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Business
January 26, 2012
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AT&T reports best-ever quarter for smartphones; 7.6 millon iPhones activated

By on January 26, 2012 at 7:51 AM.

AT&T reports best-ever quarter for smartphones; 7.6 millon iPhones activated


AT&T reported its fourth-quarter 2011 results on Thursday and noted that it achieved record mobile broadband and smartphone activations during the quarter. The company reported consolidated revenue of $32.5 billion, up 3.6% or $1.1 billion from the same quarter last year, but it posted a loss of $6.7 billion, or $1.12 per share. EPS swings to a profit of $0.42 per share discounting one-time charges including the massive breakup fee paid to T-Mobile. AT&T attributed 76% of its revenue growth to wireless, wireline data and managed services, which represented 76% of overall revenue, up 7.5% from last year. The carrier sold 9.4 million smartphones during the quarter, a record that was 50% more than its previous record and more than twice the number of smartphones that were sold during the last quarter. AT&T added 717,000 postpaid customers, the largest increase in postpaid in five quarters, and 2.5 million total net wireless subscribers. The company said it was also the best quarter for Android and iPhone activations and that it activated a total of 7.6 million iPhones during the quarter. AT&T also noted that its full year revenue totaled $126.7 billion, up 2% from the $124.3 billion it reported in 2010. AT&T’s full press release follows after the break. More →

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Business
December 28, 2011
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Holiday spending jumps 15% from last year to $35.3 billion

By on December 28, 2011 at 8:10 PM.

Holiday spending jumps 15% from last year to $35.3 billion

U.S. Consumers spent $35.3 billion during this year’s holiday season, up 15% from the same period last year. Shoppers also spent a total of $2.8 billion during the week ended December 25th, up 16% from the same week in 2010, comScore reported. “Holiday e-commerce spending has remained strong throughout the season, and we have now reached a record $35 billion in U.S. online sales for the season-to-date,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni, noting that the record $1.25 billion spent on Cyber Monday represented the heaviest online spending day for the second straight year. ComScore also said that there were a total of nine days during the holiday season during which consumers spent more than $1 billion. The research firm noticed a spike in digital content and subscription sales on Christmas Day, no doubt as a result of consumers loading up their new tablets, computers and phones with applications. Digital content and subscription purchases typically counted for 2.8% of all e-commerce sales during the holiday season, but that figure jumped to more than 20% on Christmas Day. ComScore’s full press release follows after the break. More →

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Business
November 30, 2011
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Record $1.25 billion spent online on historic Cyber Monday

By on November 30, 2011 at 10:20 PM.

Record $1.25 billion spent online on historic Cyber Monday

U.S. consumers spent a record $1.25 billion online on Cyber Monday, the second time the U.S. has ever spent more than $1 billion online in a single day and a 22% increase from the amount spent last year. “While last year saw Cyber Monday rank as the heaviest online spending day of the year for the first time ever, it will be interesting to watch the next couple of weeks to see if any future individual days in 2011 manage to leapfrog this year’s highest day-to-date,” comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said. 50.2% the money spent on Cyber Monday originated from a work computer, comScore noted. 43.2% of the Cyber Monday spending was attributed to users buying goods from home and U.S. consumers abroad spent 6.6% of the overall Cyber Monday total. ComScore’s study also found that $15 billion has been spent online for the holiday-season-to-date, a 15% increase from the same time period last year. In comparison to Cyber Monday, $479 million was spent online on Thanksgiving Day, $816 million was spent on Black Friday and just over $1 billion was spent during the holiday weekend. ComScore’s full press release follows after the break. More →

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Business
November 29, 2011
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Xbox sees biggest ever sales week thanks to hot holiday weekend

By on November 29, 2011 at 4:10 PM.

