Samsung net income up by 81 percent (South Korea)
South Korean company Samsung Electronics Co. has posted its highest profit in at least two years after beating Apple Inc. and Nokia Oyj in smartphone sales, according to a report by BN. The company said in a statement that net income went up 81 percent from a year earlier to $4.4 billion.
As per the report, Samsung shares witnessed a record high, with handsets such as the Galaxy Note causing the mobile phone business to almost triple in the quarter.
Further, the report reveals that Samsung plans to double sales of smartphones and tablet computers this year, helped by new products, the company said in February. Including basic phones, Samsung expects to sell about 380 million handsets this year after shipping a record 300 million units last year.
Samsung records 17 percent rise in Q4 profits (South Korea)
South Korean manufacturer Samsung Electronics has reported fourth quarter profits amounting to US$ 3.6 billion, representing a 17 percent increase from US$ 3.04 billion, a year earlier. The rise in demand for Galaxy smartphones helped Samsung surpass Apple as the leading handset manufacturer for 2011.
According to reports, the success of the Galaxy SII has been instrumental in Samsung selling almost 300 million handsets in the past year. Other devices such as the Galaxy Note and tablet computers launched by the company are expected to further strengthen its position in the smartphone market.
Further, apart from the high-end phones such as the SII and the Note, Samsung also offers a variety of affordable smartphones with an impressive design, thereby increasing its reach across the market. As per sources, industry analysts estimate that Samsung may succeed Apple in 2012, as mobile operators recognize Samsung as a strong competitor to Apple devices.
HTC sales may reach TWD 100 bn in Q1
HTC is expected to see its first-quarter sales break the TWD 100 billion mark, reports the Cens. HTC registered TWD 32.106 billion in consolidated sales in February, up 212.33 percent year-on-year but down 8.3 percent from the preceding month. The company scored TWD 67.121 billion in consolidated sales in the first two months of this year, up 212.91 percent from a year earlier. Due to the sale of its newly launched Desire-series smartphones, HTC has seen shipments in January and February surpass market expectations. Earlier, HTC was expected to ship 8.5 million smartphones with sales reaching TWD 94 billion in the first quarter of this year, up 157 percent and 14 percent year-on-year, respectively. The company`s second-quarter sales will keep trending upward as it has constantly launched new machines and the ‘Flyer’-series tablet computers since the beginning of the second quarter. HTC will focus its deployment in the Asian market this year. HTC Asia-Pacific vice president CL Tung anticipated his company will see strong dynamics in sales of smartphones this year as consumers are gradually switching to use smartphones from conventional multi-functional ones.
AT&T sees slow mobile subscriber growth (USA)
The largest US telecoms, AT&T has reported a 60% drop in fourth-quarter profit for the period ended Dec. 31.
According to the company, its mobile unit added 400,000 postpaid contract customers in the fourth quarter, down significantly from 841,000 in the same period a year ago.
It gained 442,000 subscribers to tablet computers, including the Apple iPad and the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Tab, and signed up 4.1 million. Apple iPhone customers in its last quarter as exclusive carrier of the device.
AT&T’s mobile unit has reported a 9.9% increase in revenues to $15.18 billion. Average revenue per postpaid contract user rose by 2.2% to $62.88 and churn, a measure of customer loyalty, was steady at 1.15%.
In terms of revenue, the wireless giant recorded $31.4 billion in fourth-quarter sales, up 2.1% when compared with the same quarter of 2009.
Telecom Italia plans to upgrade Mobile Broadband in Italy
Italy’s biggest phone company, Telecom Italia SpA, is planning to radically upgrade its mobile broadband network to handle increased data, according to Chief Executive Officer Franco Bernabe.
As per Franco Bernabe, the network will be overhauled to adapt to the rise in data traffic. The company plans to start offering 21-mb mobile broadband service in Milan and Rome in December, and initial rollout of 42-mb service is scheduled for the end of 2011.
According to the company, the service, to be rolled out nationwide gradually, is part of the company’s plans to develop its mobile network to keep up with the growing amount of traffic generated by mobile phones, USB modems, and smartphones and tablet computers.
The use of mobile broadband has surged in Cellphone-loving Italy, prompting the country’s telecom regulator to warn earlier this year that soaring data traffic levels risk triggering a collapse of the mobile network.
Telecom operators have also begun focusing on the mobile broadband segment as one of the key drivers of growth in coming years. Vodafone, one of Telecom Italia’s key competitors in the mobile market, earlier this month alleged it would invest about US$1.3 billion to boost mobile broadband coverage in Italy over the next three to four years.
