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Posted
Apr 21 2008, 12:10 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Looks like eBay is dusting off the "for sale" sign for Skype, and it's about time. The Internet calling division said today it's offering almost-unlimited calls in the U.S. and Canada for $3 a month. (Calls to other countries will be $10 a month; click here for more info). I say almost because there's a 10,000 minute-per-month limit, which is more than five hours of calling a day.
Ebay has Skype under the microscope because it still hasn't figured out what to do with the company after buying it for $2.6 billion in 2005. Skype is a superstar on its own, with 309 million users and sales likely to hit $500 million this year. But meshing it with auctions? Hasn't worked. CEO John Donahoe said eBay will be testing Skype's "synergies" this year. But if the company hasn't found synergies in three years, why would it magically happen now?
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Posted
Apr 18 2008, 01:43 PM
by
Kim Peterson
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Apple once again topped BusinessWeek's annual list of the 50 most innovative companies. And it's hard to argue with that call, what with the iPhone and the MacBook Air debuting in the last year. But I think Google is on pace to beat Apple when it comes to innovation, with its emphasis on creativity and pet products and its entry into markets like renewable energy and telecommunications. Let's see Apple top that this next year. Google is #2 on the list. Here's the rest of the top 10:
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Posted
Apr 11 2008, 12:09 PM
by
Kim Peterson
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My, how things can change in a week. Last Friday, Microsoft was putting the screws to Yahoo, telling Reuters it was "evaluating" its $31-a-share bid for the company because Yahoo has dropped in value. This week, a furious round of wheeling and dealing has given Yahoo the edge. I have to hand it to CEO Jerry Yang. His flirtation with AOL and Google is putting incredible pressure on Microsoft to raise its offer. The market seems to like where all this is headed: Yahoo shares are
up slightly from where they started the week and closed today at $28.34. The Street seems to think a Microsoft acquisition is still the most likely scenario, and Yahoo shares are up because of a general belief that Yang can extract more money out of the deal. And while things today may appear murkier than ever, this corporate drama seems to be careening (wildly, perhaps) to some sort of closure, possibly in the next week.
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Posted
Apr 09 2008, 11:08 AM
by
Kim Peterson
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Walk into the Circuit City in my town, and you'll suddenly get a strange sensation. Look around...you're the only person there. Wait, someone must work here. Hello? Anyone? Then head over to Best Buy, which is packed with customers and ringing up sales.
Why is Circuit City struggling while Best Buy shines? There are many reasons: prices, marketing and sales strategy top the list. Look at the stock prices of the two: Circuit City shares have fallen from nearly $19 a year ago to $4.30 today, while Best Buy shares have stayed in the $40 to $50 range all year.
Circuit City might see some big changes soon. BusinessWeek reports that the retailer may have hired Goldman Sachs to look into sale possibilities. This comes after the company's turnaround plan has failed. Analysts say one of the worst decisions executives made was to fire 3,400 of the most experienced workers and replace them with lower-paid ones, according to Business Week. Customer service went out the window.
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Posted
Apr 04 2008, 12:23 PM
by
Kim Peterson
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It's either a slow news day or people are starved for developments in the Microsoft-Yahoo saga. How else to explain the attention being given today to an article that says nothing happened in the on-again, off-again acquisition talks between the two companies? And late this afternoon, we get word that Microsoft might be "evaluating" its bid. Oh, brother.
According to the WSJ story, the two sides met, talked and left without resolving differences. Microsoft doesn't want to raise its initial bid (valued now at about $42 billion), and Yahoo won't enter formal negotiations unless more money is on the table. That's about where they were a month ago when the two companies met to chat.
The next date to watch for is April 22, when Yahoo reports its first-quarter earnings. If it has a blow-out quarter, it will certainly gain more leverage in negotiations. If it gives a less noteable performance, it will give up ground. Companies can tweak earnings a million different ways, and I bet Yahoo has done everything it can to produce an impressive quarter.
