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Motorola posts another tiny quarterly profit, phone division not yet pulling its weight (update)
Moto's earnings for the first quarter came out today, and they pretty much echo what the company managed to do in the fourth quarter of 2009 -- pull a small profit thanks to performance from the Home, Enterprise Mobility, and Network groups in the face of an operating loss from the Mobile Devices (read: phones) division. Unfortunately, all of the numbers are just a little bit worse across the board; Motorola didn't have any Droid-style blockbuster launches or major gift-giving holidays to help it along this quarter, and ended up dropping $192 million in the hole compared to $132 million in the quarter prior. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha still seems upbeat, though -- and he'd better, considering that he'll lead the spun-off phone division after the breakup -- pointing out that shipments actually increased in the quarter with the release of six new handsets. When you throw all the numbers together, the combined company posted $69 million in earnings, down from $142 million in the fourth quarter; hey, that's still better than a loss, especially considering that it's estimating considerably higher earnings in the current quarter. Follow the break for Motorola's release. Update: Despite the slight profit, poor phone sales may have finally cost Motorola the stateside mobile crown. The Associated Press is reporting that with 8.8 million iPhones sold in Q1, Apple has edged out Motorola as the largest phone maker in the US.
Piper Jaffray estimates a big boost in Mac sales
In a report issued today (cited by Apple 2.0 and SAI), Piper Jaffray's leading light on all things AAPL gazed into his crystal ball and served up some notes on NPD retail sales data. Gene Munster's numbers are especially interesting as we head into tomorrow's earnings report. The lowdown: Munster is looking for a Mac sales number between 2.8 and 2.9 million machines, based off of NPD's retail data showing a 25% year over year boost in Mac sales for the quarter. He's also looking for iPod sales between 9 and 10 million, and 7.5 million iPhone sales. What's weird is that NPD data showed Mac sales up 39% for January and February... perhaps there was a March slowdown as anticipation built for new laptop models. Considering that Q2 2009 was a record quarter for both revenue and earnings for Apple -- 2.22 million Macs sold, 11 million iPods and 3.79 million iPhones -- it will be interesting to see where this year's numbers end up, with a rebounding economy and more outlets for the iPhone 3GS. This is the second quarter of Apple's new revenue recognition scheme for iPhone and Apple TV, meaning every single sale of an iPhone hits the bottom line in full force (not to mention the 1/8th share of iPhone sale prices from previous quarters). Apple 2.0 has its quarterly rundown of analyst predictions at the ready, with a consensus earnings number close to 12 billion. I'll get out my dartboard and make my predictions here: Revenues of $12.79B, 3.25 million Macs sold, 7.75m iPhones sold. Disclaimer: I hold a small long-term position in AAPL.
Palm posts $22m Q3 loss, says it liked its chances against Droid had Verizon launch been sooner
Palm gave us a heads-up back in late February that its upcoming earnings report wouldn't exactly be cause for celebration, and today the news has become official: the outfit recorded a net loss of $22 million during its fiscal Q3, which still looks rosy compared to the $98 million loss it suffered this quarter a year ago. All told, the firm shipped 960,000 smartphones in the period, which represents a 23 percent uptick from Q2 2010 and a nearly 300 percent increase compared to this quarter in 2009. Unfortunately, sell-through wasn't exactly stellar, with just 408,000 units changing hands -- that's a 29 percent decline from last quarter and a 15 percent drop year-over-year. We get the impression that it's waiting for carriers to get down to replenishment levels, but it's hard to say when that'll happen. Jon Rubinstein, Palm's chairman and CEO, was obviously not thrilled about the news, but he's mirroring statements made to employees just over a fortnight ago with this quote: "Our recent underperformance has been very disappointing, but the potential for Palm remains strong. The work we're doing to improve sales is having an impact, we're making great progress on future products, and we're looking forward to upcoming launches with new carrier partners. Most importantly, we have built a unique and highly differentiated platform in webOS, which will provide us with a considerable - and growing - advantage as we move forward." We're listening into the earnings call right now, and so far we've heard a few choice quotes. Jon mentioned that Palm has "aggressive roadmaps on the software front that we're working on," and that there were "no changes to our planned carrier launches." We'll let you know if he introduces the Pixi 2 or anything. Update: The call's over. PreCentral points out a choice quote from Rubinstein: We had an arrangement with Sprint that when we launched with Sprint that they would invest in marketing and carry the product and for that they would get an exclusive for a period of time. That really determined when we could do our launch at Verizon. I agree with your premise that if we could have launched at Verizon earlier, prior to Droid, that we would have gotten the attention that the Droid got and since I believe that we have a better product, I think we would have even done better. In other words, Palm -- regardless of Verizon's positioning -- feels like the Pre Plus could've been a legitimate contender as a halo phone for the carrier had it been able to launch sooner, though that opportunity has obviously long since passed. We're not so sure we agree that the Droid and the Pre Plus play in quite the same space, but if nothing else, we like the chutzpah -- now it's time to deliver some new hardware.
