Redbox’s $1 per night DVD rentals jump to $1.20 October 31st, Blu-ray and games stay the same

While its movie rental rivals Netflix and Blockbuster have struggled for varying reasons recently, it seemed like Redbox could be just the ticket for thrifty renters. That may be tougher now that it has announced Monday we’ll see a slight increase in pricing for DVD rentals, from $1 to $1.20, citing increased debit card fees. So far, nightly pricing for Blu-ray discs ($1.50) and videogames ($2) is staying the same, but with studios already pushing for longer rental delays, there’s fewer safe ports or those pursuing cheap, current movies. On the conference call, executives floated the idea of using the first sale doctrine to buy and rent retail discs if necessary. Overall, as seen above Redbox’s share of the disc rental market rose last quarter, while there’s still no word on plans to jump into online streaming.

Check below for parent company Coinstar’s full Q3 earnings report plus a FAQ that helpfully points out this is Redbox’s first increase in eight years and that discs reserved online will still be just $1 for the first night through November. The actual email customers are receiving is included after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Redbox’s $1 per night DVD rentals jump to $1.20 October 31st, Blu-ray and games stay the same

Redbox’s $1 per night DVD rentals jump to $1.20 October 31st, Blu-ray and games stay the same originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Mobility reports $3.3 billion in revenue and $32 million net loss, offers more details on Google buyout

Just in time for the company to be acquired by Google, Motorola Mobility is beginning to right the ship, as evidenced by today’s quarterly earnings report. The company reported total net revenues of $3.3 billion — precisely the same amount earned last quarter, incidentally, and up 11 percent from this time last year — and a GAAP net loss of $32 million. While the number may put frowns on a few faces, it’s still an improvement from Q2’s loss of $56 million, and more than half ($18 million) of the losses were attributed to expenses from the Google acquisition. Mobile device revenues are up 20 percent year-over-year and 11.6 million devices were shipped, including 4.8 million smartphones and 100,000 Xoom tablets.

On the regulatory front, Moto offered a few new details about the progress of the company’s acquisition. It announced that it will hold a meeting with stockholders on November 17 to gain approval of the Google merger, and — pending antitrust clearance by the US Department of Justice, the EU and several other government entities — expects to close the transaction by the end of this year or early 2012 at the latest. Check out all of the numbers after the break.

Continue reading Motorola Mobility reports $3.3 billion in revenue and $32 million net loss, offers more details on Google buyout

Motorola Mobility reports $3.3 billion in revenue and $32 million net loss, offers more details on Google buyout originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo posts first half loss in earnings report, slashes forecast yet again

Nintendo‘s latest earnings report may be one of its most forgettable. The company posted a net loss of ¥70.27 billion ($923 million) this morning, in a report covering the first six months of the fiscal year ending on September 30th. That’s significantly deeper than the ¥2.01 billion loss Nintendo posted during the same period last year, though Nintendo attributed the result, in part, to a strengthened yen and sagging demand for its 3DS console. Revenue, meanwhile, fell by 40.6 percent on the year, to ¥215.74 billion ($2.84 billion), as the manufacturer reported an operating loss of ¥57.34 billion. Things are looking so bleak, in fact, that Nintendo has decided to slash its financial projections yet again, predicting a net loss of ¥20 billion for the full year (ending in March 2012), compared with the ¥20 billion in profits it projected only in July. And, as Bloomberg notes, if these prognostications hold true, it would mark Nintendo’s first annual loss in a full 30 years. Ouch. Check out the full report for yourself at the source link, below.

Nintendo posts first half loss in earnings report, slashes forecast yet again originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 04:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg  |  sourceNintendo (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

Sprint announces Q3 earnings: net subs reach five year high, net losses at $300 million

Sprint has just unveiled its Q3 earnings report, and it’s looking pretty bittersweet. According to the company, net operating revenues reached $8.3 billion during the quarter (about two percent higher than Q3 2010), while additions of new wireless net subscribers reached a five year high, with 1.3 million customers hopping onboard. Of those 1.3 million, 304,000 were of the postpaid variety, 485,000 were prepaid and about 835,000 were wholesale. Sprint lost about 44,000 net postpaid customers this quarter, but that’s a major improvement over last quarter, when a little over 100,000 jumped ship, and marks a 59 percent improvement over last year’s report. At the same time, however, the carrier reported net losses of $301 million — lower than Q2’s figures, but not exactly encouraging, either. As far as the future goes, the folks at Overland Park expect to end the year with even more new subscribers, though it remains to be seen whether that long-awaited LTE rollout can make much of a dent in its bottom line. Check out the press release in full, after the break.

