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Today's Top Stories
1. Operators' Q2 highlights will include connected devices and Sprint's network deals
2. Google activating 550,000 Android phones per day
3. Sony Ericsson's Q2 profit, sales rocked by Japan earthquake effects
4. HP's DeWitt focused on webOS market penetration, working with Rubinstein
5. Opponents claim tax moratorium bill favors wireless carriers Also Noted: Spotlight On... What will Dish Network do with its recently acquired spectrum, once it receives the licenses?
LG releases new Optimus Pro, Optimus Net Android phones; NSN planning layoffs? and much more...  Is free the way to sell an app?
Of the top 10 grossing apps in Apple's App Store in June, six are free. In the Android market, eight of the top 10 grossing apps in June--including all of the top seven--are free. If mobile gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry, then how are developers making money from free apps? And if so many apps are free, why would users pay for apps at all? Special Report
News From Across the Wireless Industry:
1. Millennial Media's Windows Phone 7 ad impressions up 31% over Q1
2. ABI: 73% of users access mobile social networks every day
3. Myxer: More than half of users making purchases via mobile phone
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> Sr. RF Engineer at SyChip, Inc. in Plano, TX
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* General ad info: Click here | Today's Top News 1. Operators' Q2 highlights will include connected devices and Sprint's network deals
There is much to look forward to from wireless operator earnings reports in the second quarter, including how well connected devices such as tablets and ereaders continue to do, as well as whether Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) will reveal new network-hosting deals with LightSquared and possibly Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR). AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) is the first of the carriers to report earnings July 21, and the focus will be on how well it has continued to weather Verizon Wireless' (NYSE:VZ) launch of Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 4. AT&T survived the first quarter relatively unscathed with 3.6 million iPhone activations and 2 million net subscriber additions. According to analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, AT&T is expected to report revenue of $31.3 bil lion, up slightly from revenue of $30.8 billion in the year-ago period. However, analysts also will look to AT&T's connected device activations, since such devices are forecast to be a major growth driver for all carriers in the years ahead. AT&T has taken a lead on the connected devices front, the company added 1.3 million connected devices in the first quarter. Verizon reports earnings July 22, and analysts likely will focus on how many iPhones the company activated in the second quarter to see if it keeps pace with the 2.2 million iPhones it activated in the first quarter. Analysts also will be gauging how well Verizon's LTE smartphones are doing in the market, since Verizon added the Samsung Droid Charge and the LG Revolution to the mix during the second quarter. Verizon activated 500,000 LTE devices in the first quarter, including 260,000 HTC ThunderBolt smartphones. According to Dow Jones, Verizon is expected to report revenue of $27.4 billion, up from $26.8 billion a year ago. Meanwhile, all eyes will be on Sprint to see if the company announces details of any new network-hosting arrangements as part of its Network Vision network modernization plan. Sprint will confirm a LightSquared LTE deal when it announces it second-quarter earnings on July 28, according to a report earlier this week in CNET. Sprint has also indicated it might be interested in a similar deal with Clearwire; Sprint currently resells Clearwire's mobile WiMAX service. Network-hosting deals could give Sprint a significant source of new revenues in the coming years. And that cash could help the carrier defray the costs of Network Vision, which will cost $4 billion to $5 billion over the next three to five years and give the carrier the ability to support LTE via new, multi-mode base stations. Analysts expect Sprint to post a net loss on revenue of $8.3 billion, up from $8 billion in the year-ago quarter. For more:
- see this Dow Jones Newswires article (sub. req.)
