Black Friday's online sales were up 35% year over year, and early reports for Cyber Monday put the gain at 19.6%. Amazon (AMZN), as an online pure-play, has felt a lift from both these factors, but its execution in the e-reader category can't be ignored. While Sony (SNE) and Barnes & Noble (BKS) have already sold out of their respective devices, effectively taking them out of the game until early next year, Amazon's Kindle continues to fly off the shelves.

So, what's the prize for effective forecasting and a supply chain that can delivery on it? A new record!

Amazon had its best Kindle month yet in 2009, though it wouldn't reveal how many of the devices it has moved or the revenue it's pulled in from these sales. All it would say is that some buyers were buying more than one Kindle at a time, and businesses and organizations were picking them up in volume for employees or clients.

Continue reading Amazon wins on strategy and execution -- decisively

Amazon wins on strategy and execution -- decisively originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Sprint outsources entire network to Ericsson

Sprint outsources entire network to Ericsson originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading LM Ericsson (ERIC) drops 10% on handset forecast

LM Ericsson (ERIC) drops 10% on handset forecast originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Motorola's (NYSE: MOT) share of global handset sales has fallen from about 22% three years ago to 12%. Its cell phone division revenue is dropping at a rate of over 30% and loses money ever quarter.

For Motorola to break back into the black, it not only needed to launch new products to pick up market share, but it also needed the worldwide handset business to stay healthy. No such luck.

According to Reuters, "South Korean mobile phone makers Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have cut their 2009 sales targets as a global downturn spreads." By most accounts these companies and other large manufacturers like Sony Ericsson and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) have the financial resource to weather a tough year or two. Not so at Motorola.

Motorola had planned to spin off its handset unit, but that has been delayed. The company's other businesses are profitable, so the cell phone business is dragging them down. MOT shares are off 75% this year to just over $4.

As hard as it would have been to imagine a year ago, Motorola may still have to dump its cell operation and perhaps put it into Chapter 11. Its fate is that grim. It needs to escape its employee and creditor obligations to make it.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Motorola's (MOT) fate looks worse as rivals falter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ericsson sees a 70% profit decline in second quarter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sony Ericsson bringing AM/FM radio to a series of new phones originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is getting close to picking a CEO for its handset division. The operation is going to be spun-out next year. Its worldwide share of the cell phone business has fallen from 22% to about 10% over the last two years.

The CEO search may be one of those odd situations where a chimpanzee may be as good as a man.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Chief Executive Greg Brown is desperate to find a manager to turn around Motorola's mobile-devices division, which has lost $1.6 billion since January 2007, when its hit Razr phone ran out of steam." But, can new management do what two previous generations of managers at Motorola could not do? The company has been effectively flanked by the world's largest handset company, Nokia (NYSE: NOK), along with Samsung and Sony Ericsson. Getting back any market share may be hard for Motorola.

The spin-off also raises the issue of how the new unit will find capital. It will need at least $2 billion to $3 billion in cash. For a failing company, that may be hard to come by.

Motorola now trades at $9. Its enterprise and home electronics divisions could be worth as much as its $20 billion market cap. That leaves the handset unit with a value of zero.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and the author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 newsletter.

Motorola (MOT) looks for new handset CEO, captain of the Titanic originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Part of Motorola's (NYSE: MOT) strategy in spinning off its weak handset unit is the hope of finding a buyer. The business lost over $1 billion last year on revenue of $19 billion. This year, with unit sales still dropping, those numbers will get worse.

So far, no one has stepped up with an offer. Firms like Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Samsung, and Sony Ericsson may be better off watching the US handset maker bleed to death. That takes away much of the incentive of being a buyer.

Yesterday, China's Huawei Technologies, a huge handset maker in the big Asian country, said it had no interest in Motorola. According to Reuters, "Huawei said it was not interested in buying the business as it is focused on selling its phones under the brand of its mobile operator customers, while Motorola sells phones to consumers under its own brand."

At $9.47, Motorola still trades near a 52-week low, despite plans to break the company into two pieces. That gives the company a market cap of $21 billion. The firm's home mobility and enterprise systems divisions are profitable. That means the handset division is worth very little.

Motorola can't even give it away.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Interest in Motorola (MOT) handset unit isn't there originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Texas Instruments (TXN) plunges on pessimistic outlook

Texas Instruments (TXN) plunges on pessimistic outlook originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• A slowdown in growth in the telecommunications equipment industry may result in a joint venture between Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) and Nortel Networks Corporation (NYSE: NT), that would have combined sales of about $10B, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that Yahoo! Inc's (NASDAQ: YHOO) board is planning to reject the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) bid of $31 per share, feeling that Microsoft would be taking advantage of a deteriorated Yahoo! share price. Sources said Yahoo! will not consider any offer under $40 per share.
• Sony Ericsson, a joint venture between Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) and LM Ericsson Telephone Company (NASDAQ: ERIC), admitted that its business is weak in India, China, and the U.S. The joint venture has designated those three countries as priorities, the Financial Times reported.

