Samsung will target rivals in M&A spree October 31, 2011 SAMSUNG chief executive Choi Gee-sung yesterday fired a warning shot to rivals General Electric and Philips, saying he will he will aggressively target acquisitions in their sectors to compensate for his flagging chip business. He said he will target growth industries including solar cells, LEDs, biopharmaceuticals and medical equipment to complement his firm’s booming smartphone [...]
Panasonic is braced for a £3.4bn loss as it takes a hit from restructuring October 31, 2011 PANASONIC is braced for a £3.4bn quarterly loss, its worst in a decade, as it struggles against the soaring yen and weak demand for flatscreen TVs. The loss, which compares to a £588m profit a year earlier, includes costs associated with a large-scale restructuring that will see it shed 17,000 jobs by 2013. Panasonic, which [...]
Sony mulls a sale to Samsung October 30, 2011 Sony, struggling with a loss-making television business, is considering dissolving its LCD joint venture with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics in a bid to cut costs, sources familiar with the matter said. The Nikkei business daily said the company was aiming to reach an agreement by the end of the year to sell its nearly 50 [...]
Samsung overtakes Apple in smartphone market October 28, 2011 Samsung Electronics Co overtook Apple Inc as the world’s top smartphone maker in the July-September period with a 44 percent jump in shipments, and forecast strong sales in the current quarter in a clear warning to its rivals. Samsung only entered the smartphone market in earnest last year, but its sales have skyrocketed thanks to [...]
Sony buys out Ericsson JV October 27, 2011 SONY has called time on its European joint venture with Ericsson, taking full control of their telecoms business for €1.05bn (£920m). Sony Ericsson has struggled to gain traction in a fiercely competitive smartphone market dominated by the likes of Apple and Samsung. The business will now become part of Sony’s consumer division. Analysts expect much [...]
Nokia: Lumia will dispel our stuffy image October 26, 2011 NOKIA yesterday unveiled the “hero” handset it hopes will allow it to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung. The Lumia 800 is the first device from the Finnish company to use Microsoft’s Window Phone 7 software, following the sweetheart deal penned by the two struggling telecoms players earlier this year. Chief executive Stephen [...]
Nokia Lumia 800 FIRST LOOK October 26, 2011 THE LUMIA 800 was a launch Nokia couldn’t afford to get wrong: described by boss Stephen Elop as its new “hero” device, it is also the first running Windows Phone 7, the software upon which it has staked its future. The event certainly had a sense of theatre: a giant shutter slowly opened to reveal [...]
Blockbusters at the touch of a button October 26, 2011 NETFLIX, the US online film service, announced on Monday that it will be launching in the UK in 2012. The company looks set to change the way we watch movies, but already has some tough competition. Here we tell you everything you need to know. What is Netflix? Netflix is an online film service that [...]
ARM boss Warren East plans to take over the world – one chip at a time October 25, 2011 Afew years ago a friend of mine tipped a little-known chip designer called ARM Holdings. He said it was going to be the next big thing. A year later, after its shares had shot up, he cursed his luck for not taking his own advice. But he prudently decided not to invest while it was [...]
Panasonic to cut its output October 23, 2011 Japanese electronics maker Panasonic Corp will scale back domestic semiconductor output by the end of March 2012 and cut about 1,000 jobs, reflecting its recent move to reduce TV panel production, the Nikkei business daily said yesterday. All of the firm’s five domestic chip-manufacturing facilities will cut output. The firm is struggling to compete with [...]