Update: Listening in on the earnings call it’s clear Sprint is really counting on the iPhone to help it run with the big dogs. According to some convoluted metaphor, the carrier is the Oakland A’s in Moneyball and Apple’s handset is A-Rod (who never spent a day with the Athletics… but we digress). Still, Sprint expects more loyalty and bigger profits from customers who choose the iPhone — at least for the next four years, after which it’ll have to negotiate a new deal with the Cupertino crew.

Update 2: Sprint also clarified that, in addition to its deal with LightSquared, it will be working with Clearwire to deliver LTE network coverage. The carrier has reached a preliminary agreement with its WiMAX partner, but expects to announce a wholesale deal soon.

Update 3: We already knew that the iPhone 4S launch was the company’s best launch ever for a family, but now the company’s confirming that it was its best launch ever for any device.

Continue reading Sprint announces Q3 earnings: net subs reach five year high, net losses at $300 million

Sprint announces Q3 earnings: net subs reach five year high, net losses at $300 million originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG posts a net loss for Q3, loses ground in mobile sales

The Q3 numbers for LG are in, showing its cellphone unit lost money for the sixth straight quarter, with profits coming from the home appliance and air conditioning units. On the home entertainment side, it shipped more flat panel TVs than ever before (6.8 million) and despite lower revenues managed to improve operating profit by selling more of its high end Cinema 3D and LED-lit HDTVs. Unfortunately for the mobile division, sales were down 8.5 percent from last year and the company recorded a $128.47 million operating loss. Making things worse, Reuters reports its rival Samsung is expected to report strong profit in mobiles on Friday, and pass Apple as the world’s biggest smartphone seller on the back of its Galaxy S line. We don’t know if LG will be able to turn things around anytime soon, but giving the Optimus LTE an Ice Cream Sandwich finish and shipping it sooner rather than later couldn’t hurt.

Continue reading LG posts a net loss for Q3, loses ground in mobile sales

LG posts a net loss for Q3, loses ground in mobile sales originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon focusing on ‘lifetime’ Kindle revenue, anticipating record device sales for Q4

Today’s Amazon earnings were decidedly split — the company revealed both a 44-percent increase in net sales and a 73-percent decrease in net income. So, why the discrepancy? It may at least partially be due to the much discussed suggestion that the company actually loses money for each Kindle sold — a trend which, if true, has likely only been compounded by the release of the uber-cheap ad-supported version of the device. The company addressed the matter in part, suggesting that it is focused on “the lifetime value [of the Kindle], not just the economics of the devices and accessories.” The total economic picture of the Kindle includes the device itself, accessories, downloaded content and ad-revenue.

Things are apparently looking up for the company, as well, with Amazon anticipating “a record quarter in terms of device sales” for Q4. The positivity is a reflection, in part, of greater than anticipated Kindle pre-orders. Says CEO Jeff Bezos, “In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch. And based on what we’re seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we’re increasing capacity and building millions more than we’d already planned.”

Amazon focusing on ‘lifetime’ Kindle revenue, anticipating record device sales for Q4 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon net sales up, net income down for Q3 2011

Amazon pulled back the financial curtain for Q3 2011, revealing $10.88 billion in net sales for the quarter, a 44 percent jump over this time last year. Net income, on the other hand, decreased 73 percent year over year, down to $63 million. The quarter also saw the company’s “biggest order day ever for Kindle,” according to CEO Jeff Bezos — September 28th, the introduction of three new reader devices from the company. The company’s Q4 report will likely be affected by the coming launch of the Kindle Touch and the long-awaited Fire tablet.

