In the papers 18 April
18-04-2008
by Sylvia Leatham

eBay may consider Skype sale | AMD posts another quarterly loss

The Irish Independent says that mobile handset maker Nokia saw profits rise 25 percent in the first quarter of 2008, but the company upset the markets by missing its targets. Read the full story on ENN.

The paper also says that a group of property executives have threatened legal action if Aer Lingus does not honour the business-class fares to the US it mistakenly sold for EUR5 on its website. Fifteen executives from a prominent property development firm were among those stung by the error and have already retained legal firm Mason Hayes Curran. "They're drafting a letter to Aer Lingus saying that if our contracts aren't honoured then we'll be pursuing the matter in the Circuit Court," said Jennie Browne, one of those involved.

The Irish Times reports that Eircom has confirmed making a proposal to the Government under which it would provide high-speed broadband to the nine 'gateway' towns and cities identified in the National Spatial Strategy, provided the State lends some financial support. Eircom is believed to be looking for the State to provide some of the funding for the upgrade, which would cost about EUR500 million, because of the current tight credit markets. To avoid accusations of unfair subsidies for the telco, Eircom would be split into a wholesale and networks division and a retail division.

The paper also reports that Digisoft.tv has sold more than 1.5 million licences for its Java-based software, which enables high-definition revenue-generating applications to be run on television set-top boxes. The Cork-based company has signed a global partnership with Sun for its software stack based on the Java Platform Micro Edition, which runs on internet protocol (IP) TV set-top boxes.

The same paper says the wireless and mobility group at the Institute of Technology Tralee has scored a mini-coup by establishing a new research centre in association with the Forum for Supply Chain Innovation at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US. The Centre for Innovation in Distributed Systems (Cids), which will be located on the Tralee campus, will be formally launched next week.

According to the Financial Times, eBay will consider selling off its Skype subsidiary at the end of this year if it fails to find ways to use the internet telephony service to support its core e-commerce business. That comment was made by company chief executive John Donahoe, who took over at the end of last month. eBay paid USD3.1 billion to buy Skype, but wrote down the value of the business by USD1.4 billion last year after concluding it would not match earlier hopes. "What we're testing this year are the synergies," said Donahoe. "If the synergies are strong, we'll keep it in our portfolio. If not, we'll reassess it." Read the details of eBay's latest results on ENN.

The Wall Street Journal reports that AMD has posted the latest in a string of quarterly losses, citing the effects of product delays and economic jitters that are holding back consumer PC purchases. The chipmaker reported a net loss of USD305 million in the first quarter on sales of USD1.5 billion. AMD said first-quarter sales were up 22 percent from the year-earlier period but down 15 percent from the fourth quarter. The company also said it is considering a restructuring that could involve jettisoning some non-core businesses.