Bell scores 163K net adds in Q4, has HSPA launch to thank
Bell and Telus' massive, sudden addition of nationwide HSPA networks to succeed their legacy CDMA towers was an experiment unlike anything the wireless world had ever seen; at no other time had carriers that large jumped from one 3G technology to another, and it was anyone's guess how well it'd go and what effect it'd have on their bottom line -- clean-slate network build-outs aren't cheap, after all. We've got part of that answer now that Bell has reported fourth quarter earnings, and in a nutshell, it seems like this may have been a huge gamble that paid off. The company's wireless unit saw a 2 percent decrease against the previous in EBIDTA -- and ARPU fell by CAD $1.48 to CAD $51.08 -- but here's where the bubbly gets broken out: it saw a 39.3 percent increase in gross activations to 523,000, up 11.3 percent year-over-year. That works out to 163,000 net adds, almost certainly attributable to the launch of HSPA service and a variety of hot new handsets (and some older ones -- the iPhone 3GS, for instance) that gave some disgruntled Rogers customer the ammo they needed to bolt. It'll likely be a good long while before Bell actually goes net positive on its massive network investment, but early signs certainly suggest that it was the right move to make.
Verizon lost $653 million last quarter in spite of increasing revenues
91.2 million total customers, 2.2 million of whom joined in Q4, $27.1 billion operating revenue in the quarter, and you still make a loss? Well, in fact Verizon made a tidy profit, which may be considered comparable to Google and Intel's latest results, but its culling of jobs at the end of last year cost it a whopping $3 billion (presumably in redundancy settlements). Still, the company looks buoyant with that quarterly revenue number growing by 9.9 percent year-on-year, and CEO Ivan Seidenberg noting that significant costs were incurred in setting up for a 4G network deployment in 2010. Our favorite nugget of info? The "cash expense per customer" per month number: $27.62, which presumably includes Droid subsidies and the like. How does that compare to what you're giving VZW each month? [Thanks, Josta]
Apple reports fiscal Q4 earnings: $1.67b profit, Mac sales way up, iPod sales down, 'great new products' for 2010
Apple's fiscal Q4 2009 conference call is just about to begin, but the press release is already out and about. Wondering how Jobs and Company did? Precisely like you thought they would: they're making out like gangbusters over there. While the rest of the world slowly sees profits inching back up, Apple's relishing in $1.67 billion worth of net profit it pulled in from $9.87 billion in revenue. A year ago, the outfit managed to post a quarterly profit of "just" $1.14 billion, and we're also told that gross margin was up 36.6 percent. It should be noted that international sales accounted for a whopping 46 percent of this quarter's revenue, and Mac computer sales managed to shoot up some 17 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. In keeping with Apple's own acknowledgment that the standalone iPod is dying, sales of the iconic media player dipped 8 percent year-over-year (10.2 million units were sold), while 7.4 million iPhones were moved representing a 7 percent uptick from this period a year ago. Stevie J himself is quoted as saying that Apple is "thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter," and in case you haven't noticed, the holiday quarter hasn't even been completed yet. Oh, and if you were looking for bread crumbs as for what's on deck, chew on this: "We've got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010." Great new products, you say? Would one of them happen to include some sort of, say, tablet PC? Catch our updates after the break...
