Reporting disappointing second-quarter earnings a few weeks back, Sony warned that the Christmas shopping period would likely be a weak one. “We are quite cautious in foreseeing end-of-year sales,” Sony CFO Nobuyuki Oneda said at the time.
Reporting a second-quarter loss that widened thanks to a weak videogame market, Electronic Arts today said it will cut 1,500 jobs by early next year as part of a restructuring effort aimed at trimming at least $100 million in costs. This after announcing plans this morning to acquire social network game maker Playfish for $400 million.
Given the havoc the econalypse has played with other industries, the smart-phone market is in extraordinarily good shape. Shipments of the devices rose 4.2 percent to 43.3 million globally compared with 41.5 million shipped in third quarter of 2008.
Sirius XM Radio’s financial position is improving. Sadly, the same cannot be said for its subscribership. Reporting earnings this morning, the company broke even in its third quarter. Good news, but it was tempered with a bit of bad. Because Sirius’s subscriber growth is slowing.
2009 semiconductor sales are down from 2008 by nearly record amounts, but they’re improving. That’s the latest word from the Semiconductor Industry Association, which said today that global chip sales rose in September from the previous month–the seventh straight month of gains.
Sony’s second quarter was another sorry one marked by the company’s fourth loss in as many quarters. Still, it was smaller than expected.
Good thing Sprint expects to lose fewer customers this quarter than in previous quarters. Because if the company continues to lose them at its former rate–well, things are going to get even uglier. Reporting a wider third-quarter loss than expected this morning, Sprint said it lost 545,000 wireless customers and 801,000 more in the crucial postpaid category.
Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp racked up its second profitable quarter in a row Tuesday despite a decline in advertising. The company–which runs Ask.com and the Citysearch online city guide, among other things–posted earnings of $21.3 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $15.2 million, or 11 cents a share.
Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo says the demand for mobile devices improved in many markets during the third quarter–but you wouldn’t know it to look at the company’s earnings. This morning, Nokia posted an unexpected 559 million euro ($836 million) loss for the period, its first in a decade. Worse, its smart-phone market share declined to 35 percent from 41 percent in the previous quarter.
What a disappointing report from Research in Motion. For its fiscal second quarter, the BlackBerry maker posted sales and an outlook that fell short of analysts’ expectations. Earnings slipped by four percent, with RIM making $475.6 million, or 83 cents, per share.
Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein likes to say smart-phone makers “don’t have to beat each other to prosper,” but it’s beginning to look like they–or, rather, Palm–might have to. Because while the Pre may have put Palm back in the game, it’s not clear how long it can keep it there.
Reporting second-quarter results earlier this year, Microsoft cited “a continued shift to lower-priced netbooks” as one factor degrading its financial performance. The netbook’s ascension meant, and continues to mean, that Windows client-licensing revenue is down. So the company will surely be aghast to learn that netbook sales are growing twice as quickly as those of full-sized laptops.
Dell’s profit fell 23 percent in its second quarter. Its sales fell 22 percent. But the company still beat Wall Street expectations, and that’s what counts these days. Dell shares spiked nearly seven percent when the news was released, oddly, three minutes before the close of trading Thursday.
AT&T and Verizon have run afoul of TiVo’s video patents. Reporting a second-quarter loss and projected results below Wall Street expectations Wednesday, the digital video recorder pioneer said it is suing the two telecoms for infringing on its patents for technology that allows DVRs to simultaneously store and play back programs, pause live television and deliver other features.
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper. Read more »
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
12:58 AM: Breakfast: Two schools of fish from Tokyo Bay. Calories: 782,000. How I was feeling when I ate this: confused, irradiated, hating my size.
11:37 AM: Exercise: “Taxi Stomp” (alternating legs, for 30 blocks). Calories burned: 148,900,183.
1983. The Beatles announce their first tour in thirteen years, but likewise announce that Michael Jackson will be going on tour with them as a one gigantic mega-concert event.
Best video mashup ever.
A Facebook Memorial
Wow.
Worth it for the Rickrolling photo alone.
Excellent.
Flughumor!
… you vacuous, toffee-nosed, malodorous perverts
Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine meet the kakapo — a fat, flightless and very randy rare parrot.
D is unlike any other executive conference. Since its debut in 2003, D has brought to life the energy and excitement of the digital revolution in an unscripted, upfront and unparalleled way. Read more »
Don't miss a post! Sign up for our Daily Email and get AllThingsD.com delivered each day.
Get columns, blogs and video from D and All Things Digital on your iPhone. Download now »