- see this FierceWireless Q2 earnings page Related Articles:
Report: Sprint will confirm LightSquared deal in conjunction with Q2 earnings
Sprint scolds Verizon's tiered data plans with new unlimited ads
Verizon confirms it will ditch unlimited smartphone data plans starting July 7
New Sprint ad campaign hinges on unlimited data
Verizon opens LTE Innovation Center, expands network to 100 markets
Unscathed by Verizon's iPhone launch, AT&T activates 3.6M iPhones in quarter Read more about: Verizon Wireless, Sprint, AT&T, Clearwire
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2. Google activating 550,000 Android phones per day
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Larry Page said the company is activating 550,000 Android smartphones per day, a marked increase from the rate at which Google said it was activating Android devices just a few weeks ago. Google Android chief Andy Rubin said on June 28 via Twitter that Google was activating more than 500,000 new Android devices every day. Rubin also said at the time that activations are growing at a pace of 4.4 percent every week. Google said in mid-April that it was activating around 350,000 Android smartphones per day. Separately, Google's Susan Wojcicki, the company's vice president of products, provided additional Android metrics. She said there are 135 million Android devices activated in total around the world, up from 100 million two months ago. Additionally, Wojcicki said there are 400 Android device models globally, and that Android Market has 250,000 apps. She said users have downloaded a total of 6 billion Android applications to date. By comparison, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) said earlier this month that downloads from its App Store passed 15 billion worldwide. Although Google licenses Android for free to handset OEMs, the company makes money from advertising on mobile search. Google said last year its mobile business--including search, advertising and services--added $1 billion to its revenue streams annually. "People rightly ask how we will monetize these businesses? And of course I understand the need to balance the short term with the longer term needs because our revenues and growth serve as the engine that funds our innovation," Page said on the company's earnings conference call. "But our emerging high usage products can generate huge new businesses for Google in the long run, just like search. And we have tons of experience monetizing successful products over time." However, Google's Android platform has been under pressure from software giant Oracle, which has sued Google and argued that Android infringes on Java patents it owns as a result of its acquisition of Sun Microsystems. The judge in that case, William Alsup, recently laid out in a court notice questions he intends to ask Google in the case. "It appears that early on Google recognized that it would infringe patents protecting at least part of Java, entered into negotiations with Sun to obtain a license for use in Android, then abandoned the negotiations as too expensive, and pushed home with Android without any license at all," he wrote in the filing. "How accurate is this scenario? Does Google acknowledge that Android infringes at least some of the claims if valid?" If Google is forced to pay Oracle damages or royalty fees as a result of the lawsuit, it could potentially add to the total cost of licensing Android. During the company's earnings conference call, a participant asked about Android intellectual property concerns. Google's Page answered: "Despite the efforts of some of our competitors, there hasn't been any slowdown" in Android adoption, he said. He reiterated Google's commitment to the platform. In terms of financials, Google's second-quarter results easily bested Wall Street analysts' expectations. The company's net profit in the quarter was $2.51 billion, up from $1.84 billion in the second quarter of 2010. Google reported revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs of $9.03 billion, up 32 percent from $6.82 billion in the year-ago period. Traffic acquisition costs, or the portion of revenues shared with Google's partners, increased to $2.11 billion in the second quarter, compared to TAC of $1.73 billion in year-ago quarter. For more:
- see this release
- see this NYT article
- see this AllThingsD article
- see this Seeking Alpha transcript
Related Articles:
Google's bids on Nortel's patents raise questions
Google unveils redesigned Android Market for smartphones
Android device activations explode to more than 500,000 a day
Google activating 350,000 Android devices per day
Android chief Rubin promoted at Google Read more about: Smartphones, Android, Larry Page, Andy Rubin
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3. Sony Ericsson's Q2 profit, sales rocked by Japan earthquake effects
Sony Ericsson's second-quarter profits tumbled as a result of the aftershocks of the tsunami and earthquake that hit Japan in March, which disrupted the company's supply chain. However, the handset vendor forecast a stronger second half of the year. The company booked a net loss of $70.73 million in the quarter, a dramatic reversal from the net profit of $17 million it reported in the year-ago period. The figures also broke a string of five consecutive quarters of profit. Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg had warned in April that the company's second quarter would be impacted strongly by the earthquake. Nordberg told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview that the second quarter "was lost" and the month of April was "a formidable catastrophe" due to supply chain constraints. "Had it not been for the earthquake and the supply chain constraints we would have shipped 1.5 million more units and we would have been profitable during the second quarter," Nordberg said. Separately, he told Reuters that the company expects to have a stronger second half, and that the effects of the earthquake will be negligible in the third quarter. The Sony Ericsson chief said demand for smartphones remains strong, and that smartphone sales have cut into feature phones. Indeed, he said the feature phone market was "nearly ... collapsing." Sony Ericsson's reliance on Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android platform is powering its results. Sony Ericsson said 70 percent of its total sales during the quarter were smartphones. Sales slumped to $1.68 billion in the quarter, down from $2.48 billion in the year-ago period. The company shipped 7.6 million units in the quarter, down 31 percent from 11 million in the second quarter of 2010. Although Sony Ericsson aims to be the world's largest Android handset maker, the company reported that it has around 11 percent of the global Android smartphone market. "Smartphone volume was reassuring, but Sony Ericsson still faces a considerable task in rebuilding and sustaining profit margins," CCS Insight analyst Geoff Blaber told Reuters. "Sony Ericsson is not alone in finding the smartphone transition a challenging one." Analysts generally expect Samung to report gains in the second quarter, while Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and LG will suffer. Nokia reports its earnings on July 21. For more:
- see this release
- see this Dow Jones Newswires article (sub. req.)