Apple pushes to change subscription accounting rules
Apple's pretty famous for using subscription accounting for the iPhone and Apple TV as a way to bend the rules and offer free software updates after purchase -- basically, instead of putting all the money from the sale on the books at once, the company's accountants spread the revenue out over two years, extending the "transaction" to cover upgrades. That's great for iPhone owners, but it's not so great for Apple or its investors, since the company's stock price doesn't always reflect the true amount of iPhone money coming in -- in fact, Apple earnings reports now include a second, unofficial balance sheet that does away with subscription accounting to show off the real numbers. Yeah, it's confusing, but it might finally be about to change, since the Financial Accounting Standards Board just tentatively approved new rules that could allow Apple to do away with subscription accounting and still deliver free updates. That means Apple's quarterly earnings will now feature much larger official revenue and profit figures -- last quarter's official revenue was $8.34 billion, while the unofficial number was $9.74 billion -- the lawyers and accountants will be happy, and we'll still get free iPhone updates. Good deal all around -- except for iPod touch owners, who will still have to pay $9.95 and not get a camera. [Via Yahoo]
Motorola posts $26m Q2 profit, promises cheap Android thrills, does a little dance
See that image there on the right? Yeah, it's a pretty drastic departure from the Sad Moto™ face that had become all too common when talking about the company's financials. Just a quarter after posting a dreadful $291 million loss, the outfit responsible for creating the RAZR and then doing nothing for half a decade is finally showing a profit once more. The Q2 numbers show an "unexpected" $26 million profit on sales of $5.5 billion, $1.8 billion of which came from the handset division. Of course, that very division managed to lose $253 million and see its global market share slip to 5.5 percent, but with a big bang from Android reportedly just months away, CEO Sanjay Jha ain't taking time to frown. Just hours after the Verizon-branded Sholes smartphone surfaced, Mr. Jha was quoted as saying that two Android devices would be "in stores for the holiday season," with launches occurring on "two major carriers in North America and multiple carriers outside the US." He also noted that plans were in place to ship "several additional Android-based devices in the first quarter of 2010," but details beyond that were vague. So, is this the beginning of a new, happier Moto? Our aged copy of Photoshop certainly hopes so.Read - Motorola's Q2 resultsRead - Jha on future Android devices
Nintendo finally sees Wii demand slowing, calls iPhone a DS / DSi competitor
While it seemed that all was going well for the Big N, it looks like those jovial times are finally coming to a (temporary) end. In an earnings report filed today, the company posted a 66 percent fall in quarterly operating profit on "slowing demand for its Wii console and a stronger yen." It's not so much the profit slide that's surprising, but the sudden admission that Wii demand has finally (finally!) slowed from a raging boil to simply piping hot definitely caught us off guard. Still, Nintendo maintained that it would sell 26 million Wii consoles before the year was out alongside 30 million DS handhelds, the latter of which has seen momentum slow due to "increased competition in the handheld business from Apple's iPhone." Now, we've known for some time that the suits in Cupertino have always viewed the iPhone as a game console, but to hear it called out as such from an entity not named Apple is another matter entirely. Maybe it should reconsider that whole "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" thing? Nah.[Image courtesy of QuiteCurious]
Apple bucks recession, records best non-holiday quarter in company history
Love 'em or hate 'em, Apple knows how to sell, and sell big. As we tune into the company's fiscal 2009 third quarter conference call this afternoon, we're told that it has just recorded its "best non-holiday quarter [in terms of] revenue and earnings" in company history. This, mind you, was recorded during what most say is the worst recession since the Great Depression. All told, Apple netted a quarterly profit of $1.23 billion, and international sales accounted for a staggering 44 percent of the quarter's revenue. The outfit continued to steamroll the competition in MP3 sales, moving 10.2 million iPod units in the quarter; of note, that was a seven percent decrease from last year, but given that fact that we're getting ever-closer to a saturation point with these things, we aren't too shocked to hear it. The company also confessed that the iPhone and iPod touch was cannibalizing traditional iPod sales (defined by Apple as the "shuffle, nano and classic"), but so long as those purchases stay within the realm of Apple, we're sure it doesn't much mind. The firm was also quick to boast of a 626 percent increase in iPhone sales from this quarter a year ago, but considering that its handsets were only available in a handful of nations then compared to scores of countries now, we still maintain that next quarter's iPhone sales will be the real measuring stick. Still, Peter Oppenheimer -- Apple's senior vice president and Chief Financial Officer -- did admit that the company was currently unable to meet iPhone 3GS demand in virtually every country where Apple is shipping it to. Which is funny, since we haven't heard of too many Americans that are still having trouble locating one. When talking about iTunes, we were reminded of the 1.5 billion total applications downloaded from the App Store, while some eight billion jams had been purchased (both since launch). In fact, Apple claimed that it was "years ahead" of rivals when comparing the App Store all those other application markets. Finally, Mac sales scooted up some four percent with a grand total of 2.6 million unit sold, which went down as the company's best-ever June quarter in terms of personal computer sales.When asked (again) about the possibility of Apple introducing a netbook, we were reminded that Apple "isn't out to make the most computers, just to make the best computers." Furthermore the suits at the company have yet to figure out how to build "the best" at the "$299, $399 or $499" level, once again extinguishing any hope of a low-cost Mac laptop anytime soon. He went on to say that "some customers buying these [netbooks] become disappointed / disenchanted," asserting that Apple is simply striving to make the "best, most innovative" machines and "give customers the most value." To quote Mr. Oppenheimer when responding to a question over an iPod-like device with a larger screen:"I never want to discount anything in the future and never want to talk about new products. People want a full-featured notebook, some of the netbooks being delivered are very slow, have software technology that is old, don't have a robust computing experience, small display, cramped keyboard, I could go on but I won't. We'll only play in things where we can be very innovative and be proud of."Okay Apple, we get it -- you're not interested in the netbook space. Gosh.
