The new front in the mobile phone wars August 15, 2011 THE future for companies like Nokia and Motorola, once the great pioneers of the mobile phone industry, has been bleak for some time. The likes of Apple and RIM have eaten away at their share of the high-end smartphone market for several years now, while cheaper Asian manufacturers will soon do the same in the [...]
Apple patent war reaches EU August 10, 2011 A German court has temporarily barred Samsung from selling its flagship Galaxy tablet in most of the EU in a significant victory for Apple and its iPad. In a global intellectual property battle, Apple has said the Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets “slavishly” copied the iPhone and iPad, and it has sued the [...]
ARM warns of a light Christmas July 26, 2011 ARM Holdings, the Cambridge-based maker of chips that power the Apple iPhone and other smartphones, has reported a 25 per cent profit rise this quarter, but warned it is not counting on a Christmas sales boom. The firm’s technology, used by firms such as Samsung, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, helped lift pre-tax profit to £54.2m, [...]
How to pass the torch to your hero July 26, 2011 EVER since the theft of fire from Zeus by Prometheus (well, that’s what the legend says), a torch has been kept alight throughout the Olympics. And in the run up to the coming Olympics, beginning on 19 May 2012, it will be carried across the country in relay by those nominated as community heroes. The [...]
RIM plunges after it axes 2,000 staff July 25, 2011 SMARTPHONE maker Research In Motion (RIM) plunged more that 4.4 per cent yesterday after it announced it would axe a tenth of its global workforce. The firm, best known for its BlackBerry range, has struggled in the face of soaring demand for Apple’s iPhone and handsets running Google’s Android, especially those made by Samsung. Its [...]
Apple loss bites into Wolfson forecasts July 25, 2011 EDINBURGH-BASED chipmaker Wolfson Microelectronics slashed its sales forecast again yesterday in the face of a tough market for electronics goods that lack an Apple logo. The downgrade, its second in a month, sent shares in the maker of audio processing chips down 10.7 per cent to a 15-month closing low. The company reported second-quarter revenue [...]
Torrid trading drags Nokia to £324m loss July 21, 2011 NOKIA yesterday crashed to an expected second quarter loss, compounding a miserable year for the former smartphone market-leader. Even factoring in a one-off payment of €430m from Apple over a long-running patent dispute, Nokia slumped to a loss of €368m (£324m). It was dragged down by a 20 per cent slide in revenues in its [...]
Samsung launches iPad 2 rival July 20, 2011 SAMSUNG yesterday launched a thinner, lighter version of its Galaxy tablet in a bid to claw back market share from a rampant Apple. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 inch is an upgraded version of the 7-inch tablet introduced in October. It has a bigger, brighter screen and weighs less than the iPad 2. However, it has [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 13, 2011 ESSAR ENERGY Goldman Sachs rates Essar a buy with a £5.75 target price after disappointing second-quarter results. Its earnings were hit by underperforming units – but Goldman thinks these will recover after an overhaul in September, and is focusing on its refinery upgrades, due for completion at the end of the year, which it believes [...]
Japanese quake hits Renault July 11, 2011 RENAULT pared its forecast for a rise in the global auto market this year after disruption from the Japanese earthquake and said Europe, a key market for the French carmaker, will lag the rest of the world. Renault, whose partner is Japan’s Nissan yesterday predicted a 3-4 per cent rise in worldwide sales volumes in [...]