Xbox sees biggest ever sales week thanks to hot holiday weekend

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that last week marked the Xbox 360′s best ever week of sales. The company sold more than 960,000 Xbox 360 consoles and more than 750,000 Kinect controllers last week. Microsoft also confirmed that more than 800,000 of the consoles it sold last week were purchased on Black Friday alone. ”We have seen tremendous excitement from customers for our hot holiday gaming offers,” said Chris Homeister, senior vice president and general manager of Home Entertainment at Best Buy, in a statement. “Xbox 360 was among the best-sellers at Best Buy this Black Friday, and is a testament to the continued popularity of the gaming category this holiday.” Microsoft’s full announcement follows below. More →

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Gaming
November 15, 2011
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 declares war on sales records: 12M copies, $738M in first week

By on November 15, 2011 at 12:20 PM.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 declares war on sales records: 12M copies, $738M in first week

Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has become the fastest-selling video game in history, crushing previous records set by earlier titles in the Call of Duty franchise. The game lab on Tuesday announced that week-one sales of Modern Warfare 3 totaled 12.3 million units, making it the biggest launch of all time and pulling in an estimated $738 million in revenue. The Xbox 360 version of the game lead sales with more than 7 million copies, a record for game sales on a single console that was previously held by Call of Duty: Black Ops (5.8 million), and 4.8 million copies were sold for the PlayStation 3. Nintendo’s Wii split the remaining half-million copies with the PC version of the game. Activision announced late last week that the new title sold 6.5 million copies and reeled in $400 million during its launch weekend alone, also a record. We reviewed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 last week and called it our favorite first-person shooter ever.

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General
October 25, 2011
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Amazon profit falls 73% in Q3 despite record Kindle launch

By on October 25, 2011 at 5:05 PM.

Amazon profit falls 73% in Q3 despite record Kindle launch

Amazon reported third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, noting net sales increased 44% from the same quarter last year to $10.88 billion. That figure is on a par with Wall Street’s revenue expectations of $10.93 billion. Amazon reported EPS of $0.14, which missed the Street’s estimates of $0.24 per share. Net income fell 73% quarter-over-quarter, however. Amazon reported net income of $63 million during the third quarter, down from $231 million in the second quarter. The online retailer said September 28th was its biggest day ever for Kindle sales, including during the previous peak holiday season. “In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said. “And based on what we’re seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we’re increasing capacity and building millions more than we’d already planned.” Looking forward to the fourth quarter, Amazon expects net sales to fall between $16.45 billion and $18.65 billion, 27-44% growth over the fourth quarter of last year. The company also confirmed better than expected demand for its Kindle Fire tablet, noting that it is building “millions more” tablets than it had initially orders. Shares of Amazon stock fell more than 14% in after-hours trading. Read on for the full press release from Amazon.

More →

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Breaking
October 20, 2011
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AT&T iPhone 4S activations top 1 million

By on October 20, 2011 at 9:06 AM.

AT&T iPhone 4S activations top 1 million

And the disappointments keep on coming… AT&T on Thursday announced that it has now activated more than 1 million iPhone 4S handsets. ”It’s no surprise that customers are clamoring for the iPhone 4S and they want it to run on a network that lets them download twice as fast as competitors’,” said AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega in a statement. Apple announced on Monday that opening-weekend sales of its new iPhone 4S handset surpassed 4 million units, and AT&T reported last Friday that it had activated a record number of iPhones on the device’s first day of sales. Sprint also confirmed that October 14th, the day it released Apple’s iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, marked the best-ever sales day for a single line of devices in the carrier’s history. AT&T’s full press release follows below.

More →

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Software
October 19, 2011
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Google Music Store ‘will have a little twist’ Andy Rubin says

By on October 19, 2011 at 10:00 PM.

Google Music Store ‘will have a little twist’ Andy Rubin says

During the AsiaD conference in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Google’s Android boss Andy Rubin said his company’s upcoming music store “will have a little twist.” Rubin confirmed Google “won’t just be selling 99 cent tracks,” which suggests it might take a subscription-based approach, or even offer ad-based free listening as Spotify does. Google Music beta already allows users to store up to 20,000 in the cloud. Reportedly, Google is only close to sealing a deal with EMI snd has not yet signed each of the other major record labels. Rubin explained that Google’s image as a search engine may have contributed to a stall in the deals. “Google is in the very very early phases of adding consumer products to our portfolio,” Rubin said during AsiaD. “The media industry didn’t see us as that. They saw us a search company.” Reports surfaced on Tuesday that suggested Google will launch its music store this quarter, but a separate story from The New York Times has said it could launch in the coming weeks. More →

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mobile
October 14, 2011
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Having trouble finding an iPhone 4S? Head to RadioShack, retailer says

By on October 14, 2011 at 6:30 PM.