- see this Reuters article Special Report: Wireless in the second quarter of 2011 Related Articles:
Sony Ericsson to release 'portfolio' of NFC Android smartphones
Sony Ericsson's profit halved in Q1, warns of supply chain issues
Sony Ericsson warns of Android device delays following Japan disaster
Sony Ericsson looks to lure Android developers as focus shifts to U.S., China
Sony Ericsson plans LTE devices, crows of Verizon deal
Sony Ericsson, Verizon hit 'start' on Xperia Play 'PlayStation' phone Read more about: Google, Japan, Sony Ericsson, Smartphones
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4. HP's DeWitt focused on webOS market penetration, working with Rubinstein
Stephen DeWitt, who took charge this week of Hewlett-Packard's webOS global business unit, said he is focused on expanding the reach of webOS, getting more webOS devices into the market and working with Jon Rubinstein, who until recently was leading the webOS efforts at HP. In a series of interviews, DeWitt sketched out his vision and imperatives for webOS and also put the executive shuffling into context, arguing that Rubinstein will continue to play a central roll in webOS development within HP. Rubinstein, who was the driving force behind webOS at Palm before HP acquired the company, will take charge of product innovation in the HP Personal Systems Group, which encompasses smartphones, tablets and PCs. Both Rubinstein and DeWitt will report to Todd Bradley, who remains the executive vice president of HP Personal Systems Group. In an interview with This is my next, DeWitt said the new webOS business unit encompasses the old Palm team as well as independent software vendor and developer teams. "This group will also see and provide oversight to the development of all our mobile services capabilities," he said. "As you know, HP is a big company, HP has very intimate relationships with customers from very big ones to very small ones." DeWitt acknowledged that HP is behind in mobile. "We've got to get out in the market," he told CNET. "We have to learn and react and expand. That's the model here." He later added: "Clearly we need to educate people and inform people that the products that run webOS are out." Indeed, new numbers from comScore show webOS with just 2.4 percent of the U.S. smartphone market in May. DeWitt, who led HP's Personal Systems Group Americas region and has been with HP since 2008, said the company will focus on both enterprise and consumer customers but will look to expand webOS' global reach. "Over the next handful of quarters, we'll take what we have now, we'll begin to expand the reach of webOS--we'll do that in a very well orchestrated order, and that will be a key area of focus for the new team," he said. Rubinstein said he recommended to Bradley that someone from HP who knew about the company's global structure lead the webOS team. He said he is still figuring out how his new role will work. "My primary goal is to help Stephen, and to really make sure that we continue the kind of innovation that we've been doing in the past going forward," Rubinstein told This is my next. Interestingly, Rubinstein touched on negotiations HP is holding over licensing webOS, and said Amazon.com might make a useful partner. "I would say Amazon would certainly make a great partner, because they have a lot of characteristics that would help them expand the webOS ecosystem," he told This is my next. "As to whether there's been discussions or not... that's obviously not something I'm going to comment about." For more:
- see this This is my next article
- see this CNET article
- see this mocoNews article
Related Articles:
HP reorganizes webOS leadership team
Will other companies license HP's webOS? And will this strategy work?
