NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 23 December
23-12-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Andor snaps up Swiss firm | 3Com's earnings rise, revenues drop
Communications market revenues and volumes declined in the third quarter as consumers sought value by reducing their communications spend, according to the latest quarterly report from ComReg. Overall market revenues declined by 1.8 percent between July and September to just over EUR996 million as total voice traffic minutes declined by 0.5 percent to over 4.5 billion minutes. The total number of internet subscriptions increased to 1.5 million, with broadband subscriptions (fixed and mobile) increasing by 4 percent sequentially to 1.4 million. The broadband per capita penetration rate amounted to 30.5 percent (including mobile broadband) and 21.3 percent (excluding mobile broadband). Meanwhile, mobile penetration per capita (including mobile broadband) was 117 percent, and 108 percent excluding mobile broadband. During the quarter average revenue per user (ARPU) declined to EUR37.88 per month while SMS volumes fell by 4.1 percent.
Belfast-based Andor Technology has announced that it has acquired Swiss firm Bitplane for an undisclosed sum. Andor develops scientific imaging and microscopy solutions, while Bitplane is an interactive microscopy image analysis software company. Bitplane's existing management and employees will remain with the business which will continue to trade as Bitplane following completion of the deal. "We are delighted to be joining Andor. We believe that the market for advanced image processing is underexploited and as part of a larger organisation Andor brings the capacity and systems knowledge to further develop both our customer base and our technology roadmap," said Dr Marius Messerli, founder of Bitplane.
The Irish Software Engineering Research Centre, Lero, has been awarded almost EUR1 million in funding from the European Commission to work on project designed to enhance primary care and patient safety across Europe. As part of a consortium including Kings College London and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, Lero will develop methods for the integration of primary care clinical research activities to support patient safety and clinical research. The pan-European project will take place over five years from 2010 until 2014. Established in November 2005, Lero combines the software engineering research activities of the University of Limerick, Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin.
This was a year of "unprecedented challenges" for Ireland's exporters due to a significant drop in global demand and the sustained pressure of sterling and US dollar exchange rates, according to Enterprise Ireland's End of Year Statement. Total exports by Enterprise Ireland (EI) client companies fell by approximately 10 percent to EUR13 billion, but on the positive side, in four of the past five months, EI client companies recorded growth in export orders. Entrepreneurship and investment in R&D were both ahead of target in 2009, with 73 new innovative high potential start-ups (HPSUs) being supported over the course of the year (10 percent ahead of target). Some 115 companies received approved funding support for significant R&D. There was mixed news on the job front however: 7,400 new jobs were created by EI client companies in 2009, but there was an overall net decline of 19,000 jobs. EI provided financial assistance to approximately 1,600 companies in 2009.
Small business investment in technology will continue next year despite the recession, according to a UK survey by mobile network provider O2. Two-thirds of the 3,000 small business owners surveyed plan to maintain their current spending and 16 percent indicate that they will increase technology investment. More than 70 percent plan to spend on laptops and desktop PCs. Meanwhile, 65 percent of respondents thought that technology investments had actively helped their business, improved staff flexibility and improved their ability to keep in touch with key customers and suppliers.
Networking gear manufacturer 3Com's second-quarter earnings rose 55 percent thanks to a less than expected sales drop. 3Com posted a profit of USD20 million, or USD0.05 a share, up from USD12.9 million (USD0.03 a share), a year earlier. The company's revenue decreased 9.1 percent to USD322.2 million. 3Com's gross margin rose to 60.1 percent from 56.3 percent, a rise attributed to cost-cutting across the company. 3Com agreed to a USD2.7 billion takeover by Hewlett-Packard last month.
Adult internet users in the United States spend an average of 13 hours a week online, according to a new Harris Poll of 2,029 adults. One in five adult internet users go online for two hours or less a week while one in seven spends 24 or more hours a week online. The average hours spent online have increased from a consistent seven hours from 1999 to 2002, to between eight and nine hours between 2003 and 2006. In 2007, the figure increased to 11 hours. In October 2008, (after the financial crisis broke and just before the US presidential election) users were online for 14 hours a week. The age groups that spend the most time online are those aged 30-39 (18 hours), those aged 25-29 (17 hours) and 40-49 (17 hours). Half of all those online bought something on the internet in the last month. The number of adults who have internet access at home increased to 76 percent in 2009, compared to 66 percent in 2005.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 