Microsoft’s Nokia deal dents hedgies September 3, 2013 US COMPUTING giant Microsoft’s surprise deal to buy Nokia’s mobile devices arm for €5.33bn (£4.5bn) yesterday delivered a nasty shock to the hedge funds who had been short selling the Finnish firm’s stock. Nokia’s share price rose 40 per cent after the announcement yesterday, a jump caused by the high number of short sellers, typically [...]
Brand Index: The Finnish firm gets a patchy reception across the world September 3, 2013 NOKIA announced yesterday that Microsoft will acquire its mobile phone business. The Finnish company has long been one of the big players in the market, and while it has struggled in recent years it is still the second biggest seller of mobile phones globally. So is this a good deal for Microsoft? Perceptions of Nokia [...]
Why Britain’s 4G roll-out could give mobile trading a performance boost September 3, 2013 But the implications of taking positions on the move have yet to reach their logical conclusion COMPETITION has arrived in the UK’s 4G market, promising superfast download speeds on the move. Previously monopolised by the operator EE, O2 and Vodafone have just rolled out 4G mobile internet connections to their customers in London, with O2 [...]
HTC shares plummet as staff arrested September 2, 2013 TAIWANESE smartphone manufacturer HTC saw its shares tumble yesterday on the news that senior executives have been arrested leaking commercial secrets. Shares of the Taipai-listed company fell five per cent in trading as police confirmed four design directors were arrested on Friday. Prosecutors in Taiwan said yesterday that Thomas Chien, HTC vice president of product [...]
Samsung to beat Apple to the finish line in smartwatch race August 27, 2013 KOREAN electronics giant Samsung will reveal its smartwatch concept next week, just days ahead of Apple’s rumoured 10 September iPhone event. The Galaxy Gear smartwatch will be unveiled at a launch event in Berlin on 4 September, Lee Young Hee, vice president of Samsung mobile confirmed yesterday. Hee told The Korea Times in an interview [...]
Brand Index: Blackberry’s new model failed to stem its brand decline August 26, 2013 THERE was a spike for BlackBerry on Twitter on Monday with 41 per cent of the UK Twitter population exposed to messages about the brand. They were of course hearing the news that the mobile phone manufacturer is setting up a committee to explore potential business model options, including selling off the company. So what [...]
Samsung to launch wristwatch-style smartphone next month August 16, 2013 Samsung will launch a wearable wristwatch-style smartphone device next month, sources close to the matter have reportedly told Bloomberg. The widely-anticipated Galaxy Gear will be shaped like a wristwatch, and will be able to make phone calls, surf the internet and handle emails. It won’t, however, have a flexible display, which Samsung and rivals including [...]
Corporate Tube sponsorship could take the pressure off overburdened commuters August 15, 2013 THIS week’s inflation figures all but confirm that Londoners will face a rise in Tube and bus fares of over 4 per cent in January. This may look small compared to projected increases of up to 9 per cent on some of the busiest rail routes into London, but it is still regrettable. It doesn’t [...]
Smartphone sales overtake regular mobiles August 14, 2013 SMARTPHONES outsold more basic handsets for the first time ever in the second quarter of 2013, grabbing 51.8 per cent of worldwide mobile sales. The latest analysis of the market, from data firm Gartner, also shows that Blackberry has dropped behind Microsoft as the third most popular operating system – losing almost half of [...]
Brand Index: Blackberry’s new model failed to stem its brand decline August 13, 2013 THERE was a spike for BlackBerry on Twitter on Monday with 41 per cent of the UK Twitter population exposed to messages about the brand. They were of course hearing the news that the mobile phone manufacturer is setting up a committee to explore potential business model options, including selling off the company. So what [...]