Palm says licensing webOS "not a religious issue"
Palm had its quarterly results conference call yesterday and although CEO Jon Rubinstein and CFO Doug Jeffries kept a pretty tight lid on the future product talk, they did say that licensing webOS to third parties isn't "a religious issue for us." That's pretty vague, sure, but we can't help but immediately think back to the golden age of Palm OS, when licensees like Sony put out amazing devices like the Clie PEG-NZ90 that we've lovingly mocked up with a webOS screenshot above -- we're sure Palm's upcoming handsets will be interesting in their own right, but we'd love to see a manufacturer like HTC riff on webOS the way it's tweaking Android. Of course, Jeffries also said Palm has "no plans at this time to even talk about" licensing, so this is all just a pipe dream for now, but let's not ruin the moment, okay? Hit the read link for the full call transcript.[Via GearLog]
Samsung is back in the money, but a whole lot less than last year
Hot on the heels of Apple announcing it's officially ripping this recession a new one and making more money than ever (hooray!), Samsung has released its financials for the first quarter and things are a little more, erm, glum. (Boo?) The company has at least partially recovered from its first ever loss in the fourth quarter of last year, making a tidy $459 million so far in 2009. That's the good news. The bad news, however, is that $459 million is 72 percent less than the company pocketed in the same quarter in 2008. But, profit is profit, and a 36 percent increase in revenue from the company's cellphone division is also promising -- especially given Nokia's recent bad news. Must be thanks to all those Omnia fanboys and girls.
Nokia's profits drop 90% in Q1 2009
So, there's good news and bad news here, and we're opting to go against tradition by dishing out the positive first. Nokia just pushed out its Q1 2009 results, and while many firms have been struggling to stay afloat, at least it managed to turn a profit of €122 million ($160 million). That said, it's still looking at a staggering 90 percent drop in profits compared to its first quarter of 2008, where it raked in a mind-boggling €1.222 billion ($1.6 billion). Not surprisingly, sales were also down 27 percent to €9.28 billion ($12.2 billion) from €12.7 billion ($16.7 billion). Of course, Nokia's far from being alone in having to showcase less-than-beautiful Q1 numbers, but in reality, the damage could've been much worse; in fact, shares of the company's stock inched up by 8 percent following the reveal, as many had feared an even more significant decline. All in all, Nokia's still holding strong to a 37 percent market share worldwide, and if CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has anything to do with it (hint: he does), things should be on the up and up here soon.[Via BBC]
DISH Network sees Q4 profit grow 24%, still sheds over 100,000 subscribers
Unlike DirecTV, which managed to post remarkable Q4 numbers across the board, DISH Network is only able to partially celebrate. You see, the satcaster did see profits in the fourth quarter rise some 24 percent, but at the same time, 102,000 (net) subscribers decided to head elsewhere. A recent report on the matter suggests that DISH is hurting from increased competition from main rival DirecTV, not to mention fiber-based entrants such as AT&T and Verizon. Of course, the general economic environment hasn't exactly helped matters, but DISH's smaller amount of high-def channels seems to be a magnified issue when money's tight. Oh, and if DirecTV is somehow able to integrate Sirius service into its pay-TV offering, we'd say DISH will need to think fast if it hopes to stop the bleeding of customers. Speaking of, have any of you recently jumped from DISH to DirecTV? Vice-versa? [Image courtesy of PropertyWorld]
D-BOX rumbles to best ever quarter in terms of sales
The major news outlets seem to think there's some sort of "recession" going on, but those with cash are still spending like it's 1999. D-BOX, the outfit famous for its rumbling theater seats and corresponding Motion Code system, has just reported its best ever quarter in terms of sales, notching revenues of $1,227,340 for the third quarter of its 2009 fiscal year. Sales increased some 29 percent year-over-year, and it's hoping to keep the momentum going with its comparatively affordable hybrid GPH-120 system ($2,999; available summer 2009) for gamers who love to rock. And to think, most of us laughed this company off. Kudos, D-BOX.
