Vonage may have raked in $216 million in revenue, netting itself $14 million in profit, but things still seem to be heading in the wrong direction for the company. We're not even talking about the sharp decrease in net income -- the $350 million made in the last quarter was thanks in large part to a one-time tax benefit. Revenue remained flat sequentially at $216 million, but was down slightly from the same time last year. What's more, churn had increased from Q4 and, despite signing up 165,000 new accounts, the VoIP carrier managed lose 19,000 subscribers -- and that's after dropping 14,000 last quarter. For more info check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Vonage reports $14 million in income, loses 19,000 subscribers

Vonage reports $14 million in income, loses 19,000 subscribers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 22:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Maybe he's finished running with the underdog, or maybe he's just done with the corporate gig altogether, but one thing is certain: as of May 25th, Cole Brodman will mark his exit from T-Mobile. For the past two years, Mr. Brodman has served as the carrier's chief marketing officer, and his departure concludes 17 years with the company. During his tenure, Cole Brodman railed against the subsidized handset game, helped drive the adoption of smartphones and -- sadly -- crushed our dreams for the potential of a Magenta-branded iPhone. He must also claim at least partial responsibility for the carrier's net loss of customers in 2011, with a total of 802,000 subscribers jumping ship in Q4 alone.

One thing is certain of Mr. Brodman's exit, however: he seems content with the decision. Likening the move to a retirement, he remarked, "It's an opportunity to step away, get a break and start to think about how I want to do something next." Andrew Sherrard will replace Cole Brodman as T-Mobile's interim chief marketing officer while the company searches for a permanent replacement. So long, Mr. Brodman, and thanks for the smartphones.

[Cole Brodman photo via CNET]

T-Mobile USA's chief marketing officer, Cole Brodman, calls it quits originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 17:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia and Microsoft plan to continue their mobile partnership by entering into the tablet race, DigiTimes reported on Monday. According to the publication, Nokia will release a 10-inch Windows 8-powered tablet with a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon chip in the fourth quarter of 2012. “Nokia is expected to outsource production of the 10-inch tablets to Compal Electronics with the first batch of shipments to top 200,000 units,” noted the site’s sources. A Nokia spokesperson previously denied the Finnish vendor’s intentions to enter the tablet market. “We haven’t announced any plans anywhere in the world at this point regarding a potential tablet strategy,â€� the company representative said.

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Apple and Samsung are in the midst of a patent-fueled war with no end in site, but the pair has also inadvertently joined forces to make it increasingly difficult for other vendors to continue making smartphones. New estimates suggest Apple and Samsung combined to take in a staggering 95% of smartphone industry profits in the fourth quarter of 2011. The figures paint an even bleaker picture for the rest of the players in the smartphone business than earlier estimates; UBS analyst Maynard Um said last week that Apple and Samsung’s combined take amounted to 90% of smartphone industry profits. Read on for more.

“With the strong iPhone market share gains during Q4/11 combined with Samsung’s strong share gains within the Android ecosystem, we estimate Apple and Samsung captured roughly 95% of industry profits,” Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley wrote in a note to investors on Thursday.

Walkley continued, “Apple generated a remarkable 80% share of estimated Q4/11 handset industry operating profits (vs. 56% in Q3/11 and 48% in Q4/10) with only 8.1% global handset market share. Demonstrating the strength of the iPhone’s profit share gains during Q4/11, Samsung’s share of industry profits declined from roughly 26% in Q3/11 to 15% in Q4/11, even though Samsung’s share of Android smartphones increased from 35% in Q3/11 to 39% in Q4/11.”

As Apple and Samsung each reported blowout quarters last month — Apple’s $13 billion holiday quarter was the most profitable quarter ever recorded by a technology company — other smartphone vendors are on the ropes. Nokia posted a €1 billion loss in the fourth quarter, Sony Ericsson reported a €247 million loss, LG posted its second consecutive loss last quarter, HTC continued to slump, Motorola recorded an $80 million loss and RIM continued to slide as well.

And for these struggling smartphone companies, Walkley doesn’t see things getting better in the immediate future. “With RIM, Nokia, HTC, and Sony Ericsson all in the midst of product transitions and Motorola Mobility merging with Google, we believe Apple and Samsung will maintain dominant share positions during H1/12,” the analyst wrote. ”Our January checks indicate Apple and Samsung trends remain strong versus competitors.”

