Windows Phone 7 Sales Reportedly Strong in International Markets - eWeek

Windows Phone 7 sales seem to be off to a solid start in international markets, according to reports from around the world.

DigiTimes reported in a Nov. 3 article that sales of HTC-built Windows Phone 7 smartphones are ?better than expected? in Europe and Australia. Stocks of the HTC HD7 and HTC 7 Mozart had apparently sold out in both the latter country and Germany.

?Early supporters of the new operating system such as South Korea?s Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are also experiencing rising demand from carriers,? the article suggested, indicating the sales information came from unnamed ?Taiwan-based handset makers.?

Meanwhile, stocks of Windows Phone 7 devices in the U.K. are apparently low, according to several media outlets. ?We will be launching with limited amounts of both our Windows Phone 7 devices, the HTC 7 Mozart and the Samsung Omnia 7,? a representative from U.K. carrier Orange wrote in an e-mail to Mobile Today. ?We are, however, anticipating that our competitors could be in a similar situation.? Orange customers were apparently being offered a cash voucher in exchange for preordering a Windows Phone 7 device.

The Mobile Today article quoted an Orange manager as saying: ?I was shocked when I heard the news. We are the lead partner for Windows Phone 7. But I believe this is a manufacturer issue on a worldwide scale.?

Windows Phone 7 will make its debut in the U.S. market Nov. 8, with two devices?the HTC Surround and Samsung Focus?on AT&T. At the company?s Professional Developers Conference 2010, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer suggested that the smartphone platform has a chance in what he termed a still-nascent mobile market, despite fierce competition from the likes of Apple iPhone and Google Android.

?We?re early; there?s no question we?re early,? he told the audience during an Oct. 28 speech, according to CNNMoney.com. ?I think we kind of nailed it. When you see it, you just go ?oooh.??

Windows Phone 7 differs from its competitors with a user interface that aggregates Web content and applications into six subject-specific ?Hubs,? such as ?People? and ?Games.? Microsoft hopes that format will attract users away from competing platforms that rely on grid-like screens of individual apps.

During the PDC, Ballmer also reiterated that Microsoft intends to reverse its fortunes in smartphones, where its market-share has fallen steadily over several quarters. The company is reportedly pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into marketing efforts.

?Make no mistake about it, we?re all in,? Ballmer reportedly told the audience. ?I get all kinds of questions about ?What if you don?t do this or that,? or blah, blah, blah. Boom, baby, that?s what we?re going to do.?

 

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MARKET TALK: Microsoft Raises Estimates On Kinect Device Sales - Wall Street Journal

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See a sample reprint in PDF format.Order a reprint of this article nowNOVEMBER 3, 2010, 7:41 P.M. ETMARKET TALK: Microsoft Raises Estimates On Kinect Device Sales ArticleCommentsmore in Business »

7:41 (Dow Jones) Microsoft (MSFT), which launches its Xbox 360 Kinect device on Thursday, increases its 2010 sales estimates to 5M, up from 3M. ...

