Posted 07/18/08 at 10:39:37 PM by Paul Lilly

If Sony Ericsson were capable of self-fulfilling prophecies, it would wish it could take back its ominous profit warning issued in late June. The company said it would break even in the second quarter due to disappointing European sales of its mid and high-end mobile phones, but even that turned out to be wishful thinking as Sony Ericsson on Friday posted a staggering 97 percent drop in Q2 profits. To help weather the financial storm and reduce operational costs, the mobile phone maker plans to cut 2,000 jobs "within the next 12 months."

Sony Ericsson only shipped 24.4 million units in Q2, compared to Nokia's 122 million handsets in the same period, who on Thursday announced better-than-expected earnings. Relief doesn't appear to be in sight either, as SE indicated "challenging market conditions" would remain through the rest of the year.

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mobile, sony, cell phone, Nokia, consumer electronics, Profits, ericsson, job cuts

Posted 07/18/08 at 03:03:57 PM by Pulkit Chandna

IBM’s Q2 results paint an idyllic picture as the company not only surpassed financial pundits’ expectations but also defied the gloom that currently shrouds the US economy. The company reported sales worth $26.8 billion in the second quarter and announced a profit of $2.77 billion – up 22%. The better-than-predicted result prompted IBM to revise its financial guidance upwards and now expects to earn $8.75 per share this year. The company has developed a strong immunity against the economic downturn due to the highly consolidated nature of its business and global reach. Its IT service division that caters to disparate businesses remains sturdy as ever.

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Software, ibm, Profits, q2 results, economy, IT services, guidance

Posted 07/18/08 at 11:41:52 AM by Paul Lilly

Few companies wouldn't mind switching places with Google, who posted a $1.25 billion profit, but when you're the undisputed champ of the online world (or if you're Dr. Evil), a measly billion dollars just isn't enough. Along with earnings per share of $3.92, the numbers aren't adding up to what analysts had predicted, leaving many to wonder if the online advertising market might be taking a turn for the worse. Google Cheif Economist Hal Varian sees it differently, saying:

"Consumers are being cautious in their online spending patterns just as they are in the offline spending. Despite the weakness in the economy, advertising seems to be hodling up remarkably well in most sectors. This illustrates the point that we've made several times that during periods of slow economic growth, the last thing an advertiser wants to cut is its spending on search-based advertising."

But Varians comments did little to assuage investors, nor did posting gross sales of $5.37 billion, marking a 39 percent improvement over one year ago and hitting analysts' estimates. The company's shares still managed to drop 10 percent to $479.70 in after-hours trading.

Given the overall growth and $12.7 billion in cash, is the panic justified?

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windows, Software, Google, stock, analysts, Profits, 35 percent

Posted 07/16/08 at 09:27:08 AM by Chris Moody

While AMD battles its stock price doldrums and feels the pinch of it’s acquisition of ATI, Intel posted record second quarter earnings of $9.5 billion, operating income of $2.3 billion, net income of $1.6 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of 28 cents.

"Intel had another strong quarter with revenue at the high end of expectations and earnings up substantially year over year," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "As we enter the second half, demand remains strong for our microprocessor and chipset products in all segments and all parts of the globe."

This is great news for Intel, but serves to highlight AMD’s woes.

AMD’s disappointing Phenom launch and lackluster processor performance combined with Intel’s pressure on processor prices is a heavy rock around AMD’s neck. It’s important to note that AMD hasn’t been idle and has some pretty interesting things in stock. Not the least of which is the catching up with Nvidia in GPUs, but also their Spider platform, and next generation processor. There is no doubt the pressure is on. AMD needs to deliver a hit. They need it and we, the PC enthusiasts, need AMD. Without a serious competitor innovation can stagnate and prices are sure to rise.

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amd, intel, cpu, news, Profits, Spider