The disgruntled economy finally hit Verizon Wireless where it hurts, in its customer growth during the fourth quarter. The carrier posted 1.4 million net adds during its fourth quarter, but that's the fewest subscribers the No. 1 wireless provider added since the second quarter...
Weakening sales and restructuring charges kept Tellabs Inc.'s earnings under pressure in the fourth quarter, the Naperville maker of telecommunications products said Tuesday, but an income-tax benefit helped the company report a profit increase.For the quarter ended Jan. 2, Tellabs had net income of...
LG Electronics Co. said today that its handset shipments grew year-on-year and sequentially on a day when market leader Nokia Corp. acknowledged declines in both metrics.The Korean vendor credited new models launched in Europe and "timely pricing strategies" for its shipment growth, which stands...
Nokia Corp. confirmed today that the fourth quarter - typically the year's retail high point - was dismal and said the year ahead would far worse than it anticipated just a month ago. The company said the first quarter would reflect more extreme "seasonality"...
Nokia Siemens Networks reported progress on cutting costs, but charges related to the combination of Nokia's and Siemens' networking businesses continued to drag on the company's bottom line; Nokia Siemens Networks posted $179 million in losses in the final quarter of 2008.Parent company Nokia...
Apple Inc. is not immune to the economic downturn, as it reported a massive slowdown in iPhone 3G sales in its earnings call this afternoon, after markets had closed.The first fiscal quarter of 2009, which ended Dec. 27, 2008, saw Apple selling 4.4 million...
As other infrastructure companies struggle, L.M. Ericsson continues to buck the trend, posting a strong fourth quarter in 2008 that netted sales of $7.9 billion. However, the Swedish company will continue with cost-saving measures that it started last year by cutting 5,000 jobs this...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carriers--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'B" rating to MetroPCS Wireless Inc.'s proposed $300 million senior notes due 2014. The firm also affirmed its...
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications lost a quarter of a billion dollars in the fourth quarter as sales were down 23% year-on-year. SEMC shipped 24.2 million devices in the fourth quarter, down 21% year-on-year, and down 6% sequentially. The vendor shipped nearly 97 million devices...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carriers--Morgan Stanley downgraded Qwest Communications to equal weight from overweight after recent outperformance on the stock market, limiting further outperformance potential.--RBC Capital Markets downgraded Embarq...
Leap Wireless International Inc. said it recorded a solid final quarter for 2008, adding 385,000 new customers that contributed to an overall increase of 34% for the year.The regional, flat-rate carrier announced that it ended the year with 3.84 million customers and saw growth...
Virgin Mobile USA Inc. released "selected" - meaning positive and unaudited - metrics today, and suggested that the troubled economy was sending mobile subscribers into its arms.The low-cost wireless provider isn't due to report full financial results until March 3. Today's word on subscriber...
It looks like MetroPCS Communications Inc. may be cashing in on the current economic downturn. The no-contract, unlimited wireless provider said it added 520,000 customers during the fourth quarter of 2008, its highest quarterly net additions in the company's history. The growth put the...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Handset and infrastructure vendors--Oppenheimer increased its estimates on Research In Motion after the company reported results in line with its pre-announcement. The new estimates are...
Palm Inc. said yesterday that it is operating in an "extremely tough climate" with "continued challenges in coming months" as it prepares to launch a next-generation platform dubbed Nova along with new handsets.Palm is widely expected to present its new OS and, possibly, devices...
Research In Motion Ltd. gave an upbeat report on holiday sales yesterday and said that the current quarter would set a company record for device shipments.RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said in a statement that BlackBerry products were selling faster than anticipated and that the...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Handset and infrastructure vendors--RBC Capital Markets upgraded Alcatel-Lucent to sector perform from underperform. R.W. Baird lowered its estimates on the company after the company...
Moody's Investor Service downgraded Sprint Nextel Corp.'s un-secured debt rating to non-investment grade, or "junk," according to a report from the Associated Press.The ratings agency announced Wednesday that it had moved Sprint Nextel's debt rating from "Ba2" to "Baa3" and gave its corporate family...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carrier--Morgan Stanley resumed coverage of Sprint Nextel with an underweight rating and a price target of $1. FBR Research resumed coverage of the carrier with...
Nokia Corp. executives told analysts and press today that holiday-quarter handset sales will likely fall short of the company's last estimate, given less than three weeks ago. Even with its much-vaunted visibility into the global market, however, Nokia declined to give clear guidance for...
Research In Motion Ltd. said today that its fiscal third-quarter results would miss expectations, evidence that the BlackBerry maker, like others, has been swept up in the global economic downturn. RIM warned that revenue in the fiscal quarter just ended would reach the range...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carrier--JP Morgan resumed coverage on Clearwire following the close of its deal with Sprint Nextel to combine WiMAX assets. The firm rates Clearwire at neutral.Handset...
Glu Mobile Inc.'s woes continued as the wireless-game maker said it will slash an unspecified number of jobs as part of an effort to trim operating expenses by $13 million.Company executives declined to disclose the number of positions being eliminated; Glu also said it...
Palm Inc. said yesterday that its revenue for its fiscal second quarter would reach the range of $190 million to $195 million, far below Thomson-Reuters estimates of $331 million. The company's stock plunged more than 12% to a new low this morning before stabilizing...
