The Tech News Blog
Seagate’s Profits Triple, Even After Thai Floods
Shrugging off the effects of a disastrous Thai flood, Seagate outperformed Wall Street expectation, reporting higher revenue and profits and just a slightly lower number of disk drives.
Seagate’s gross margins soared to 31.6 percent, indicative of either customers willing to pay more to obtain Seagate’s hard drives, or else shifting to higher-margin products.
In any event, Seagate’s profits rose to $563 million compared to $150 million for the same period a year ago, and revenue rose from $2.7 billion to $3.2 billion. Seagate shipped 47 million disk drives, down just slightly from the 48.9 million disk drives it shipped a year ago.
Kindle Fire, App Store Give Amazon Holiday Cheer
Amazon reported a 177 percent increase in the number of Kindles sold during the holidays, adding that the Kindle Fire was the top-selling product across its entire product line.
The retailer also noted a sharp increase in app downloads from its app store, proving that it is serving as an alternative to the Android Market.
Amazon reported a drop in profits for the all-important holidays season, however, as net income fell by 58 percent to $177 million. Revenue, however, soared 35 percent versus a year ago, to $17.43 billion.
Although an analyst estimated that Amazon sold 6 million Kindle Fire tablets during the fourth quarter, Amazon would say only – as it often does – that the Kindle Fire was “#1 bestselling, most gifted, and most wished-for product” since its launch.
Has iPhone 4S Success Prompted Rivals to Delay Devices?
Apple’s competitors in the smartphone market are waiting for sales of the iPhone 4S to cool off before bringing out the newest versions of their own products, according to Taiwan-based tech journal DigiTimes.
The latest iPhone, released in October in the U.S. and other major markets, has been a massive hit with consumers – Apple controlled nearly 24 percent of the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to market research reports. First-quarter iPhone 4S sales aren’t expected to drop off, say DigiTimes unnamed supply chain sources, and that’s got companies like Samsung, HTC, Nokia, and LG Electronics playing a waiting game “to avoid competing too directly” with Apple’s handset.
Instead, those smartphone makers will wait to launch their newest models at the 2012 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona being held from Feb. 27 through March 1, the tech journal’s sources.
Facebook’s IPO by the Numbers
Facebook’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission could happen as early as Feb. 1, with the initial public offering of stock thought to take place three to four months after.
Experts have estimated Facebook’s valuation at somewhere in the ballpark of $75 billion to $100 billion. The IPO could help Facebook raise as much as $10 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal and other sources.
Those numbers sound astronomical, but in light of other tech companies, are they? Here, we’ve pulled some statistics to put Facebook into perspective, both among other Internet companies and globally.
Did Apple Really Best HP as Top PC Maker?
Research firm Canalys is reporting that Apple surpassed Hewlett-Packard in the fourth quarter of 2011 to claim the title of top PC maker – but the company is once again counting tablets as PCs.
Canalys said 120 million PCs were shipped globally last quarter, up 16 percent from the same time last year. Of those, 15.43 million were Apple iPads and 5.2 million were Macs, accounting for 17 percent of the total, Canalys said.
Apple confirmed those numbers last week when it released its record-breaking fourth quarter results.
While Apple saw significant gains, all of the other top five PC makers, save for Lenovo, gave up market share. Lenovo saw a meager 2 percent gain. Canalys said HP, which landed at the number-two position, was the “hardest hit,” and will struggle to compete with Apple, especially after it pulled the plug on the TouchPad.
“Currently, HP is pursuing a Windows strategy for its pad portfolio, producing enterprise-focused products, such as the recently launched Slate 2, until the launch of Windows 8,” Canalys analyst Tim Coulling said in a statement. “However, questions remain over Microsoft’s entry into the consumer pad space. While early demonstrations of the Windows 8 operating system seem promising, Microsoft must focus its efforts on creating an intuitive user experience that is far less resource intensive.”
Apple Taps European Exec as New Retail Head
Aside from the iPhone, Apple’s most startling success in recent years has been its retail power driven by the now iconic Apple Stores around the world. Today Apple placed the very delicate future of that part of its business in the hands of a relative newcomer, John Browett.
