q2 2019
Latest
Samsung's midrange phones helped its market share surge in Europe
Samsung might have good reason for suggesting that midrange phones could help it escape its profit slump. Canalys estimated that Samsung was thriving in Europe in the second quarter of 2019 thanks partly to its midrange phones, surging to 40.6 percent share versus 33.9 percent a year ago. That's 18.3 million phones in total. It had three of the top five shipping phones, all of which were more affordable A-series models like the Galaxy A50 (which represented about 3.2 million units by itself). Flagships like the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note might have been the stars of the show, but it was the lower-cost models that really got people into stores.
Take-Two profits soar thanks to 'GTA' and 'Red Dead' online spending
Need further proof that Rockstar's online games are the cornerstone of its business these days? You just got it. Publisher Take-Two has reported that its profit jumped 39 percent year-over-year in the spring quarter to a hefty $540.5 million, and the in-game purchases for Rockstar's titles played a large role. Company chief Strauss Zelnick told Hollywood Reporter that GTA Online "actually grew" versus 2018, while Red Dead Online's early performance has "exceeded expectations." Games like NBA 2K19, the Borderlands series and Civilization VI helped, but it's no secret as to which ones were the biggest cash cows.
Fitbit's Versa Lite sales were 'weaker than expected'
Fitbit's smartwatch-fueled recovery just hit a setback. The wearable maker reported that its smartwatch revenue dropped 27 percent year-over-year in the second quarter as a result of "weaker than expected" Versa Lite sales. While it still lost less money than it did a year earlier ($68.5 million instead of $118.3 million), it had clearly been counting on the Lite to further improve its bottom line.
Spotify adds 8 million paying customers in three months
In the three months since Spotify crested the 100 million Premium user mark, the company has added another 8 million paying customers. It's another sign of health from a music streaming service that continues to grow in the face of tough and well-heeled competition. In its second-quarter earnings, Spotify said that its overall membership grew from 217 million last quarter to 232 million now.
Samsung to fight falling profits with midrange phones, 'mainstream' 8K
As Samsung expected, its Q2 profit is off from last year's by about 56 percent. An operating profit of $5.6 billion (6.6 trillion Korean won) is no small figure, but obviously not up to par for the electronics giant, and follow a similar result in Q1 of this year. A big reason for the fall is a drop in prices for memory chips, which Samsung is a major supplier of for products like smartphones and servers. It's also negatively affected by weak iPhone sales since it supplies Apple with parts, and is facing slower sales for its own high-end phone models. Last year Samsung was looking toward foldable devices to help turn around the trend, and after a delay it's still expecting the Galaxy Fold to join its Galaxy Note 10 as an "innovative" new product launch. According to the company's report, it's also pushing ahead on 5G.
AT&T is launching yet another streaming TV service this fall
In case DirecTV Now, HBO Max and Watch TV weren't enough, AT&T has one more streaming service in the works. The telecom used its second quarter earnings to reveal that it will start testing an AT&T TV service in "select markets" during the third quarter, with wider availability in the fall. The company didn't describe how it would work in a statement, but promised more details in the "coming weeks."
Netflix Q2 report points to price hikes for lower than expected growth
Netflix just released its financial results for the second quarter of 2019 (PDF), and a number that jumps out is that its service grew by 2.7 million subscribers. That's a problem for shareholders because in its last report, the company predicted it would be up about 5 million in Q2, and in the US it actually lost more subscribers than it added for only the second time ever, dropping by 130,000. While any results tied to its juggernaut Stranger Things won't show up until the Q3 report arrives in a few months, Netflix said "Our missed forecast was across all regions, but slightly more so in regions with price increases." Another possible reason for the gap between expectations and reality is its big Q1 -- the company experienced its second-largest period of subscriber growth ever with 9.6 million new customers. Whatever the reason, Netflix's letter is quick to make sure no one makes the mistake of attributing the gap to competition (which mostly hasn't launched yet: Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max or NBCU) or highly-viewed licensed content that will go away in the future like The Office. Apparently Netflix believes this opens up more space in its budget for original content, and that even hits like that only make up a "low single digit percentage of streaming hours" that members quickly replace with other options on its service. Otherwise, it updated numbers for some of its big hits, like Murder Mystery, which stars Jennifer Aniston alongside Adam Sandler and is now the service's most-viewed Sandler flick with over 73 million households watching in its first four weeks. It also confirmed that in India, it will launch a lower-priced mobile-only package in Q3, and pushed back against rumors that it will add advertisements, saying that it prefers to be like HBO.
Samsung expects another big slump in profits
Samsung isn't about to leave the doldrums any time soon. The company warned that its profits were likely to slump in the second quarter, dropping about 56 percent year-over-year to roughly 6.5 trillion won (just short of $5.6 billion). That doesn't sound great, but it could have been worse -- a one-time payment from an unnamed customer buoyed Samsung's income. The company reportedly asked Apple for compensation after its OLED display orders didn't meet minimum levels, although that hasn't been confirmed.
Tesla delivered a record 95,000 cars this spring
Tesla didn't have the greatest start to 2019, but it's looking rosier toward the middle of the year. The company set records for both production and deliveries in the second quarter, having made 87,048 electric cars and delivered 95,200 of them during the three-month span. Those are large strides compared to both the last quarter (77,100 made and 63,000 delivered) and a year earlier (53,339 made and 40,740 delivered), and leave Tesla with a nicer problem than it has had in recent times: a growing production backlog.
