Hasta La Gadget!

Sprint’s latest financials show that while the network is slowly stemming the flow of cash from its veins, it’s not quite there in terms of turning a profit. The country’s third biggest carrier suffered a $767 million net loss and an operating loss of $231 million — much less than the $629 million operating loss it had in Q2, but on-par with the $208 million lost in the same period last year. The business did manage to bring in total revenues of $8.8 billion, but had to take a hit on a $397 million write-down on costs related to Network Vision and the continued pain of the Nextel shutdown.

On the customer size, it added a further 900,000 users, sold 1.5 million iPhones and a further 1 million “LTE smartphones” in the quarter. Those with long memories will know that the company sold the same number of Apple handsets in the last two quarters, with around 40 percent going to new customers then as now. However, churn, the deadly enemy of all carriers, increased to 1.88 percent, up from 1.69 percent in Q2. The network did manage to coax 59 percent of former Nextel customers to stay tied up with Big Yellow, which may account for it selling nearly 1.2 million Direct Connect devices. While it’s hardly a rosy estimation of Sprint’s financial health, this report doesn’t take into account Softbank’s $20.1 billion buy-out or the regained controlling stake in Clearwire — so we’re expecting the next financial announcement to contain some more exciting news.

Update: During the conference call, Dan Hesse was asked about adopting a shared data plan to rival Verizon and AT&T, but unlike the last call, he was dismissive of the idea.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Sprint sells 1.5 million iPhones, 1 million other smartphones, but makes a net loss of $767 million originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 07:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo’s reported its financial results for the first of half of the year, and things are still a little rocky. Net sales in the last six months have decreased 6.8 percent compared to the same point last year, while net income continues to drop, this time by 27,996 million yen. As of September 2012, Nintendo has now sold over 22 million 3DS units (three million more since last quarter), while the Wii remains just shy of the 100 million milestone, settling at 97.2 million units sold. Nintendo looks to be in a similar position to last year, with customers still waiting for the company’s next big console to appear — and the gamesmaker hoping they will. Laying blame at the strong yen, the company has dramatically cut its forecast for the rest of the year, down from 20 billion ($250 million) to 6 billion yen ($75 million), pinning its hopes on 3DS sales ahead of the Wii U’s global launch later this year.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

Nintendo reports continued first-half losses for 2012, is waiting on the Wii U originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 03:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the happy surprises from Apple’s event today was the new iMac. Now that the dust has settled people are putting their grubby blogger-paws all over that shiny, pristine monolith. Guess what, it’s like, suuuuper thin! More »

In an apparent error, Google’s Q3 2012 earnings have gone live smack dab in the middle of the trading day, instead of after the closing bell as expected. Early indications are that the search giant has notched third quarter revenues of $14.10 billion, representing a 45 percent uptick compared to Q3 2011. GAAP operating income in the third quarter of 2012 was $2.74 billion, or 19 percent of revenues, and that would explain the near 10 percent slide in the company’s stock price. A year ago Google nailed down $3.06 billion, or 31 percent of revenues, when looking at operating profit; investors were expecting some $10.65 per share, while they got just $9.03 per share. When looking at net income, Q3 2012 saw that figure at $2.18 billion, whereas the company raked in $2.73 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Presently, trading has been halted on the company’s stock as the dust settles, but one thing is exceptionally clear: pulling in billions in a single quarter won’t go over well with Wall Street if its expectations see you pulling in even more.

Filed under: Internet, Google

Google’s Q3 2012 earnings: $14.10 billion in revenue, $2.74 billion in operating income originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan is Mitt Romney’s running mate. No doubt you’ve already heard. You been hearing about it for hours now, but you didn’t hear it first from Romney’s dedicated app, which promised punctuality but showed up hours late to the party. More »