Samsung is expected to launch its quad-core Galaxy S III smartphone this coming May, and Apple will then reportedly launch a completely redesigned next-generation iPhone later this year.

HTC's 2011 Q4: good summer, bad winter originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Strategy Analytics: Apple still owns tablet market, but Android narrows the gap

Strategy Analytics: Apple still owns tablet market, but Android narrows the gap originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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During the company’s earnings call on Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple TV is “doing extremely well.” The Cupertino-based company sold a record 1.4 million units in the December quarter, though Cook says the product is still just a hobby. “We still classify this as a hobby, but we continue to add things to it,” he said. “I couldn’t live without it. We think it’s a fantastic product and we continue to pull strings and see where we can take it.” Cook also revealed that the company’s iCloud service now has 85 million users. “We’re thrilled with iCloud and the response from customers has been incredible,” he said. “It was a fundamental shift, recognizing that people had numerous devices and wanted their content in the cloud. 85 million customers in three months; It’s not a product, it’s a strategy for the next decade.”

The share of recent smartphone buyers in the United States who chose Apple’s iPhone over rivals in the fourth quarter nearly doubled compared to the three months ending in October 2011, Nielsen said on Wednesday. The market research firm polled recent smartphone acquirers in December and found that 44.5% of buyers purchased an iPhone over the three months leading up to the survey. Meanwhile, 46.9% of respondents said they purchased an Android smartphone and 4.5% said they bought a BlackBerry. A similar poll conducted in October found that 25.1% of recent acquirers purchased an iPhone compared to 61.6% who purchased an Android phone and 7.7% who chose a BlackBerry smartphone. Nielsen also noted that among recent smartphone buyers between October and December who purchased an iPhone model, 57% bought an iPhone 4S. In the fourth quarter, Nielsen found that Android held its OS market share lead with 46.3%, followed by iOS (30%), BlackBerry OS (14.9%), Windows Mobile (4.6%), webOS (1.4%), Symbian (1.4%) and Windows Phone (1.3%). Additional charts highlighting Nielsen’s findings follow below.

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The share of recent smartphone buyers in the United States who chose Apple’s iPhone over rivals in the fourth quarter nearly doubled compared to the three months ending in October 2011, Nielsen said on Wednesday. The market research firm polled recent smartphone acquirers in December and found that 44.5% of buyers purchased an iPhone over the three months leading up to the survey. Meanwhile, 46.9% of respondents said they purchased an Android smartphone and 4.5% said they bought a BlackBerry. A similar poll conducted in October found that 25.1% of recent acquirers purchased an iPhone compared to 61.6% who purchased an Android phone and 7.7% who chose a BlackBerry smartphone. Nielsen also noted that among recent smartphone buyers between October and December who purchased an iPhone model, 57% bought an iPhone 4S. In the fourth quarter, Nielsen found that Android held its OS market share lead with 46.3%, followed by iOS (30%), BlackBerry OS (14.9%), Windows Mobile (4.6%), webOS (1.4%), Symbian (1.4%) and Windows Phone (1.3%). Additional charts highlighting Nielsen’s findings follow below.

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Continue reading Nielsen: Android still top dog, but Q4 buyers preferred iPhone 4S

Nielsen: Android still top dog, but Q4 buyers preferred iPhone 4S originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Nielsen: Android still top dog, but Q4 buyers preferred iPhone 4S

Nielsen: Android still top dog, but Q4 buyers preferred iPhone 4S originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Research In Motion on Thursday reported earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2012. The struggling smartphone vendor announced earlier this month that it would miss its third-quarter guidance of between $5.3 billion and $5.6 billion in revenue, and it said EPS would likely be in line with the low end of its earlier guidance. The numbers are now in, and RIM pulled in $5.2 billion last quarter while recording earnings of $1.27 per share, or $667 million, beating its lowered guidance. RIM shipped 14.1 million smartphones in the third quarter, in line with its guidance of between 13.5 million and 14.5 million units, and sell-through came in below expectations at 13 million units. Net income dropped to $285 million from $911 million in the same quarter last year, and the vendor’s fourth-quarter guidance was worse than expected. Read on for more.

