Following Facebook’s $1 billion acquisition of popular photo-sharing service Instagram, the company is reportedly now considering another billion-dollar deal. According to Israel-based newspaper Calcalist, Facebook is in the late stages of acquisition talks with Israeli social navigation service Waze and the deal could be worth between $800 million and $1 billion. The talks reportedly began six months ago and due diligence is now underway. TechCrunch previously reported that Apple was in talks to acquire Waze, but then later debunked its own report in a subsequent post.
Sony on Thursday posted its full-year financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31st, 2013. The struggling Japan-based consumer electronics giant managed to eke out its first full-year profit in five years, posting net income of 43 billion yen, or approximately $458 million for fiscal 2012. Smartphone sales into channels came in at 33 million units while LCD TV sales fell 38% to 13.5 million units. Combined sales of the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2 fell to 16.5 million units in fiscal 2013, and Sony shipped a total of 7 million handheld Vita consoles. In fiscal 2013, Sony expects TV sales to rebound to 16 million units while smartphone shipments grow 27% to 42 million handsets.
The iPhone 5 has come under a lot of scrutiny lately, with both analysts and Apple suppliers claiming that they’ve seen disappointing demand for the device, but now it seems that demand for the iPad mini may be falling as well. Bloomberg reports that iPad mini manufacturer Pegatron is projecting that its second-quarter revenue “will drop 25% to 30% from the previous three months,” which marks the biggest drop since “a 37% decline in the fourth quarter of 2011.” Pegatron CEO Jason Cheng said that falling demand for Apple’s smaller tablet was a significant part of the plunge in revenues, while adding that it’s “not just tablets, also e-books and games consoles, almost every item is moving in a negative direction.” Bloomberg says that the iPad mini accounts than more than 50% of Pegatron’s revenue. More →
Given that Samsung is one of only two smartphone vendors in the world to post significant profits, it’s not surprising that it has been accumulating a massive pile of cash that it can plug into research and development or even return to shareholders as part of increased dividend payments. The Wall Street Journal notes that Samsung’s latest earnings report shows that the company now has almost $40 billion in cash and cash equivalents, while its net cash position minus debt is around $28.5 billion. More →
Microsoft has named current Corporate Vice President Amy Hood as its new Chief Financial Officer. The company announced on Wednesday that Hood will replace outgoing CFO Peter Klein starting in June, marking the first time that a woman has held the post within the company. Hood has been working at Microsoft since 2002 and most recently served as CFO of the Microsoft Business Division whose products include Office and other important enterprise software and services. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that Hood “brings the right talents and experiences to the role as we continue to strengthen our focus on devices and services” while adding that “she has been an instrumental leader in… helping lead the transition to services with Office 365 and delivering strong financial and operational management throughout her time on the business.”
In case you haven’t noticed, T-Mobile CEO John Legere isn’t like most wireless industry executives. For one, he’s actually entertaining to listen to because he’s not afraid to trash his competitors in candid and at times profane terms. This is all part of a carefully constructed strategy, however, and a profile on Legere at The Wall Street Journal makes clear that Legere thinks that he needs to draw attention to himself if he’s going to have any chance of drawing customers away from Verizon and AT&T. In particular the Journal notes that after becoming T-Mobile CEO, Legere “grew his hair out, traded his ties for T-shirts and has started sprinkling his public comments with profanity” to make himself stand out. More →
With Nokia continuing to languish, investors have understandably become frustrated with CEO Stephen Elop. As we saw earlier this week, investors implored Elop to reconsider his decision to go exclusively with Windows Phone as Nokia’s mobile platform despite the fact that it hasn’t at all helped the company boost its market share against rivals Apple and Samsung. Elop did nothing to ease investors’ fears by stubbornly asserting that his only “Plan B” was to make his Windows Phone “Plan A” succeed. If Nokia’s fortunes don’t improve markedly by the end of the year, I can imagine shareholders ousting Elop and replacing him with someone who will branch out the company’s operating system portfolio to include Android. More →
T-Mobile US on Wednesday posted first-quarter financial results for the pre-merger T-Mobile USA, which saw earnings and revenue continue to slide. Adjusted EBITDA of $1.2 billion was down more than 7% from the first quarter last year, and revenue sank 7% to $4.7 billion. The carrier finished the March quarter with approximately 34 million subscribers, an increase of about 579,000 customers. T-Mobile added 3,000 net branded subscribers but it lost 199,000 net postpaid customers in the quarter. More →
Although we’ve long heard rumors about Google’s plans to open its own brick and mortar retail stores to showcase its Android and Chrome products, a new report suggests that the company may open stores dedicated solely to its wearable computing device. According to Business Insider, Google’s rumored retail stores will cater specifically to customers looking to buy Google Glass. The Glass brand will reportedly be front and center, with Glass specialists on site to help users test the highly anticipated device. Earlier reports had claimed that Google was interested in opening retail stores in several major metropolitan areas across the United States ahead of this year’s holiday season.
It’s safe to say that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop did not enjoy his chat with investors on Tuesday. Reuters reports that shareholders at Nokia’s annual general meeting said they were losing patience with Elop’s efforts to turn around his company’s fortunes and implored him to reconsider his decision to go exclusively with Windows Phone as the official operating system of all Nokia smartphones. More →
Samsung’s new Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone is now upon us, and early signs are pointing to a big launch. Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley doesn’t formally cover Samsung, but he fancies himself as being plugged into wireless retail and he suggested in a recent research note that Samsung’s new king is off to a solid start. More →
See if this scenario sounds familiar: A longtime Apple manufacturing partner looks to move away from its dependence on the company and focus more on creating its own products that it can sell at higher margins. While this has certainly been the story of Samsung’s success over the past couple of years, a new report from The New York Times suggests that iPhone manufacturer Foxconn may be drawing up a similar path for itself by designing and manufacturing its own brand of televisions while also inching itself away from depending on Apple as its major source of income. More →