HP positions TouchPad as enterprise play, not iPad killer
HP confirms talks to license webOS, Samsung reportedly interested
HP partners with AT&T for TouchPad, Wi-Fi version coming July 1 Read more about: Palm, Smartphones, Todd Bradley, webOS
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5. Opponents claim tax moratorium bill favors wireless carriers
The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would put a five-year moratorium on new state and local taxes targeting wireless services but not other goods or services, a long-sought-for goal of the CTIA. The bill would only apply to new taxes and does not affect to those already in place. The CTIA has long fought for the bill, arguing that wireless services are unfairly taxed compared with other services. However, state and local governments have said that the bill would deprive them of revenue at a time when budgets are being cut because of the weak economy. The House bill, the Wireless Tax Fairness Act of 2011, was introduced by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) earlier this spring, and will now go to the full House for a vote. Lawmakers also approved an amendment allowing a state or city to impose a new wireless tax if it is approved by the affected voters. A companion bill in the Senate, introduced by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Olympia Snow (R-Maine), is still at the committee level. Similar legislation was introduced in 2008 and 2009, but the bills died in Congress. After the vote, the CTIA praised the committee and urged the full House to vote on the bill. Still, at a hearing on the bill, opponents decried it as a giveaway to the wireless industry. "This bill is not about expanding broadband technology or providing tax parity for an overtaxed industry," said Bernita Sims, according to BillingWorld. Sims is a council member with the City of High Point, N.C., and member of the Finance, Administration and Intergovernmental Relations Committee of the National League of Cities. "Rather, this bill is about special treatment and favoritism for wireless phone companies that continue to experience explosive growth and profits." For more:
- see this National Journal article
- see this BillingWorld article
Related Articles:
Lawmakers once again introduce wireless tax moratorium bill
Lawmakers advance bill to freeze cell taxes
CTIA pushes for repeal of tax on work-issued cell phones
Cell tax bill debated at House hearing Read more about: Wireless Carriers, CTIA, Taxes, Congress
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Also Noted SPOTLIGHT ON... What will Dish Network do with its recently acquired spectrum, once it receives the licenses? Click below to vote on this week's poll:
 And click here to vote on previous FierceWireless poll questions. Quick news from across the Web @FierceWireless: RT @engadget: Verizon LTE: no roaming, even if you want to. Article | follow@FierceWireless > LG announced two new Android smartphones, the LG Optimus Pro (LG-C660) and the LG Optimus Net (LG-P690). Release > Apple could switch chipset suppliers from Samsung to TSMC. Article > BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk looks into the potential of Sprint Nextel teaming with Dish Network or SpectrumCo. Post (reg. req.) > Oracle in a court filing said it wants to question Google CEO Larry Page over possible patent infringement. Article > In the state of Virginia, Cox Wireless is now currently available in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Roanoke. Release > Nokia Siemens Networks could embark on layoffs. Article Mobile Content News > Fifty-three percent of U.S. subscribers visiting Myxer's ad-supported mobile entertainment site have made purchases from their phones. Article > Apple reportedly launched a bulk iOS app purchase program for businesses. Article > Google is beginning to push out its Android Honeycomb 3.2 update. Article Mobile Developer News > New figures from Flurry show developer interest in iOS has grown in recent months, likely due to the launch of the Verizon iPhone and the iPad 2. Post And finally... Sprint's tips on surviving "Carmageddon" in Los Angeles. Release > TC3: Telecom Council Carrier Connections - Sept 15 - Mountain View, CA Sponsored by Huawei, Blue Coat, and Qualcomm, TC3 connects you to what the carriers are thinking, what they are looking for, and how they find innovation and work with entrepreneurs. It's 15 carriers with 20 strategies in 1 day. Details at http://telecomcouncil.com/tc3 > CTO Telecom Summit - September 18-21, 2011 - Montelucia Resort, Scottsdale, AZ The CTO Telecom Summit, September 18-21, 2011, will bring together CTOs to discuss IT topics and trends currently affecting the industry. The 2011 agenda has been revamped to include focus groups, think tanks, and analyst Q&As, all of which encourage meaningful conversations between delegates, analysts and solution providers. Learn more. > BlackBerry DevCon Americas - Oct. 18-20 - San Francisco, CA The showcase event for mobile developers. Join thousands of BlackBerry enthusiasts & experts for sessions, hands-on labs, demos and much more. Learn how you can maximize your investment in mobile development for the BlackBerry platform. Register early & save at www.blackberrydevcon.com. > The Open Mobile Summit: NEW DATES ANNOUNCED - November 2-4 2011 - San Francisco, CA > Appcelerate: At the Open Mobile Summit - November 4, 2011 - San Francisco, CA Mark your calendar for the app economy event of the year. In its first year, Appcelerate brought 600 of the leading mobile innovators together to explore how to build and monetize a killer app business and featured CEOs Smule, BottleRocket, ngmoco, Shopkick, Disney Mobile and more. Don't miss 2011.. Click here for more info
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| > Telecommunications Director, Experian Consumer Direct, Irvine, CA The Telecommunications Director will be the primary point of contact for all voice related systems in the organization. This will include PBX systems, Voice Mail, Call Management Servers, CTI, Call Recording, IVR, Witness Call recording, VoIP technologies, Cell Phones, PDA's and Carrier Services. This role will support multiple Telephony systems in separate locations... Learn more. > Sr. RF Engineer at SyChip, Inc. in Plano, TX If you have RF Engineering experience in wireless technology – this is a great OPPORTUNITY to join an exciting company and to become a part of a winning team Murata Electronics North America, Inc., a leading international electronic component sales organization, is seeking a Senior RF Engineer for our Plano, Texas office. Learn More! > Need a job? Need to hire? Visit FierceWirelessJobs | |
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