“RIM continues to have strong technology, unique service capabilities and a large installed base of customers, and we are more determined than ever to capitalize on our strengths to overcome the recent execution challenges surrounding product launches and the resulting financial performance,” the company’s co-CEOs said in a joint statement. “As part of our commitment to improving our performance to better meet the expectations of shareholders and customers, we continue to evaluate ways to improve in several areas of the Company’s operations. It may take some time to realize the benefits of these efforts and the platform transition that we are undertaking, but we continue to believe that RIM has the right set of strengths and capabilities to maintain a leading role in the mobile communications industry.”

RIM’s global subscriber base grew to nearly 75 million customers during the quarter, up more than 30% over the same quarter last year.

The lack of interest in RIM’s debut tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook, has finally come to a head — RIM took a charge of $485 million related to unsold PlayBook inventory in the third fiscal quarter. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company only sold 150,000 PlayBook tablets into sales channels last quarter after selling 500,000 units in the first quarter and 200,000 in the second.

During the second quarter, RIM total cash and cash equivalents dropped from $2.9 billion to $1.4 billion due in large part to $780 million spent on Nortel patents. At the end of the third fiscal quarter, RIM’s available cash was up sequentially to $1.5 billion.

In the fourth fiscal quarter, RIM has forecast EPS of between $0.80 and $0.95 compared to the Street’s earlier $1.08 consensus, and the vendor anticipates revenue of between $4.6 billion and $4.98 billion compared to Wall Street’s $5.12 billion. Shares of RIM stock dropped 7% in after-hours trading on the news.

The company expects to ship between 11 and 12 million BlackBerry smartphones in the fourth fiscal quarter, and its full press release follows below.

RESEARCH IN MOTION REPORTS THIRD QUARTER FISCAL 2012 RESULTS

Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM)(TSX: RIM), a world leader in the mobile communications market, today reported third quarter results for the three months ended November 26, 2011 (all figures in U.S. dollars and U.S. GAAP, except where otherwise indicated).

Highlights:

– Revenue of $5.2 billion, up 24% from last quarter — BlackBerry smartphone shipments of 14.1 million, up 33% from Q2 — GAAP net income of $265 million or $0.51 per share diluted; adjusted net income of $667 million or $1.27 per share diluted — Subscribers up 35% year-over-year to almost 75 million — Cash flow from operations of approximately $895 million — Total of cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments of $1.5 billion

Q3 Results:

Revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 was $5.2 billion, up 24% from $4.2 billion in the previous quarter and down 6% from $5.5 billion in the same quarter of last year. The revenue breakdown for the quarter was approximately 79% for hardware, 19% for service and 2% for software and other revenue. During the quarter, RIM shipped approximately 14.1 million BlackBerry smartphones and approximately 150,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets.

“Despite the challenges faced in the third quarter, the BlackBerry subscriber base grew to almost 75 million customers around the world. In addition, RIM launched a range of new BlackBerry 7 based smartphones globally and introduced holiday promotions that helped drive growth in the installed base of BlackBerry PlayBook users,” said Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, Co-CEOs at Research In Motion. “RIM continues to have strong technology, unique service capabilities and a large installed base of customers, and we are more determined than ever to capitalize on our strengths to overcome the recent execution challenges surrounding product launches and the resulting financial performance. As part of our commitment to improving our performance to better meet the expectations of shareholders and customers, we continue to evaluate ways to improve in several areas of the Company’s operations. It may take some time to realize the benefits of these efforts and the platform transition that we are undertaking, but we continue to believe that RIM has the right set of strengths and capabilities to maintain a leading role in the mobile communications industry.”

The Company’s GAAP net income for the quarter was $265 million, or $0.51 per share diluted, compared with GAAP net income of $329 million, or $0.63 per share diluted, in the prior quarter and GAAP net income of $911 million, or $1.74 per share diluted, in the same quarter last year. Adjusted net income for the third quarter was $667 million, or $1.27 per share diluted. Adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share exclude the impact of pre-tax charges of $54 million ($40 million after tax) to revenue related to the service interruption experienced in the third quarter, $485 million ($356 million after tax) for the PlayBook inventory provision taken in the third quarter and $7 million ($6 million after tax) for the Company’s cost optimization program that was implemented in the second quarter of fiscal 2012. These charges and their related impacts on GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share are summarized in the table below.