• According to a source, the Silicon Alley Insider reported that Yahoo! is expected to let go 1,000 employees or more during the week of February 12.
• SiliconValleyWatcher "heard" from a very reliable source that Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE: CRM) has approached Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) over a potential sale of itself for $75 per share.

Newspaper wrap-up: Motorola, Nortel may form joint venture with wireless-infrastructure units originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Feb 2008 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Motorola's troubles in finding a buyer for handset division

Motorola's troubles in finding a buyer for handset division originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After nearly two years of falling market share in the mobile handset business, Motorola (NYSE: MOT)'s board today said that is would explore selling or otherwise disposing of its largest unit. "We are exploring ways in which our mobile devices business can accelerate its recovery and retain and attract talent while enabling our shareholders to realize the value of this great franchise," Chief Executive Greg Brown said in the company's statement.

Motorola's popular Razr model lifted its global share to about 22%, but that was two years ago. In the latest quarter, the company only shipped 40 million handsets, about 12% of the market. The US company has been handed a beating by Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Samsung, and Sony Ericsson.

Without handsets, Motorola would be a much smaller but more profitable business. Its set-top box, enterprise, and government telecom operations all make money.

It would have been nice to sell-off the cell phone operation when it had some real value. Now, it is too late for that.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Motorola (MOT) looks at break-up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sony-Ericsson, the fourth-largest handset company, has announced it will open its own music store for consumers who buy its handsets. According to MarketWatch, the service "will be available in 30 countries worldwide by the end of 2008, starting from May. It will offer more than 5 million music tracks."

With Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Apple (NYSE: AAPL) already in the same business, it is hard to see how the new Sony-Ericsson initiative will find customers. A number of cellular carriers have services of their own, which means that they compete with their own handset suppliers. Companies outside of the cellular business have also created music download stores for portable devices. The most notable new player in that market is Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN).

The multitude of download services is not likely to make those getting in late much money. And having so many services in the market will confuse the consumer.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Sony-Ericsson: One more too many music stores originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Jan 2008 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Handset maker Sony Ericsson beat analysts' estimates for the fourth quarter of 2007 and said that the company is gaining market share. In a surprising development, the company said, "The average sales price (ASP) of its mobile phones, a key indicator for profitability, rose to 123 euros from 120 euros in the third quarter," according to Reuters.

The company's share of the global handset market is now close to 10%. Units shipped in the quarter reached 30.8 million, an 18% increase from a year earlier.

The news may be good for Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK). Even if the economy is slowing, consumers may be willing to spend $200 for a new phone. Increasing business in regions like China and India is not driving down "price per handset." It may be that the emergence of more expensive "smartphones" is helping keep average prices high.

As 3G networks continue to be built out, consumers may find it necessary to upgrade their handsets to take advantage of higher connection speeds.

It is an early indication, but the cellphone industry may be bucking the trend of an economic slowdown.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Sony Ericsson signals cellphone business is still robust originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 08:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has come out with its handset sales forecast for 2008. Since it has almost 40% of the global market, its prediction is closely watched. For 2008, it believes that total sales of cell phones will only rise 10%. According to Bloomberg "Nokia said there will be an estimated 4 billion handset users by 2009."

Ten percent growth would be slower than the handset market was in 2007, and while Nokia may prosper because its piece of the business is so big, the news could be very bad for Motorola (NYSE: MOT). With Samsung and Sony-Ericsson getting larger and larger slices of worldwide sales, Motorola either has to claw some of that back, or count on a rapidly rising market to help the entire industry. It now appears that industry growth will not be the answer for the US company.

The other piece of bad news from Nokia is that revenue-per-handset will keep falling as more and more phones are sold in emerging markets. That means that margins will be pressured, another negative for Mototola.

If the Nokia forecasts are right, a turnaround at Motorola just got much harder.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Nokia (NOK) sees only modest handset sales next year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) highlighted the possibility of a merger between XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR) and Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI).
• XM Satellite Radio has softened its stance about a possible deal with Sirius Satellite Radio, but any deal between the companies would face obstacles from the FCC.
• Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ: SBUX) rival Dunkin' Donuts plans to open its first store in Taiwan today as part of a regional push into mainland China. Starbucks also has expansion plans for China.
• Commerce Bancorp (NYSE: CBH) is under federal investigation by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, in conjunction with the Federal Reserve, due to the company's transactions with bank insiders.
  
• The Financial Times (subscription required) wrote that handset maker Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE, NASDAQ: ERIC) moved closed to pushing aside Samsung for third place in market share behind Nokia Corp (NYSE: NOK) and Motorola, Inc (NYSE: MOT); last year it overtook LG Electronics.
  

• The New York Times reported that the Chief Independent Investigator has found that a top Interior Department official was told nearly three years ago of a "legal blunder" that allowed drilling companies to avoid billions of dollars in payments for oil and gas pumped from publicly owned waters.
• The Toronto Sun reported rumors that Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is working to get the Beatles catalog onto its iTunes service.
  
• Investor's Business Daily mentioned Varian Semiconductor (NASDAQ: VSEA) positively in the "New America" column.

Newspaper wrap-up 1-17-07: Apple iTunes to get Beatles tunes? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Jan 2007 09:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sony Ericsson making stab at Motorola's dominance originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.