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Back To Back ToMSN Money HomepageMSN Money InvestingMost Popular ReadEmailedVideoCommentedSearches1.Obama Is Dealt a Tough Hand2.Opinion: Jim DeMint: Welcome, Senate Conservatives3.Fed to Buy $600 Billion of Treasurys4.Opinion: The Four-Year Majority5.Exit Polls: Democratic Coalition Cracks1.Opinion: Jim DeMint: Welcome, Senate Conservatives2.Opinion: Dorothy Rabinowitz: Why Obama Is No Roosevelt 3.Opinion: The Four-Year Majority4.Opinion: Jenkins: The GOP Can Outsmart ObamaCare5.GM Tax Break to Last Years1.AM Report: Top Three Election Night Surprises2.Opinion Journal: A Four-Year Majority3.Track Your Kids--With a Drone?4.Carl Paladino's Concession Speech5.News Hub: The Fed's New Voyage -- QE21.Obama Takes Blame for Losses, Reaches Out to GOP544 comments2.Opinion: Why Obama Is No Roosevelt513 comments3.Opinion: The Four-Year Majority266 comments4.Opinion: Welcome, Senate Conservatives258 comments5.Pressure Builds on Obama to Shake Up Inner Circle250 comments 1. Facebook 2. economy 3. Apple 4. Mad Men 5. China Most Read Articles Feed Most Emailed Feed Most Popular Video Feed Most Commented FeedMost Popular Feeds Editors' PicksPondering Paladino's Next MoveWhy Washington?s Tax on the Rich FailedMicrosoft's Kinect Pressured to Connect Londoners Target Sidewalk SlowpokesWith a Country TwangDrones Prepare to Fly Into Daily LifeFour-Square ReformerDemocrats Prepare Party Inside Paladino's HeadquartersB.J. Lawson Apologizes For Using Fake Morgan Freeman Voice in AdVideoprevious nextOpinion Journal GOP: Unlock the American Economy2:34Opinion Journal Opinion Journal: How the House Was Won7:10Opinion Opinion Journal: A Four-Year Majority11:00Opinion Journal Opinion Journal: A Wave Election10:46Opinion Journal Opinion Journal: Red to Blue to Red11:02Opinion Journal Opinion Journal: Will Hillary Run in 2012?4:10Opinion Journal Opinion Journal: Tea Party Pragmatists3:04Opinion Journal Opinion Journal's Election Preview9:04Opinion Journal Opinion Journal: Clinton's October Surprise3:23Opinion Journal Opinion Journal: The California Jobs Debate2:27Opinion Journal Opinion Journal: Obama Tax Cuts?9:40Opinion Journal Opinion Journal: A Death in Argentina2:21Opinion Journal Opinion Journal: The Big Non-Dig5:55Opinion Journal Opinion Journal: ObamaCare Preview6:04Opinion Journal Opinion Journal: The Tehran-Kabul Connection4:07 Most Recommended CommentsComments CommentersCommenters 1. “Obama is this: A narcissist with a...;” - David Pearlman 155 Recommendations 2. “It's difficult when the holder of...;” - Jared Potter 104 Recommendations 3. “"Mr. Baird, 54, is a loyal...;” - David Peterson 82 Recommendations 4. “"You don't get real reform by...;” - Jack Davidson 73 Recommendations 5. “We will see what the GOP learned...;” - Steve Fleischer 73 Recommendations jean balloon 1668 Recommendations Peter Venetoklis 1365 Recommendations Jack Davidson 1222 Recommendations Jared Potter 1044 Recommendations Diane Thorton 773 Recommendations More in BusinessCanada Slaps Down BHP's Potash BidU.S. Car Sales Climbed in OctoberIMF: Banks May Struggle With New RulesFreddie Reports $2.5 Billion LossProfit Gains Continue as Costs Percolate null Email Newsletters and Alerts

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Manage Email Preferences Editors' PicksPondering Paladino's Next MoveWhy Washington?s Tax on the Rich FailedMicrosoft's Kinect Pressured to Connect Londoners Target Sidewalk SlowpokesWith a Country TwangDrones Prepare to Fly Into Daily LifeFour-Square ReformerDemocrats Prepare Party Inside Paladino's HeadquartersB.J. Lawson Apologizes For Using Fake Morgan Freeman Voice in Ad WSJ Web Slice CONTENT LINKS TO ACTUAL PAGE CONTAINING WEB SLICE FUNCTIONALITY. 15back to top WSJ.com Account:My AccountSubscriber Billing InfoCreate an Account:Register for FreeSubscribe to WSJ.comSign up for WSJ ProfessionalHelp & Information Center:HelpCustomer ServiceContact UsNew on WSJ.comTour the new JournalAbout:News LicensingAdvertisingAdvertise LocallyConferencesAbout Dow JonesPrivacy Policy - UpdatedSubscriber Agreement & Terms of Use - UpdatedCopyright PolicyJobs at WSJ.comFuture Leadership ProgramWSJ.com:Site MapHomeWorldU.S.New YorkBusinessMarketsMarket DataTechPersonal FinanceLife & CultureOpinionAutosCareersReal EstateSmall BusinessStudent JournalCorrectionsTools & Formats:Today's PaperVideo CenterGraphicsColumnsBlogsTopicsGuidesAlertsNewslettersMobileiPadPodcastsRSS FeedsJournal Community- Message CenterWSJ on TwitterWSJ on FacebookWSJ on FoursquareMy JournalPortfolioDigital NetworkWSJ.comMarketwatch.comBarrons.comSmartMoney.comAllThingsD.comFINS: Finance, IT jobs, Sales jobsBigCharts.comVirtual Stock ExchangeProfessorJournal.comWSJ U.S. EditionWSJ Asia EditionWSJ Europe EditionWSJ India PageForeign language editions:WSJ ChineseWSJ JapaneseWSJ PortugueseWSJ SpanishACAP EnabledCopyright ©2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Microsoft Projects Huge 4Q Sales Surge for Kinect - PC Magazine

