prices and a penchant among high-end phone users for business handsets rather than video phones," and we'd certainly have a tough time disagreeing. That being the case, it was still found that 15% of those surveyed on the topic would actually enjoy watching recorded TV shows later on their phone, suggesting that a little bit of choice when it comes to content may not be a bad idea. Rest assured, players in this space are already looking at ways to make it happen, and for those with SlingPlayer, you know all too well what we're getting at.
HTC CEO expects to move 600,000 G1s this year, more in 2009
With all sorts of outlandish figures being bandied about regarding sales / expectations for the T-Mobile G1, someone intimately close to the situation has finally chimed in with his take. Peter Chou, chief executive and co-founder of HTC, stated in a recent interview that it expects to ship over 600,000 G1s this year, and while he wouldn't come clean on an exact figure for 2009, he did proclaim that "in general, we think we can do more next year." We aren't betting the farm that his prediction will come true or anything, but it certainly falls within the realm of feasibility. Oh, and if you were wondering how Mr. Chou planned on convincing potential iPhone buyers to opt for the G1 instead, he reckons that the full QWERTY keypad will handle that for him -- after all, "Americans are very keyboard-oriented." [Via mocoNews]
Superthreats: Quarantine, Ravenous, and Power Struggle
Quarantine Superthreat"In 2019, Respiratory Distress Syndrome, or ReDS, is here, and it's not going anywhere." Outbreaks of ReDS have become commonplace, initially in tropical and sub-tropical regions, then spreading to other cities such as Stockholm where over 15,000 citizens are living with ReDS and its chronic, severe symptoms. Relief organizations struggle to handle the situation as it is presently, yet ReDS is spreading to other regions of the world while remaining incurable. Superstruct Challenge: What can we do in our own communities to provide ReDS relief and support?
Superstruct: The world's first massively multiplayer forecasting game
Forget what you typically expect from your average client-based MMO. In fact, the title you're going to read about here differs markedly from the type of game we normally cover at Massively, but that makes it no less interesting. Superstruct is truly something different -- a futuristic alternate reality game that launches today (October 6) and lasts only 6 weeks, developed by a team at The Institute for the Future (IFTF) -- a not-for-profit think tank based in Palo Alto, California. For lack of a better, and less inflammatory, description, Superstruct is a thinking person's MMO, and is in many respects a social experiment; the game is an attempt to harness the collective intelligence and problem-solving abilities of its playerbase to make forecasts about the world's future and its escalating problems. In fact, Superstruct bills itself as the world's first massively multiplayer forecasting game, with the tagline: Play the game. Invent the future. Despite being set in 2019 and looking forward to world issues that will become crises 20 years beyond that, Superstruct's genre is more futurist than sci-fi. Superstruct doesn't feature the traditional game elements we've come to expect from a massively multiplayer title. Instead, it fosters new ways for players to work together, testing out their ideas and strategies in a creative, collaborative brainstorming experiment that spans different mediums. Plausible future scenarios will be posited to the player base, challenging them to really think and produce compelling responses to the events in the game.
Superthreats: Outlaw Planet and Generation Exile
Outlaw Planet Superthreat"In 2019, the mobile internet and sensor networks we rely on to hold our societies together are being hacked, griefed, and gamed."The effects of technology turned against us impacts the democratic process, social networks, and every institution connected to the internet. Sophisticated criminal groups employ 'transparency bombs' in online banking attacks (and "World of Starcraft" players no less). The target financial institutions are major players in the virtual currency market, but the issues resulting from this undermined security affect private citizens as well as the banks.Superstruct Challenge: How can we come together to secure our assets, both real and virtual?
Nintendo shares on the rise again
You can barely move in the blogosphere without bumping into another "Nintendo is rich" story, and we're not about to help matters -- sorry. Anyway, the skinny is that Nintendo shares have soared after the company upped its full-year profit forecast by 26%. It now anticipates that it will sell 26.5 million Wiis (surely taking it past the N64's lifetime sales of approximately 33 million by year end) and 30.5 million DSes during 2008. Ninty also reckons that in the year ending March 31, net income will climb 59 percent to $3.8 billion, a.k.a. a lot of frickin' wonga. This news does represent a mini-turnaround of sorts in Nintendo's financial fortunes -- before today, the company's stock had fallen 17% since July 30th, but the latest renewed forecast has seen shares boosted by 8.4%. Now if only we'd actually bought some in the late-'90s. Bah. Oh well, clink those champagne glasses, everybody![Via NeoGAF]
Activision predicts PS3 victory over 360 in 2008
After releasing their quarterly earnings report, Activision held a conference call where publishing CEO Mike Griffith provided the company's forecast to the future of the console wars. While Wii will be the overwhelming winner, Griffith predicts PS3 will beat Xbox 360 by a 1-2 million margin this year.According to the company, Wii is forecast to sell 15 million units. PS3 will sell 8 million, while Xbox 360 will sell 6-7 million. Not strangely, the PS2 is also expected to continue srong, with 4-5 million units sold.This isn't the first major publisher to go on record with high expectations for the PS3. EA went on record in February with a similar prediction.
Study expects 32 million LTE subscribers in three years after launch
With Planet Earth's wireless juggernauts jumping on the LTE train while there's still room, we suppose the latest report from ABI Research isn't all that shocking. According to it, there will be some 32 million LTE network subscribers by 2013, and with the commercial launch not expected to go down before 2010, our abacus suggests that we're talking about 32 million over just 3 years. The firm asserts that the Asia-Pacific region will account for most of those folks (around 12 million), while the rest get split 60% / 40% between Western Europe and North America. You think we're just going to let you make this outlandish claim and then fuhgetaboutit, don't you ABI? Nah, we're creating a Google Calendar reminder for this day in 2013 right now to check back and see just how accurate you really were.[Via SlashPhone]
Analyst: THQ has internal problems
Janco Partners' analyst Mike Hickey, after gazing deep into his crystal ball, reports many bad things in THQ's present and future. The biggest issue, Hickey believes, is the publisher's reliance on the recently delayed Saints Row 2. He surmises there is general internal conflict at the publisher, between corporate trying to salvage the company's finances, and developers trying to deliver a quality product. Hickey states THQ's guidance for this fiscal year is too aggressive and dependent on what THQ is calling "proven franchises," but he believes these titles are at risk due to delays, low demand and major marketplace competition.Hickey spends some time comparing Saints Row to Activision's True Crime. He says that Activision once called True Crime a franchise (before it killed it) the same way THQ is touting Saints Row, but he believes a "franchise" has a "predictable level of consumer demand," which Saints Row just doesn't have. However, he believes it'll be THQ's best-performing owned IP this year. Hickey tells investors to just look back at THQs owned IPs for the last couple years and make their own conclusions about how things are going to go down this fiscal year.