Hasta La Gadget!

Sprint has just announced its second quarter 2013 financial results, and while it’s pay as you go plans are paying off in terms of income, shutdowns and charges caused a huge loss. The company posted $7.2 billion in earnings, its “highest ever” total and an eight percent increase over last year, but also took a net loss of $1.6 billion for the quarter. It’s chalking that up to a huge depreciation charge of $430 million and another non-cash hit of $623 million due to the Nextel platform shutdown, which is finally complete. However, the company added that over 4 million Nextel subscribers were “recaptured” to the Sprint platform since the transition commenced in early 2011. The shutdown and loss were anticipated, though and apart from that, Sprint said it’s in good place, having achieved “record levels of… postpaid subscribers, service revenue and postpaid ARPU.” It also completed its acquisition of Clearwire (at last) and US Cellular’s spectrum and customers, while itself being captured into Japanese carrier Softbank’s orbit. (For its part, Softbank managed a whopping 238 billion yen ($2.4 billion) in net income during the quarter.)

The operator now has 4G-LTE coverage in 151 markets, including 41 that are new as of today, including Philadelphia, the Bronx , Brooklyn, Jacksonville, Nashville and Oakland. As for subscribers, post post-paid customers are up from last year, but pre-paid clients are down due to “planned deactivations related to regulatory changes.” All of that resulted in an increase in churn (turnover) year-over-year to 1.83 percent. Eighty-six percent of its postpaid handset sales were smartphones, including about 1.4 million iPhones sold during the quarter. Going forward, the company just launched a raft of new data plans, including an Unlimited offering that guarantees customers who sign up will get to keep it for life. We’ll have to wait and see whether that and all the other machinations this quarter will finally push the company into the black.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Sprint

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Source: Sprint, (2)

Microsoft just reported its Q4 2013 earnings, and the Redmond behemoth has found itself with $19.90 billion in revenue, $6.07 billion in operating income, and $4.97 billion in net income. Quite a lot has happened since the outfit showed $6.06 billion in profit last quarter — its CFO stepped down, the Xbox One was introduced, DRM policies were instituted (and then reversed), Don Mattrick departed for Zynga, and Steve Ballmer himself put in place a new organizational structure. Of note, Microsoft is taking a $900 million charge “related to Surface RT inventory adjustments,” and we’re also told that the figures “reflect the recognition of $782 million of previously deferred revenue related to the Office Upgrade Offer.”

Amy Hood, chief financial officer at Microsoft, made no bones about the fact that these results — while huge — do indeed show the impact of a declining PC market. It should make sense, then, to see Microsoft focusing ever more intently on enterprise and cloud offerings, particularly given the weak demand for its own Surface tablets. All told, the company raked in $26.76 billion in operating income for its fiscal year 2013. Specifically, its Business division saw revenue grow 14 percent for Q4 and 3 percent for the full year, while Server & Tools grew 9 percent in Q4 and the full year. Windows revenue was up 6 percent this quarter and 5 percent on the year, while the Entertainment & Devices group saw an 8 percent uptick in Q4 while recognizing a 6 percent rise for all of 2013. Of course, Wall Street isn’t apt to look fondly on Microsoft’s forward looking update, which revises operating expense guidance downward to $31.3 billion to $31.9 billion for the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2014.

Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops, Software, Microsoft

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Source: Microsoft

Let’s be frank: most Windows Phone users already have some form of navigation on hand, whether it’s Nokia’s Here Drive+ beta or one of the alternatives. However, it rarely hurts to have a free choice like MapQuest’s new app for Windows Phone 8. The suite offers voiced, turn-by-turn directions for driving and walking, along with live traffic and the usual point-of-interest searching. The app is comparatively basic, and it’s only available in US English right now — but if it’s all you need to get from point A to point B, it’s available at the source link.

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Mobile

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Via: All About Windows Phone, Windows Phone Blog

Source: Windows Phone Store

HP just posted its Q2 financial report, and despite somber news of falling profits and revenue, the company managed to beat consensus estimates and the stock has jumped more than 10 percent in after-hours trading. As for concrete figures, HP pulled in $1.1 billion in profit, which is down 32 percent from just one year ago. Revenue of $27.6 billion reveals a similar story, which is down 10 percent year over year. With respect to HP’s Personal Systems group, the company is pulling in a 3.2 percent margin, where revenue is down 20 percent year over year. Here, total unit shipments are down 21 percent, with an 18 percent decline for desktops and a 24 percent hit for notebooks.

Just three months ago, company CEO Meg Whitman promised a bright future for HP with plans to bring “a number of new programs and disruptive innovations to market in the coming quarters,” which likely includes such products as the Split x2. Whether consumers will respond remains to be seen, but for the moment, HP is keeping investors happy by returning $1.1 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases. Meanwhile, in a move to further set expectations, Whitman reiterated her confidence for the rest of the year, but followed with, “As I have said many times before, this is a multi-year journey.” The future remains just that, but for the moment, you can hit up the source link for a peek into the current financial health of HP.

Filed under: HP

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Source: HP

Comcast had a dramatic Q4 last year when it announced the buyout of NBCUniversal for $16.7 billion along with the purchase of New York’s iconic 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Still, it’s the cable TV and internet business that pays the freight, and that side of the Comcast’s operations didn’t it let it down in Q1 2013 thanks to a 6.4 percent bump in revenue to $10.2 billion along with 583,000 new subscribers. Other operations didn’t fare as well, as revenue for NBCUniversal dropped 2.4 percent to $5.3 billion, but the overall picture was still pretty sunny, as the communications giant saw an 11.2 percent increase in operating income over last year to $3.1 billion. If you want to see a breakdown by division, check the source for more.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

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Source: Comcast