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Posted
Jun 27 2008, 10:06 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Palm shares are sinking like a stone today after the company reported disappointing losses and sales in its fourth quarter. Analysts had expected the company to do better, and the report leaves questions about Palm's survivability against competition like Apple and Research in Motion. Palm shares have been down about 10% all morning, and have dropped 64% in the last year. Wait, isn't Palm's Centro a big hit? Yes, the company has sold more than 1 million of them since launch. But that success isn't helping Palm's bottom line because the $99 Centro has lower margins than other phones like the Treo. Think of the Centro as Palm's long-term investment in entry-level smartphone users (some 70% of Centro buyers have never owned a smartphone before).
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Posted
Jun 26 2008, 10:37 AM
by
Kim Peterson
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Shares of Research in Motion are collapsing today, down nearly 13% after the BlackBerry maker reported disappointing quarterly results. Actually, the results seemed pretty solid, but they weren't good enough for analysts and investors who wanted to be blown away.
There's a lot to read into the numbers, particularly for people who were expecting a summer smartphone war between the BlackBerry and Apple's upcoming 3G iPhone. I think the war is still on, and it's moving to the marketing front: RIM said it's going to increase its marketing spending by nearly 30% this quarter.
Perhaps the iPhone is a bigger threat to the BlackBerry than RIM wants to admit. Or perhaps RIM's North American exposure is a weakness in today's economy. Here's what others are saying, now that we've had a day to digest the earnings news:
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Posted
Jun 24 2008, 06:41 AM
by
Kim Peterson
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Nokia is buying Symbian, a company that makes operating systems for mobile phones. Nokia already uses Symbian software in its smartphones, so the move isn't a huge surprise. But in an unexpected twist, Nokia is going to make Symbian open and royalty-free for software developers. In doing so the company is clearly going after Google for the future of mobile phone systems. Nokia was already paying Symbian some $250 million a year to use Symbian's software in phones, analysts say. So buying Symbian outright for $410 million is smart business. Nokia shares were up slightly in morning trading to $24.48, and Google shares are down just slightly to $543.36.
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Posted
Jun 23 2008, 09:47 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Google's trying to herd cats with the development of its Android mobile phone platform, and it's no surprise that the project is running into delays. The mobile industry is notoriously slow, and hammering out phone and software agreements with carriers is a laborious process. The Wall Street Journal says that cell phone companies are "struggling" to meet Google's timelines and may end up blowing the deadline altogether. It doesn't help that Apple's iPhone is king of the industry getting the industry's attention right now, which presents two problems for Google. Software makers are putting the iPhone at the top of priority lists. And second, the iPhone has raised the bar, increasing pressure on Google to create a worthy rival. Google shares are up just slightly to $546.66 at 10:30 a.m. PST.
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Posted
Jun 11 2008, 12:39 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Finally, a good day for Nortel investors, who have watched shares slump more than 65% in the last year. Today, the stock is up almost 14% to $9.22 after the company affirmed its 2008 outlook at an investor meeting. That means revenue growth in the low single digits, gross margins at 43% and an improvement in operating margin of 3 percentage points. The telecom maker is also figuring out its future in fast wireless broadband, and said it's going to focus on a high-speed wireless network called LTE, or "long term evolution." The company didn't have the resources to pursue both LTE and WiMax, and so it's picking one. WiMax hasn't developed as fast as Nortel had hoped, an exec told Computerworld. The move might take a little oomph out of WiMax's new momentum.
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Posted
Jun 09 2008, 01:02 PM
by
Kim Peterson
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Why were Apple shares down Monday, with all the big iPhone news? Chalk it up to the typical storm of hype that surrounds Apple announcement. Expectations ratchet up so high that CEO Steve Jobs would have to juggle 10 iPhones on one foot to impress investors.
Apple stock was weak all day, but recovered in the final hour of trading. It closed down 2.2% on heavy volume to $181.61. Here's how Apple's news affected other stocks:
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Posted
Jun 09 2008, 10:51 AM
by
Kim Peterson
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The iPhone is nearly a year old, and with only 6 million sold Apple isn't close to its goal of selling 10 million this year. That's about to change, because the iPhone is getting an upgrade.
And I'm not talking about just the phone itself. Apple's building a universe of applications, games and other features that could be just as important. The company is again setting a new standard for cell phones.
Another selling point: Apple is dropping the iPhone's price to $200 for an 8GB model and $300 for a 16GB version. But the biggest news of the day is a new iPhone that runs on 3G technology, which makes Web browsing much faster. The phones also have built-in GPS, which is sending Garmin shares down 5% so far. The new iPhone is due out July 11.
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Posted
Jun 05 2008, 12:15 PM
by
Kim Peterson
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Verizon shares are up 5% today after the company said it will buy Alltel for $28 billion, which includes assuming about $22 billion in Alltel debt. Verizon will surprass AT&T to become the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. MocoNews says Alltel is an industry pioneer: with only 13 million subscribers, it tests new services quickly and acts almost like a laboratory for everyone else. Snatching up an innovative company that isn't afraid to break new ground is important as Verizon competes with an increasing number of rivals across multiple technology fronts. Verizon picks up some assets as well; Alltel serves 57 rural markets that Verizon had no presence in.
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Posted
Jun 03 2008, 11:18 AM
by
Kim Peterson
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Starbucks has finally called off the T-Mobile hounds and now offers two hours of free Wi-Fi a day to customers. Well, it's not completely free, but it's close. Here's how to get it: First, spend at least $5 on a reloadable Starbucks card, which you can get in stores. Then, go online and register for Starbucks' rewards card program. Then create an AT&T Wi-Fi account. You have to agree to let AT&T send you four spam "special offer" e-mails a year. You also have to use the Starbucks card once a month, which means you have to buy something at Starbucks once a month. Sounds like a bit of work, doesn't it? Starbucks shares are down 2% today to $17.57. Why the sudden burst of generosity?
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Posted
May 30 2008, 09:59 AM
by
Kim Peterson
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Broadcom shares have jumped more than 6% today to $28.85, and it's all because of Apple's iPhone. Broadcom, a chipmaker, is rumored to be the company supplying the global positioning system in the new 3G iPhone expected out next month. If that's the case, expect a bright future for Broadcom, a company which hasn't had the best year. Regulators recently accused the company's co-founders of falsifying income, and have charged two other executives in the case. Some of them may face criminal charges. Broadcom reported $3.78 billion in sales last year and a $213.3 million profit.
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