NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 30 July
30-07-2009
by Emmet Cole
Customers up, but ARPU drops at O2 | Motorola sees revenue plummet
O2 Ireland released its key performance indicators for the second quarter on Thursday, which revealed that by the end of June O2's total customer base was 1.717 million, up 1.7 percent compared to the same period last year. O2's post-pay/contract market saw 11,444 net new customers, bringing the company's total post-pay customer base to 662,604. This marks the first time that O2 has been the number one operator in the post-pay mobile market in Ireland. However, the company's prepay base declined by 5,351 customers in the same period. Monthly average ARPU (Average Revenue per User) for the quarter was EUR39.76, down 7.9 percent from EUR43.19 for the same period last year. This reflects a general market trend with consumers shopping around for better deals and cutting back on spending.
Motorola reported second-quarter sales of USD5.5 billion, down significantly from the USD8.1 billion in revenue reported in the year-ago quarter. Earnings of USD0.02 per share were buoyed by mobility sales of USD2 billion and operating earnings of USD153 million. The company increased its cost reduction plan by USD100 million and now expects total cost savings of USD1.8 billion for 2009. Motorola shipped 14.8 million handsets in the second quarter. Mobile Devices segment sales were USD1.8 billion, down 45 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. Operating loss for the segment was USD253 million, compared to an operating loss of USD346 million in the year-ago quarter.
Meanwhile, global handset shipments reached 273 million units worldwide in the second quarter, according to market analysts Strategy Analytics. That figure shows a decline of 8 percent from 297 million units in the same period last year. However, the rate of decline was slower than in the previous quarter, so the market might be showing signs of stabilisation, says the analyst firm. Samsung and LG outgrew their major rivals, with Samsung reaching a record high of 19 percent market share, and LG hitting an all-time high of 11 percent and securing third place. Nokia remains the top mobile vendor with just under 38 percent of the market, while Motorola, with 5.4 percent share, and Sony Ericsson with 5.1 percent, round off the top five table.
Satellite broadcaster BSkyB is set to launch Europe's first 3D TV channel in the UK next year. BSkyB said that in the past year it has doubled the number of customers with Sky+ HD boxes (which are capable of running 3D programming) to 1.31 million. To watch 3D programming customers will require a new "3D ready" TV set. These are expected to be on sale in the UK next year.
Damage to the 15,000km long, undersea SAT-3 cable, which runs from Portugal and Spain to South Africa, via West Africa, has seen swathes of West Africa struggle to get online on Thursday. The worst hit countries are Benin, Togo, Niger and Nigeria. Nigeria alone lost 70 percent of its bandwidth and has seen severe disruption in its banking sector and on government and mobile phone networks. Some companies have been using alternatives, like satellite links to maintain their global internet connection.
The Financial Regulator has published a consultation document seeking input on the introduction of new rules governing the recording of phone calls and other communications by financial sector firms. The regulator is seeking the views of firms on the topic under the European Communities (Markets in Financial Instruments - MiFiD) Regulations 2007. There is no obligation on firms to keep recordings at present, however, Regulation 40(6) does allow the regulator to impose obligations on investment firms relating to the recording of telephone conversations or electronic communications involving client orders. From 1 May, 2010, the regulator is proposing that MiFID firms should record all telephone calls (including mobile phones) and electronic communications involving client orders and maintain the recordings for a period of at least two years.
Notebooks represented three out of four computers shipped to the US consumer market during the second quarter of 2009, according to preliminary figures from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. The US PC market, which includes desktops and laptops, contracted by 1.4 percent, a result IDC attributes entirely to the consumer notebook market. Consumer notebook growth is now estimated at 63 percent year-on-year.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 