Having trouble finding an iPhone 4S? Head to RadioShack, retailer says

As we reach the end of the workday, hordes of iPhone hopefuls are likely getting ready to pack it in and head to their local retailer in an effort to score a shiny new iPhone 4S. As popular as the device has been around the country however, stock-outs are a definite possibility. After all, Sprint and AT&T have both announced record sales and the day isn’t even over. According to an email from a RadioShack spokesperson, The Shack might just be your best bet. “iPhone 4s enthusiasts who are still looking to get their device late this afternoon or over the weekend will find them at their nearby RadioShack,” the company said in the emailed statement. “RadioShack has the iPhone 4S available in 3,000 stores nationwide, and available through its ‘Direct2U’ program in all stores nationwide — customers can buy iPhone 4S at any RadioShack location and have it shipped directly to their homes. Availability of specific configurations (carrier, white vs. black, 16GB vs. 32GB) may vary somewhat across locations. It’s recommended customers call their local store for information.”

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mobile
October 14, 2011
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AT&T announces record iPhone activations

By on October 14, 2011 at 5:53 PM.

AT&T announces record iPhone activations

AT&T on Friday confirmed that it has activated a record number of iPhones. “As of 4:30 pm ET today, AT&T had already activated a record number of iPhones on our network – and is on-track to double our previous record for activations on a single day,” the company said in a statement delivered to BGR via email. “These record volumes may produce slower activations for some customers, though our systems continue to run at record levels.” Customers have been complaining of difficulties with activations on various forums around the Web. Considering the carrier has already doubled its single-day activation record, it’s pretty impressive that the system is up at all. It should be noted that some customers are reporting better luck with activating their new iPhones on the device rather than through iTunes.

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Business
October 14, 2011
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Sprint confirms ‘best ever day of sales’ thanks to iPhone 4, iPhone 4S

By on October 14, 2011 at 5:00 PM.

Sprint confirms ‘best ever day of sales’ thanks to iPhone 4, iPhone 4S

Sprint on Friday confirmed that today’s iPhone launch has resulted in the carrier’s best-ever day of sales for a device family. ”Sprint today reported its best ever day of sales in retail, web and telesales for a device family in Sprint history with the launch of iPhone 4S and iPhone 4,” Sprint’s product chief Fared Adib said in a statement sent to BGR via email. “We reached this milestone at approximately noon CT/1pm ET. The response to this device by current and new customers has surpassed our expectations and validates our customers’ desire for a truly unlimited data pricing plan.” Sprint subscribers have been clamoring for Apple’s smartphone for years, and pent up demand looks to have made for quite a launch day at for the carrier. Some analysts, such as Yankee Group’s Carl Howe, believe Apple could sell as many as 4 million iPhone handsets across all carriers this weekend.

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Business
October 3, 2011
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Ticonderoga: Aluminum iPhone 5 is happening, launch to ‘shatter’ sales records

By on October 3, 2011 at 12:50 PM.

Ticonderoga: Aluminum iPhone 5 is happening, launch to ‘shatter’ sales records

Despite rumors, leaks and punditry that now suggest a worst case scenario — no iPhone 5, just an iPhone 4S and an entry-level iPhone 4 — Apple will indeed unveil the mythical aluminum unibody iPhone 5 on Tuesday that will “shatter” Apple’s previous smartphone sales records. In a note to investors on Monday, Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White wrote that Apple has a blockbuster in store for consumers this fall, with unprecedented demand that will result in Apple’s biggest launch ever. Read on for more. More →

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mobile
October 3, 2011
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iOS and Mac OS X market shares hit record highs

By on October 3, 2011 at 8:11 AM.

iOS and Mac OS X market shares hit record highs

A recent report from Net Applications suggests that Apple’s iOS and Mac OS X operating systems both achieved a record high global market shares during the month of September. iOS had a global market share of 54.65% for the month, up from the 53.04% grip it had on the market in August. iOS is trailed by Java ME with an 18.52% market share, Android (16.25%)  Symbian (6.12%) and BlackBerry (3.29%). Mac OS X reached a record high 6.45% share of the operating system market during September, up from 6.03% in August, which is dominated by Microsoft’s Windows (92.44%). Linux has a fraction of the market with a small 1.11% piece of the pie. Apple is expected to take the wraps off of its next iPhone during a press conference in Cupertino on October 4th, and we’ll be reporting all the news as it breaks. More →

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