View data

Reconciliation of GAAP revenue and net income to adjusted revenue and net income (United States dollars, in millions except per share data) For the quarter ended November 26, 2011 —————————————- Revenue Net Income Diluted EPS (before (net of (net of taxes) income tax) income tax) —————————————- As reported $ 5,169 $ 265 $ 0.51 Adjustments: PlayBook Inventory Provision(1) – 356 0.68 Cost Optimization Program(2) – 6 0.01 Q3 Service Interruption(3) 54 40 0.07 —————————————- Adjusted $ 5,223 $ 667 $ 1.27 —————————————- —————————————

Note: Adjusted revenue, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and thus are not comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other issuers. The Company believes that the presentation of adjusted revenue, adjusted net income, and adjusted diluted earnings per share enables the Company and its shareholders to better assess RIM’s operating results relative to its operating results in prior periods and improves the comparability of the information presented. Investors should consider these non-GAAP financial measures in the context of RIM’s GAAP results.

(1) During the third quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company recorded a pre-tax provision of approximately $485 million, $356 million after tax, related to its inventory valuation of BlackBerry PlayBook tablets. The charge was predominantly non-cash.

(2) Cost of sales, research and development, and selling, marketing and administration expenses included approximately $7 million in total pre-tax charges, $6 million after tax, during the third quarter of fiscal 2012 related to the cost optimization program to streamline operations across the Company. Included in the cost of sales, research and development, and selling, marketing and administration expenses for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 were approximately $1 million, $3 million, and $3 million, respectively, of pre-tax charges related to the cost optimization program.

(3) During the third quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company experienced a service interruption which resulted in the loss of service revenue and the payment of service credits in the quarter totalling approximately $54 million, $40 million after tax, related to the interruption in the availability of the Company’s network.

The total of cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments was $1.5 billion as at November 26, 2011, compared to $1.4 billion at the end of the previous quarter, an increase of $87 million from the prior quarter. Cash flow from operations was approximately $895 million and uses of cash included strategic purchases of intellectual property assets of approximately $375 million, and property, plant and equipment expenditures of approximately $205 million.

Q4 Outlook

Revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 ending March 3, 2012 is expected to be in the range of $4.6-$4.9 billion. Gross margin percentage for the fourth quarter is expected to be approximately 38%. BlackBerry smartphone shipments are expected to be between 11 million and 12 million units. Earnings per share for the fourth quarter is expected to be in the range of $0.80-$0.95.

Amazon could ship 5 million or more Kindle Fire tablets in the fourth quarter of 2011, one analyst believes. Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar on Thursday stated that Amazon likely has a huge hit on its hands, with fourth-quarter shipments that may surpass even the most bullish estimates. ”Checks indicate that they could ship upwards of 5 million units in the December quarter, which is just shy of half of Apple’s volume,” Kumar told CNET in an interview. An earlier rumor from DigiTimes suggested that Amazon has placed orders in the neighborhood of 4 million units, and preliminary shipment estimates from Forrester suggested that Amazon might ship 5 million tablets this quarter. Barclays sees 2 million units as a more likely target. Amazon’s Kindle Fire will become available on November 15th for $199.

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Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Official Android updates

• The biggest update we saw this week was a widespread push of Android 2.3.3 to the Motorola Droid 2. This one is done OTA, so simply go into your settings menu and check for updates to see if it's there. (thanks to everyone who sent this in)
• While we saw a rollout of Android 2.3 to a select few LG Optimus Ones in June, we're hearing reports that the update's now getting pushed out again to a few more regions. This refresh must be done manually through LG's updater tool, so you'll definitely want to check to see if your phone is one of the lucky recipients. [via PocketNow]
• US Cellular took to its Facebook Page to let customers know it's working on revamping the Samsung Mesmerize to Gingerbread at some point, though no official date or timeframe was given aside from "as soon as possible." [via AndroidCentral]
• HTC announced the arrival of Android 2.3 for the Thunderbolt and Droid Incredible this month, via its Facebook page. [via AndroidCommunity]
• In fact, some users have already reported getting Gingerbread for the Incredible, and we suspect the rollout will be complete no later than the end of the month, to fulfill the company's promise. [via Phandroid]
• Gingerbread is in the plans for the Motorola Milestone 2, and according to the company the refresh will begin rolling out in early Q4. [via MyDailyGadget]
• The Samsung LC11 LTE mobile hotspot is getting a new build, EF07, that appears to improve its handling of multiple devices and congested WiFi locations. It also adds security patches and new protocols. [via Verizon]
• An update for the Droid 3 was apparently available to soak testers and leaked online, but was pulled from Motorola servers shortly thereafter. It appears to add video chat support in GTalk and adds a new radio that's supposed to save battery life. The via link still has the update available for anyone interested. [via Droid-Life]

