5 things to know today
1. Nokia said second-quarter sales were down 11% vs. the same period last year. Nokia, which acquired Alcatel-Lucent early this year, said the combined companies’ second-quarter sales were $6.3 billion, excluding the impact of international financial reporting standards. During the second quarter of last year, the combined companies would have reported sales of $7.1 billion, Nokia said.
Weakness in Nokia’s mobile networks unit accounted for roughly 80% of the reported decline in sales. The company said softness in its IP networks business and its applications business also contributed to the decline. Good growth in the fixed networks and ultra broadband networks businesses acquired from Alcatel-Lucent offset some of the decline.
“Challenges were anticipated as was a lower outlook, but the breadth of issues was worse than expected and contributed to a reduced sales outlook through 2017,” said analyst Simon Leopold of Raymond James. “Management provided an offset with an increased synergy target.” Synergy refers to the efficiencies and new opportunities resulting from the merger of Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent.
2. The European Commission has reportedly given Vodafone and Liberty Global approval to merge their Dutch operations. The next step will be a sale of Vodafone’s consumer wireline business in the Netherlands. Vodafone is said to have a number of interested parties that may bid for the business.
3. Apple will pay developers cold hard cash if they can demonstrate undiscovered bugs in Apple software. So-called “bug bounty” programs are not uncommon among software companies, but this is the first time Apple has launched such a program. The Cupertino, California, company apparently has a good handle on who and where the capable hackers are, as its bug bounty program will be available by invitation only.
4. T-Mobile US said its 700 megahertz spectrum is now live in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company calls its LTE on low-band spectrum extended range LTE. T-Mobile US has been purchasing 700 MHz licenses piecemeal from AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless, and said its extended range LTE is now available to roughly 200 million Americans in major urban areas.
5. SmartFit sounds like a wearable fitness tracker, but it’s actually a new offering from T-Mobile US. SmartFit is software that tracks a new customer’s data usage for 30 days then recommends the optimal data plan for that user. During those first 30 days, customers get unlimited data, talk and text for $65. After that, they can choose the plan SmartFit recommends or continue to pay $65 per month for 6 GB of LTE data.
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