As the most valuable company on the planet, in terms of market capitalization, any major shift in strategy from Apple garners attention, but this latest move will likely raise some eyebrows due to Browett’s background. Most notably, Browett is not a Silicon Valley insider, a telling fact given that he is Tim Cook’s first external executive hire since becoming the CEO of Apple last year.
According to Apple, Browlett will be in charge of the company’s retail strategy, as well as the ongoing expansion of Apple stores internationally. Commenting on the new director of Apple’s retail efforts, Cook said, “Our retail stores are all about customer service, and John shares that commitment like no one else we’ve met… We are thrilled to have him join our team and bring his incredible retail experience to Apple.”
With the addition of Browlett, born in the U.K., Apple’s corporate DNA has now become even more British, adding to the existing efforts of the company’s well known London-bred design chief Jonathan Ive. In this video, Browlett gives an interview several years ago as the CEO of Dixons, Britain’s largest electronics retailer. Prior to Dixons, Browlett served as CEO of Tesco.com, a major global superstore chain similar to Wal Mart.
Analyst: Amazon Sold 6 Million Kindle Fire Tablets
Late last month, Amazon said it had sold more than 4 million Kindle devices over the holiday season. The Fire tablet was its most-popular Kindle device, but the retailer did not provide exact sales figures.
Now, one financial analyst believes Amazon shipped approximately 6 million Fire tablets during the fourth quarter, up from earlier estimates of 5 million.
“Our checks with mobile advertising companies (search and display) suggest the Kindle Fire is ramping the way that iPad ramped upon its introduction,” Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan wrote in a Monday note to investors.
Amazon is not quite selling the 13 million iPads that Apple sold in the fourth quarter, Rohan said, but it’s shipping “millions of devices nonetheless.”
“Even if Amazon makes no incremental contribution on the sale of the hardware, the fact that the company has used its distribution prowess to define and dominate the low end of the device ecosystem is quite impressive,” Rohan continued. “And there is significant strategic value in becoming the third major device ecosystem after iOS and Android. We believe that shows up in both revenues and margins, longer term.”
Samsung Galaxy Note Coming to AT&T Feb. 19
On Monday, Samsung announced that it will bring the Samsung Galaxy Note to the United States beginning Feb. 19 for AT&T customers.
The Galaxy Note includes a 5.3-inch screen, effectively straddling the line between smartphone and tablet. First unveiled at AT&T’s Developer Summit earlier this month, Samsung hopes its newest device can make a splash among consumers looking to merge their smartphone and tablet into one device.
With smartphone screens generally hovering around the 4-inch mark and tablets duking it out in 10- and 7-inch form factors, the Galaxy Note represents a new take on the power struggle – one that PCMag lead mobile analyst Sascha Segan has dubbed the “phablet.” The Galaxy Note will be powered by a 1.5-Ghz, dual-core processor, with 16GB of built-in memory, putting it on par with many high-end smartphones and tablets today. The major difference here is the 5.3-inch, 1280-by-800 pixel display, which makes it gargantuan by phone standards, besting the already oversized Galaxy Nexus, which PCMag found to be too big for many with smaller hands, but also much smaller than any tablet out there. Samsung will be going with a Super AMOLED HD screen on the Galaxy Note, which differs slightly in sharpness from the PenTile Super AMOLED Plus screens used on Samsung’s Galaxy S II phones.
The Galaxy Note will also be able to access AT&T’s 4G LTE Network. With questions surrounding battery life on LTE devices, the Galaxy Note’s large 2500 mAh battery could prove crucial for extended use. Other notable features include an SD card slot, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
Though the Galaxy Note doesn’t really fit into any established category, Samsung will be marketing it as a smartphone. During a hands-on session at this year’s CES, our analyst found that using the Galaxy Note as a phone “looks just short of comical.”
Samsung will be offering two color options for pre-order beginning on Feb. 5, a carbon blue and ceramic white model. Both will run you $299.99 with a two-year agreement, making it on par with most high-end smartphones. The Galaxy Note will reach retail shelves beginning Feb. 19, but those who pre-order by Feb. 15 can expect the Note to arrive at their doors on Feb. 17.
