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While Redbox’s parent company Coinstar rejoiced over earnings results that showed revenue growth that was partially due to last year’s price hike, the kiosk movie renter had more good news after extending its DVD licensing deal with Sony Pictures. This means Redbox can rent Sony movies the same day they go on sale in stores and has the option to license Blu-ray movies as well through September 2014, when Sony will have the option of two one-year extensions. We’ll still have to wait and see if it can work out an arrangement with Warner and Disney, and what its streaming service has to offer, but more new movies right away is always good.
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Redbox, Sony extend distribution deal, keep the movies flowing with no delays originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Aug 2012 09:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
TWC pushed out its second quarter results, showing it’s following the trend of shedding customers without hurting the bottom line. It took in $5.4 billion in revenue for the three month period — with more cash coming from selling higher tiers of service to existing users — leaving it with a net profit of $452 million. The company reported that it lost 169,000 residential video subscribers but gained 104,000 back across its high-speed data and voice businesses, which it described as “organic decline,” but looks more like cord-cutting to us.
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Time Warner Cable lost 169,000 subscribers, spares DirecTV’s blushes originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 11:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Viacom’s frenemy, DirecTV, has announced that it suffered a net loss of subscribers for the first time in its history. The revelation came in its second quarter filing, which claimed that the exodus is actually a purge — due to a tighter credit policy and a change of focus toward “higher quality” customers. The dip in numbers hasn’t hurt the balance sheet, however, with revenues up seven percent to $5.65 billion, leading to a net profit of $604 million. This time out, there’s no reference to the recently-minted deal to keep Viacom’s stations on the service, believed to be in the region of $600 million per year — but we expect it to appear on the books in the next quarterly report.
Filed under: Home Entertainment
DirecTV waves goodbye to 52,000 subscribers in first ever net loss of customers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 09:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Remember the Olympic ban on WiFi hotspots to ensure the games’ corporate sponsors could sell you back access at a premium? The threat to seize or eject anyone caught using such gear seemed hollow — after all, how could you be found in a crowd of 90,000? It turns out, LOCOG have employed WiFi police, chasing down unauthorized signals with their big red detectors. Although we should give them some credit — you’ll certainly see them coming from a mile away.
[Image Credit: Sadao Turner, Twitter]
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Wireless
You’ve heard of the Child Catcher? Meet the WiFi Snatcher originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 08:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Having already scraped through a disastrous 2011, Sharp had been banking on making a small but significant profit this year. Those hopes have now evaporated, with the Japanese manufacturer’s forecast of 20 billion yen ($250 million) in operating earnings for 2012 being revised down to a 100 billion yen ($1.25 billion) loss. That dose of reality is largely the result of the quarter just gone, in which hardly anyone appears to have bought an Aquos TV (despite the 90-incher being pretty amazing) or a Sharp-made LCD panel, and the company made a 94 billion yen ($1.2 billion) loss in the space of just three months. According to Reuters, as many as 5,000 staff may lose their jobs in the company’s first major round of lay-offs.
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Sharp pain continues with $1.2 billion loss in Q1, drastically lowered forecast for 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 02:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sony’s first-quarter figures for 2012 show that despite the company’s optimism three months ago, it’s made a net loss of $312 million. It pulled in a whopping $19.2 billion in sales for the three months ending June 30th, partly credited to bringing Sony Mobile fully into the family. However, the cost of restructuring the Mobile Products and Communications Division (of which Sony Mobile is a part) came to $143 million, wiping out the additional gains to record a loss of $356 million. Gaming-wise, the PlayStation maker suffered a $45 million loss as falling sales of the PSP and PS3 were only partially offset by the sales of the PS Vita. There was better news in its imaging division, while sales of compact cameras fell, DSLRs and “Professional” products took up the slack, resulting in a profit of $160 million.