VIZIO steamrolls Q4, breaks all kinds of records
Who says there's no money in low-cost HDTVs? While mainstay after mainstay in the HDTV arena either folds completely, restructures their product portfolio or slashes production, VIZIO is riding high. After bucking the trend and showing growth in Q3, the company has delivered on its positive predictions for Q4. Now sitting as the second largest shipper of HDTVs in the US market, VIZIO saw sell-through increase some 52 percent during the holidays compared to the same period in 2007, and if you're looking for hard(er) numbers, try 1.2 million HDTV shipments in the fourth quarter of 2008. Laynie Newsome, VIZIO Co-Founder and VP Sales & Marketing Communications, was understandably jovial about the success, noting that "even during times when tier one competitors drop their prices (and lose millions of dollars in the process) the American consumer clearly recognizes VIZIO as a preferred consumer electronics brand." Laugh all you want, but VIZIO has a good thing going.
RIM selling gobs of BlackBerrys, profits just so-so
Just under a week ago, we found that RIM had sold its 50 millionth BlackBerry, and while that's all fine and dandy, Wall Street only cares about what you've done for it lately. Thus, traders were none too pleased to hear Research In Motion suggest that its fourth fiscal quarter earnings would come in at the low-end of expectations despite anticipating a higher-than-forecast number of new subscribers. So, what's it all mean? In simple terms, it appears that RIM's making less off of each phone sold, with Todd Coupland of CIBC Capital Markets surmising that the firm may simply be selling more of its lower-priced devices. And honestly, that makes perfect sense given the economy. Still, we can think of much, much darker places for RIM to be in than this, and these days, just coming out in the black is a victory.[Via Wall Street Journal]
DirecTV Q4 aftermath: focusing on "middle market," receiving praises from everywhere
Make no mistake -- DirecTV had an amazing, if not unbelievable, fourth quarter of 2008. After reporting numbers that blew just about everyone away yesterday, analysts have been quick to pump out laudatory remarks. Sanford Bernstein's Craig Moffett noted that the satcaster "continued to defy gravity," and he suggested that "one could make a case that DirecTV has, at least so far, been as little impacted by the recession as any company in America." As for the company itself, it's looking to target "the middle market" going forward, which is a departure from its usual tactics of aiming straight for the higher-end. The outfit's CEO Chase Carey is anticipating Q1 2009 ARPU (average revenue per user) to grow around 2.5 percent, which makes sense given the upcoming price increases. Needless to say, DirecTV is on track for a very solid '09, and if you're interested in hearing more from both sides, just hop down to the links below.[Thanks, Vanbrothers]Read - DirecTV CEORead - Analyst reactions
DirecTV records a monster Q4, adds 461,000 new net subscribers
Say what you will about the economy, but don't dare touch an American's television. Clearly bucking the trend is DirecTV, who managed to slip into rarefied air with outfits like Netflix by recording an absolutely marvelous Q4 2008. Beating analyst expectations by a solid mile, the satcaster added an amazing 461,000 new net subscribers in the quarter, with 301,000 -- the most in over three years -- coming in the US. DirecTV Latin America picked up the other 160,000, while a 1.47 percent churn rate was the lowest in nine years. In case you're scouting more good news, the company saw increased revenues in Q4 of 9 percent, while net income did slip 5 percent to $332 million. Of course, that may help explain the forthcoming price hike -- clearly it can charge more and get away with, so why not?[Thanks, Vanbrothers]
Vodafone reports 14 percent rise in revenue
Things may not be entirely awesome for most operators these days, but at least Vodafone's making some cash in this cash-strapped market. According to its most recent quarterly results, the outfit has notched a 14 percent increase in revenue, which was helped by the weak pound and exceptional sales in India. More specifically, it realized sales of £10.47 billion ($14.9 billion) compared to £9.16 billion ($13.06 billion) a year prior. Also of note, Voda was thanking data revenue profusely, as said category rose over 25 percent on an organic basis. Nevertheless, the good news prompted it to raise its expectations for the next quarter, which ain't happening too often these days. All the minutiae is parked in the read link.
