Growth from here needs another segment. Apple reported good Q4 results but concerns around competition and profitability caused weakness in after-hours trading. Revenues / EPS were $37.47bn / $8.26 which was better than consensus at $36.84bn and $7.93. Q4 shipment numbers / ASPs were: iPhone: 33.8m ahead of consensus at 33.4m but ASPs were soft,...
Valuations in this segment are reaching nose bleed territory. Just four months ago Snapchat closed a series B round of $60m with a valuation of $860m (post money). Institutional Venture Partners and its co-investors will be smiling this morning as talks are being held with regard to selling a much larger stake to a strategic...
Microsoft and Amazon both had good nights on Thursday. Amazon posted fantastic sales but lousy profitability while Microsoft was bailed out by enterprise once again. Amazon Amazon reported Q3 revenues / EPS of $17.1bn / LOSS $0.09 compared to consensus at $16.7bn / LOSS $0.09. Guidance was very wide with revenues of $23.5bn-$26.5bn and EBIT...
Qualcomm and MediaTek have at least one hurrah left. In the latest twist, Samsung and Corning have tidied up the shareholding around the j.v. Samsung Corning Precision Materials with Corning buying Samsung’s 43% stake. In return Samsung becomes a 7.4% shareholder in Corning which comes with a long term supply agreement lasting until 2023. This...
Apple’s launches will keep share, nothing more. Apple stayed within the boundaries of the rumour machine yesterday in refreshing its line-up but not venturing anywhere off the beaten track. Top of the bill were the two new iPads. The iPad Air which is much lighter than its predecessor at 450g and takes the device realistically...
Going private at $4.7bn is the absolute best case. The bean counters are out in force, and with Fairfax’s deadline approaching everyone is trying to work out what BlackBerry is actually worth. The assets for consideration are: The device business The service business BlackBerry Messenger The patent portfolio $2.6bn in cash. It is consensus that...
I expect a good launch event, with one glaring exception. Nokia is holding its annual Nokia World event in Abu Dhabi this week. This is the event where Nokia gets together with the developers to keep them informed and enthusiastic about developing software for its products. Tomorrow is expected to see the launch of a...
Good results mask corporate governance shortcomings. Google reported good Q3 results as market share inched up and its new ways of attracting advertisers gained traction. Q3 Revenues (ex-TAC) / EPS were $11.92bn / $10.74 beating estimates of $11.64bn and $10.36. Growth was particularly strong on Google properties which saw 22% YoY growth to $9.4bn. This...
HTC started life as an ODM. That’s where it could end. Amazon has been in the tablet market for some time and it is only a matter of time before it enters the handset market. Handsets are considerably more difficult to get right than tablets and hence it makes sense for Amazon to consider a...
Richard is founder, owner of research company, Radio Free Mobile. He has 16 years of experience working in sell side equity research. During his 11 year tenure at Nomura Securities, he focused on the equity coverage of the Global Technology sector.
BlackBerry BBM – Last hurrah?
A big bump up but still a long way to go. BlackBerry has gained 20m BBM subscribers in the last week after making the service available on iOS or Android. This has taken the number of BBM subscribers to 80m which is a nice bump up but still a very long way adrift of the...