Microsoft said Wednesday that the company expects fourth-quarter sales of its Kinect motion controller to be 66 percent higher than previously expected.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, reported that Microsoft expects fourth-quarter Kinect sales to total five million units, versus an earlier sales projection of three million units.

Kinect goes on sale on Thursday. As a standalone product, Kinect costs $149.99. A bundle that includes an Xbox 360 250GB and the game "Kinect Adventures" is also available for $399.99. Sales of the bundle have already been popular and were a top 40 purchase on Amazon.com last week.

Last week, Microsoft revealed 17 Kinect-enabled games for Xbox. on the Nov. 4 launch, games like "Kinect Joy Ride," "Sonic Free Rider," and the "Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout" will go on sale. Five more games such as "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" and "EA Sports Active 2" will be released throughout November and December.

Kinect will launch in Europe on Nov. 10, in Australia on Nov. 18, and in Japan on the 20th.

Microsoft's projects far exceed the IDC/GamePro survey data published this week. IDC and a survey of 750 gamers by GamePro predicted that U.S. consumers will buy between 2.5 million and 3.0 million Kinect for the Xbox 360 sensors this holiday season, versus sales of between 2.0 million to 2.5 million sensors for the rival PlayStation Move.

PCMag.com will review the Microsoft Kinect in the near future.

View the original article here

Sales and Profit Surge for Apple, but Its Margins Slip - New York Times

It was not enough, however, to sustain Wall Street’s exuberance for the consumer electronics company that has seemed to do everything right in analysts’ eyes. The company’s shares fell about 6 percent in after-hours trading on Monday after the company announced its results.

Apple said that it sold 14.1 million iPhones in the quarter, ended Sept. 25, an increase of 91 percent from a year earlier. Consumers bought 4.2 million iPads, the tablet computer it introduced in April. Mac sales totaled 3.9 million, up 27 percent.

But buried among quarterly results that any company would be more than happy to emulate was a decline in gross profit margins. Investors disliked the small blemish, sending Apple’s shares down.

“There’s a lot of hype built up into Apple’s earnings,” said Shannon Cross, the managing director of Cross Research. She added, “Everything must go down at some point, I suppose. Clearly, there was pressure on the iPhone gross margins and the iPad.”

Apple’s success has helped to propel its shares up over the last year, to close on Monday in regular trading at $318, a high.

Otherwise, analysts remained enthusiastic about Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif. Indeed, it was a quarter that highlighted the company’s dominance in consumer electronics. The company said net income for the quarter rose 70 percent, to $4.31 billion, or $4.64 a share, from $2.53 billion, or $2.77 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 67 percent, to $20.34 billion, from $12.21 billion.

On average, analysts had expected Apple to report net income of $4.06 a share on revenue of $18.86 billion.

Apple’s profit margins are the envy of the consumer electronics industry. The problem was that the company’s newest products ware not as profitable as its computers and iPod music players. Strong sales of lower-margin products — the iPad among them — caused the decline, according to Apple executives.