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Posted
Apr 03 2008, 12:32 PM
by
Kim Peterson
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Apple has become the top music seller in the U.S. The company made the announcement today after Ars Technica leaked an internal e-mail with details. Just a couple of months ago, Apple passed Best Buy to become the #2 music retailer. Now, the company is topping the charts.
Apple had 19% of the market in January, and Wal-Mart was in second place with 15%, according to the leaked e-mail. It's worth noting an obvious difference between the two: Apple is an all-digital music seller, while most of Wal-Mart's sales are physical CDs. Best Buy, Amazon and Target rounded out the top five spots. Some tech blogs thought that January's numbers were skewed due to people redeeming iTunes gift cards recieved over the holidays. But it looks like Apple stayed on top in February as well.
Shares of the company rose nearly 3% today to close at $151.61. Here's what others had to say about the news:
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Posted
Apr 02 2008, 12:17 PM
by
Kim Peterson
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Amazon will now take your orders through text message, and though the system seems a little clumsy, I like the idea.
Here's how it works. Say you're at Borders and see a copy of the book "Unaccustomed Earth" on the shelves. Looks interesting. Hm. Wonder if Amazon is selling it for less? Send a text message with the book's title to 262966 (that spells "Amazon" on the keypad). Amazon will send you two results with the option to buy.
I tried it this morning and quickly got a response with a set of instructions on how to buy by phone. A few seconds later, I got a second message offering me the book for $15.94. It also listed a book called "Malgudi Days," which has an introduction written by the same author. Amazon will only send you its top two results in each text message, so don't make a generic request like "Disney."
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Posted
Apr 01 2008, 12:18 PM
by
Kim Peterson
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This was supposed to be a big week for Garmin. The satellite navigation leader tried to make a splash at the CTIA wireless trade show in Las Vegas yesterday by announcing big deals with MapQuest and Google. Yet investors greeted the news with a collective frown: Shares are down 10% from last week and 40% from the beginning of the year.
It didn't help that on Friday a Stanford Group analyst began covering Garmin with a "sell" rating. The analyst said something that's been weighing on investors' minds for some time: Handsets and mobile phones with GPS capabilities are a growing threat. Yes, Garmin is developing its own GPS phone, the Nuvifone, but sales may underwhelm, the analyst said. Garmin shares fell nearly 5% after the report came out.
Garmin isn't alone here. The overall navigation device market is suffering. Shares of SiRF Technology, which makes chips for navigation devices, are starting to recover after the company cut its Q1 sales forecast last week and announced layoffs. There are fears that SiRF is losing market share to Broadcom, which isn't so specialized in the GPS market. SiRF shares are down 79% from the start of the year.
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Posted
Mar 31 2008, 01:23 PM
by
Kim Peterson
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Yahoo has been busy, busy, busy with new product rollouts these days, perhaps trying to make itself more valuable as it negotiates an acquisition deal with Microsoft. The newest offering, unveiled today, is a Web site called Shine. The site is for women, and while it seems to be a little lacking in real news (what, women don't care about finance?), it thankfully doesn't read like a Cosmo cover. If Shine can stand out from the legions of other sites that target the female demographic, Yahoo could have a pretty nifty little advertising vehicle on its hands. Here's what some others are saying about Shine's debut today:
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Posted
Mar 31 2008, 10:13 AM
by
Kim Peterson
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A 3G iPhone? Don't expect Apple to talk about it these days. Any acknowledgement by the company that a 3G iPhone is coming will cause sales of existing iPhones to plummet. Why spend $400 or $500 on an iPhone now when there's a faster, cooler one just around the corner? No wonder Apple is keeping quiet while iPhone rumors swirl. Taiwanese manufacturer Hon Hai has reportedly received an order to make a "more advanced version" of the iPhone. A Bank of America analyst says the 3G iPhone will be here by summer, and predicts that Apple will produce 8 million in the third quarter alone. Apple has said it wants to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008. Current iPhones run on AT&T's EDGE network, which is technically at
2.75G for data transmission. That's slower than 3G, but how noticeable is the difference? Let
me know in the comments.
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