In a trend we’ve seen across the Home Entertainment industry, sales of LCD televisions continued to fall, forcing the company to eat a loss of $126 million. Movie and TV recorded a loss of $62 million, although that’s primarily due to a dip in advertising sales in India and the cost of marketing (but not producing) The Amazing Spider-Man, the profits of which won’t be recognized until September. Finally, while it spent big to purchase EMI this quarter, big-ticket albums like Usher’s Looking 4 Myself and One Direction’s Up All Night helped the division make a profit of $92 million. While Sony’s treading water to execute Kaz Hirai’s “One” Strategy, it’s still got $8.4 billion stashed under the mattress, and in the face of lower sales, is hoping that reduced costs will help it make $1.6 billion in profit by the end of March 2013.
Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Digital Cameras, Gaming, Home Entertainment, Tablet PCs
Sony releases Q1 2012 financial results, eats $312 million loss originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 02:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Toshiba’s most recent fiscal results (the first of its 2012 financial year) show that while the company pulled in $16 billion in turnover, it slumped to a $154 million loss for the last three months. While its “social infrastructure” unit (power plants, LED light bulbs and radiation detectors) generated a $107 million profit, the consumer electronics and white-goods sectors continued to lose sales. The company attributes the loss to further restructuring costs as well as pointing an accusatory digit toward the European financial crisis and concerns about power generation capacity in Japan. Despite the gloom, the company says that it still expects to hit a target of $81 billion turnover and $3.8 billion profit before March 2013.
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Toshiba slips into the red as latest earnings reveal $153 million loss originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 04:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
IDC’s latest figures offer some predictable reading. More phones are being sold than ever before; 406 million units were sold in Q2, against 401.8 million in the same period last year — with a 42 percent increase in smartphone sales. The winners? Perennial court antagonists, Samsung and Apple, with the duo doubling their combined market share over the last two years. Samsung maintains its lead, reaching over 50 million phones sold — and a new quarterly sales record — while Apple saw a quarter-over-quarter decline, as buyers presumably wait for Cupertino’s latest iteration, or go elsewhere. Nokia, meanwhile, had another “transitional” quarter, with sales of both Symbian and MeeGo devices shrinking, although its Windows Phones proved stronger. According to IDC‘s figures, Nokia and Microsoft’s team-up handset sales have doubled since last quarter. HTC misses out on a top three spot, but its fortunes appear to have improved over the last two quarters, with the IDC pointing the finger at a more streamlined product range from the Taiwan manufacturer. ZTE continues to nip at its heels, reaching the top five thanks to strong entry-level smartphone sales in China, while continuing to inch onto US shores. If you’re looking for a full breakdown of all phones sold, dumb and otherwise, read up at the source below.
Filed under: Cellphones
IDC: Samsung and Apple ship almost half of all smartphones, but Korean manufacturer maintains lead originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jul 2012 03:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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When internet mega retailer Amazon kicked off its fiscal year this past spring with $13.8 billion in net sales, the prognosis for the quarter ahead was dour, to say the least. At the time, the company projected its Q2 2012 performance would see an operating loss of $40 million to $260 million versus Q2 2011, as well as a slight down tick in revenue at $11.9 billion to $13.3 billion quarter to quarter. Well, the numbers are in and it looks like the forecast was right on the money. The Seattle-based outfit posted $7 million in net income for the quarter, a year over year loss amounting to a whopping 96 percent decrease. As for net sales, that picture’s a bit rosier given the 29 percent increase over Q2 2011 that saw the Bezos-backed co. pull in $12.83 billion — a figure that would have risen to 32 percent were it not for a $272 million hit due to “changes in foreign exchange rates[.]” Operating cash flow for Q2 2012 was down by nearly half at $107MM compared to the same segment last year.
Unsurprisingly, the company’s budget Kindle Fire tab — which has enjoyed relatively weak competition up to now — is still the number one item across Amazon’s site, with titles in its Lending Library growing to over 170,000. Bezos also made note of Prime’s growth, pegging that subscription offering’s catalog of items at 15 million and highlighting the addition of 18,000 movies and TV shows to its streaming service.
As for the future, the company expects Q3 net sales to grow by at least 19 percent year-over-year, landing somewhere between $12.9 billion and $14.3 billion, with a projected operating loss of $50 million to $350 million. Hit up the PR after the break for the full load of financial highs and lows.
Amazon Q2 2012 earnings: net income down 96 percent to $7 million, net sales up 29 percent to $12.83 billion originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 16:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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