The company said gross margins fell to 36.9 percent, from 41.8 percent in the quarter a year ago. Apple predicted that its margins would slump a bit more, to 36 percent, in the current quarter. Executives repeatedly played down the importance in a conference call with analysts by saying that they were happy with where they were.

The iPod was the only product in Apple’s lineup that showed a decline, with 9.1 million sold, down 11 percent.

Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, made a rare appearance on the regular quarterly conference call. He said he made an exception in honor of the company’s record quarter.

But he used the occasion to attack Apple’s rivals, including Google, whose Android software powers a growing number of mobile phones. Sales of mobile phones using the Android operating system surpassed those for the iPhone in the United States in the third quarter.

Just as a variety of Windows-based PCs held Apple computers to a tiny market share for decades, a variety of Android phones may one day make iPhones a bit player, some analysts have said. Mr. Jobs waved off suggestions that Google’s strategy would win, casting its approach as fragmented because of the variations of Android that he said are used by different phone carriers.

“With iPhone, every handset works the same,” Mr. Jobs said. He added, “We think Android is very fragmented and more fragmented every day.”

Mr. Jobs also criticized several companies that planned to challenge the iPad. He said that their plans to sell a device with a seven-inch screen would create a poor customer experience compared with the iPad, which has a 10-inch screen. The touch screen will be so small, Mr. Jobs said, that users will be unable to easily use their fingers to reach apps on the device.

Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer, said that a surprising number of businesses and schools had also been buying Apple’s products. IPhones provided the biggest piece of Apple’s revenue, with $8.8 billion in sales, followed by notebook computers with $3.2 billion. IPads and related accessories accounted for $2.9 billion.

International sales accounted for 57 percent of all revenue in the quarter.

View the original article here

Sales and Profit Surge for Apple, but Its Margins Slip - New York Times

It was not enough, however, to sustain Wall Street’s exuberance for the consumer electronics company that has seemed to do everything right in analysts’ eyes. The company’s shares fell about 6 percent in after-hours trading on Monday after the company announced its results.

Apple said that it sold 14.1 million iPhones in the quarter, ended Sept. 25, an increase of 91 percent from a year earlier. Consumers bought 4.2 million iPads, the tablet computer it introduced in April. Mac sales totaled 3.9 million, up 27 percent.

But buried among quarterly results that any company would be more than happy to emulate was a decline in gross profit margins. Investors disliked the small blemish, sending Apple’s shares down.

“There’s a lot of hype built up into Apple’s earnings,” said Shannon Cross, the managing director of Cross Research. She added, “Everything must go down at some point, I suppose. Clearly, there was pressure on the iPhone gross margins and the iPad.”

Apple’s success has helped to propel its shares up over the last year, to close on Monday in regular trading at $318, a high.

Otherwise, analysts remained enthusiastic about Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif. Indeed, it was a quarter that highlighted the company’s dominance in consumer electronics. The company said net income for the quarter rose 70 percent, to $4.31 billion, or $4.64 a share, from $2.53 billion, or $2.77 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 67 percent, to $20.34 billion, from $12.21 billion.

On average, analysts had expected Apple to report net income of $4.06 a share on revenue of $18.86 billion.

Apple’s profit margins are the envy of the consumer electronics industry. The problem was that the company’s newest products ware not as profitable as its computers and iPod music players. Strong sales of lower-margin products — the iPad among them — caused the decline, according to Apple executives.

The company said gross margins fell to 36.9 percent, from 41.8 percent in the quarter a year ago. Apple predicted that its margins would slump a bit more, to 36 percent, in the current quarter. Executives repeatedly played down the importance in a conference call with analysts by saying that they were happy with where they were.

The iPod was the only product in Apple’s lineup that showed a decline, with 9.1 million sold, down 11 percent.

Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, made a rare appearance on the regular quarterly conference call. He said he made an exception in honor of the company’s record quarter.

But he used the occasion to attack Apple’s rivals, including Google, whose Android software powers a growing number of mobile phones. Sales of mobile phones using the Android operating system surpassed those for the iPhone in the United States in the third quarter.