Continue reading Amazon net sales up, net income down for Q3 2011

Amazon net sales up, net income down for Q3 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ARM doubles Q3 profit, sees surge in revenue, is understandably pleased

The news just keeps getting better and better for ARM Holdings. Today, the chip designer reported third quarter net profits of £31.5 million ($50.4 million), more than double the £14.8 million it reported during Q3 2010. Revenue, meanwhile, rose to $192.3 million — a 22 percent increase over the previous year, and a slightly higher figure than previously expected. In a statement, chief executive Warren East attributed these results to a “continued high level of design activity, with many new customers licensing ARM technology for the first time, driven by end-market requirements for smarter, low-power chips.” Indeed, a total of one billion ARM mobile chips were shipped this quarter (up ten percent from last year), and the company expects to rake in about $763 million in total revenue, by the end of 2011. Find figures and facts galore, at the source link below.

ARM doubles Q3 profit, sees surge in revenue, is understandably pleased originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Wall Street Journal, Stock Market Wire  |  sourceARM Holdings  | Email this | Comments

Canon posts higher profits in Q3 earnings report, lowers outlook over Thai flood concerns

Things are looking pretty rosy for Canon these days, though there may be some difficulty on the horizon. Today, the camera maker published a rather strong Q3 earnings report, just a few months after posting relatively ho-hum Q2 results. According to the company, operating profit grew by 17.4 percent to ¥122.55 billion ($1.6 billion) this quarter, compared with ¥104.42 billion ($1.37 billion) a year ago. Net profit, meanwhile, increased by 14.2 percent over the year, reaching ¥77.9 billion ($1.02 billion) during the quarter, versus ¥68.20 billion during Q3 2010. These results come at a time when the yen is strong, and therefore detrimental to Japanese exporters, though Canon attributed much of its success to strong growth in emerging markets, including China and India. For the year, however, Canon lowered its net-profit outlook to ¥230 billion ($3.02 billion) from ¥260 billion ($3.4 billion), on assumptions that the yen will maintain its strength, and on fears that recent flooding in Thailand may impact production. In fact, the manufacturer said the flooding may cut annual sales by ¥50 billion ($657 million) and operating profit by ¥20 billion. Check out the full report, at the source link below.

Canon posts higher profits in Q3 earnings report, lowers outlook over Thai flood concerns originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Wall Street Journal, Reuters  |  sourceCanon  | Email this | Comments

Netflix US subscriber count drops by 800k in Q3, 21.45 million still streaming

After a tumultuous third quarter the numbers are finally in for Netflix, and as expected its price hike and Qwikster madness have cost it a few customers in the US. Currently the company is reporting a total of 23.79 million customers in the US, down from 24.59 million last quarter — fewer than even it projected a few weeks ago. According to the report, it lost more “long term” customers than expected, which it attributes, again, to its poor explanation of the reasoning behind the change. To address those decisions and its inability to reach a new deal with Starz it has a few more numbers to show, as apparently only 7 percent of new customers are opting for the $15.98 hybrid package, while Starz Play content currently accounts for about six percent of streaming hours. Other competitors are also mentioned — Amazon Prime Instant Video’s content library is referred to as “duplicative” and just a “small fraction” of what Netflix offers, as it counts on newly-signed exclusive deals to widen the gap.

Those deals mean new movies like Drive, Paranormal Activity 3, The Rum Diaries and The Immortals will show up on Netflix in the usual pay-TV window, on top of a library of catalog TV shows that pulls from all five broadcast networks and 95 percent of cable TV stations. Internationally, Netflix is up to one million customers in Canada where it plans to double quarterly content spending, while Latin American customers can look forward to iOS and Xbox support soon. While its UK launch is on for Q1, it expressed concern for competition from Sky Movies, BBC and Lovefilm, and it plans to hold off on further expansion after that. We’ll dig through the report more and tune in to their earnings call in a bit, hit the source link to check out the PDF for yourself.

Netflix US subscriber count drops by 800k in Q3, 21.45 million still streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceNetflix (pdf)  | Email this | Comments