Unofficial Android updates / custom ROMs / misc hackery

• The root method used on most Motorola Android devices has been employed to root the Droid Bionic before it's even been released. [via Droid-Life]
• LG has released the kernel source for its Gingerbread build of the Optimus S. [via AndroidCentral]
• The HTC Dev site expanded its support for the bootloader unlock tool this week, now encompassing all versions of the Sensation -- including T-Mobile's. [via AndroidCentral]

Other platforms

• SPB Shell 3.0 is now available for Symbian^3 devices. It brings a fresh 3D-style UI to the OS, and can be yours for $15. [via IntoMobile]

Updates already covered this week

• HP planning TouchPad OTA update for added functionality
• HTC Flyer Honeycomb ROM leaks
• Samsung Nexus S updated to 2.3.6, fixes voice search and breaks tethering

Refresh Roundup: week of August 29, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Sep 2011 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of our sources was able to get some hands-on time with the HTC Ruby, a device that is said to be the “big brother to the HTC Sensation.” It’s going to feature a 4.3-inch display and a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, and our source says that any talk of the device being an entry-level phone is out of bounds; this is a flagship smartphone, and one that is not part of the myTouch family. T-Mobile reportedly hasn’t settled on a name for the device, though we can exclusively report that is going to be the first smartphone to run on T-Mobile’s incredibly fast 42Mbps HSPA+ network. The current launch is set for early Q4, so we’re still a couple months out unfortunately.

This is becoming a trend. After a disappointing Q4 saw Logitech reduce the price of its Revue it revealed today that after a net loss of $29.6 million for the first quarter it is cutting the price of the Revue to $99, as well as saying goodbye to CEO Gerald P. Quindlen. Quindlen had been an outspoken supporter of the Google TV box (see the video after the break) but according to Logitech this price cut and corresponding $34 million hit to its finances are necessary to "remove price as a barrier to broad customer acceptance." In the midst of these results -- as well as lowered sales in several regions and key products like Harmony remotes -- Chairman and former CEO Guerrino De Luca will assume the role of acting CEO while a long term replacement is sought. Until then, and before the Google TV Honeycomb update arrives, does anyone think the Revue will be more appealing for one Benjamin than it was for two, or three?

Continue reading Logitech CEO steps down after money losing Q1, Revue price slashed to $99

Logitech CEO steps down after money losing Q1, Revue price slashed to $99 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 09:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know, we know -- Windows 8 isn't splashing down on consumer devices for a good long while, but seriously, how's a boy to get excited about something that's already old hat? And moreover, something that has never, ever worked out. Every single Windows 7 tablet that we've tested has suffered a similar fate: too bulky, too sluggish, not longevous enough and too difficult to to operate sans a keyboard and mouse. That said, Lenovo's providing a darkhorse option for those uninterested in its duo of new Honeycomb tablets, with the IdeaPad Tablet P1 bringing Windows 7 into a familiar 10.1-inch shell. Within, you'll find a 1.5GHz Intel processor, a 1280 x 800 capacitive touchpanel, up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, up to 64GB of SSD storage, built-in Bluetooth / 3G / WiFi, a USB 2.0 connector, microSD card slot and a docking port.

You'll also get an integrated 2 megapixel webcam up front, support for stylus input and an enclosure that's 14.5mm thick; for perspective, the absolutely deletable Galaxy Tab 10.1 measures just 10.9mm from top to bottom. The company's giving you the option of snagging this in silver-gray or "Clementine Orange," the latter of which is obviously the frontrunner in the race to awesome. The sealed two-cell battery is said to be good for six hours of use, compared to the 8.7 hours that the same cell gets while situated in the Android-powered K1. Lenovo's not serving up pricing details on this one just yet, but you can look forward to not looking forward to its Q4 2011 arrival.

Lenovo intros 10.1-inch IdeaPad Tablet P1 with Windows 7, should've waited for Windows 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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