Just as a variety of Windows-based PCs held Apple computers to a tiny market share for decades, a variety of Android phones may one day make iPhones a bit player, some analysts have said. Mr. Jobs waved off suggestions that Google’s strategy would win, casting its approach as fragmented because of the variations of Android that he said are used by different phone carriers.

“With iPhone, every handset works the same,” Mr. Jobs said. He added, “We think Android is very fragmented and more fragmented every day.”

Mr. Jobs also criticized several companies that planned to challenge the iPad. He said that their plans to sell a device with a seven-inch screen would create a poor customer experience compared with the iPad, which has a 10-inch screen. The touch screen will be so small, Mr. Jobs said, that users will be unable to easily use their fingers to reach apps on the device.

Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer, said that a surprising number of businesses and schools had also been buying Apple’s products. IPhones provided the biggest piece of Apple’s revenue, with $8.8 billion in sales, followed by notebook computers with $3.2 billion. IPads and related accessories accounted for $2.9 billion.

International sales accounted for 57 percent of all revenue in the quarter.

View the original article here

September Video Game Sales Tumble, Microsoft Ascendant, Sony Mum - PC World

It's bad news for everyone but Microsoft this month, with Halo: Reach putting the Xbox 360 over the top, but overall industry sales slumping 8%. Revenue dropped from $1.32 to $1.22 billion year-on-year, bringing the year-to-date total to $9.89 billion, or eight points behind last year's $10.75 billion.

Bear in mind we're talking strict retail data here. As NPD notes, "these numbers reflect the largest channel for hardware, software and accessories sales, but there are content sales happening elsewhere." Meaning digitally, of course.

And that's about all we can report officially, since NPD just moved unit sales figures behind its pay-wall. That's too bad, mostly because it means inaccurate figures from sites known for guesstimating could come to the fore. But you can't blame NPD. They're a for-profit business, and figures based on retail surveying and data collation are services rendered. They've been provided gratis for years.

What we can do, is wait a bit until the numbers appear by proxy from trusted sources, as they already have for September, courtesy after action analyst reports.

September 2010 hardware unit sales, compared to September 2009, August 2010 respectively.

484k - Xbox 360 (+37%, +36%)
312k - PlayStation 3 (-37%, +38%)
254k - Wii (-45%, -4%)

The Xbox 360 soared last month thanks to Halo: Reach, giving Microsoft an impressive year-on-year boost, even more impressive considering Halo 3: ODST was topping the charts this time last year. Microsoft Xbox 360 numbers come from a sales summary report the company released yesterday quoting NPD's (unreleased) unit estimates.

Sony's longstanding year-on-year growth finally reversed, but that's mostly due to a difficult comparison, since the price-reduced slimline PS3 launched last September. We don't have Move sales specific, and Sony declined to release a monthly sales summary, so we're in the dark on motion-control for the moment. I'm pulling PS3 unit numbers from Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, who issued a market summary paper this morning.

While we don't have DS or PSP unit tallies, Pachter's year-on-year grid shows PSP and DS sales declining 44% and 23% respectively, so it's grim news all around for portables, probably exacerbated by those of us wish-listing a 3DS or PSP2.

And here's September 2010 software, though NPD no longer ranks by platform.

1. Halo: Reach (360)
2. Madden NFL 11 (360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP)
3. Dead Rising 2 (360, PS3, PC)
4. NHL 11 (360, PS3)
5. FIFA Soccer 11 (360, PS3, PS2, PSP, NDS)
6. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP)
7. Mafia II (360, PS3, PC)
8. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (PS3, 360, NDS, Wii)
9. Metroid: Other M (Wii)
10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360, PS3, PC)

NPD did provide Halo: Reach sales, which came to 3.3 million units, not including those in hardware bundles, and you'll note that it still topped the list against multi-platform juggernaut Madden NFL 11.

NPD notes that accessory sales were "the only category up in dollar sales for the month, driven by sales of Specialty Controllers and Audio," including "the new Playstation Move Navigation controller and Sports Champions bundle, which contributed to this accessory type's growth."

View the original article here