Struggling Japanese tech giant Sony has detailed restructuring plans for its Japan-based business as it seeks to slim down operations by closing a lens factory and shedding 2,000 jobs via an early-retirement scheme.
The company says that it is making the changes to “revitalize and grow” its electronics business and it says that it is expecting to save $378 million (30 billion yen) annually from next year. The basis of the changes was laid back in April when the firm announced that it would reduce its headcount by 10,000 — including 3,000-4,000 in Japan — as it implements a $945 million (75 billion yen) restructuring program.
The Minokamo-based plant produces lenses for digital SLR cameras, lens blocks and mobile devices, and — alongside customer support — the 56,713 metre squared site houses some 840 employees. As part of its focus on mobile — which saw it buy out former partner Ericsson for $1.29 billion earlier this year — Sony will transfer some activity from Minokamo to other sites but others will be laid to rest. The company is not detailing precisely what will kept just yet though
The early-retirement plan is set to have the greatest impact on the gaming giant’s head office, where it says that 20 percent of the workforce will have departed by the end of the year – thanks to a series of streamlining initiatives.
The effects of the organizational changes, which has consolidated the firm and cut excess services and divisions, have also prompted it to establish Sony Corporate Services (Japan) Corp, which it says will provide ‘horizontal’ operations support for its businesses in Japan.
The restructuring hasn’t just been about slashing budgets and the firm ploughed $644 million into Olympus, in a move that will consolidate the two firm’s camera technologies and focus on opportunities in the medical imaging industry.
The first streamlining measure that impacted its home market came when it announce in August that it would cut 1,000 global jobs from its handset division, which is relocating to Japan from Sweden.
The PlayStation-maker is haemorrhaging cash and its most recent financial results, published in August, saw income before tax plummet 59 percent to hit $118.5 million (9.4 billion yen). Net losses for the three-month period grew to $310 million (24.6 billion yen), up from $195.3 million (15.5 billion yen) a year previous.
Sony sold its chemical products business for $730 million in June.
Image Credit: Koichi Kamoshida/Getty
Friday, October 19, 2012
FB updates its Android app.
Facebook doesn’t yet have a native app for Android — well, not native in the true sense of the word — but that doesn’t mean they aren’t pushing out regular updates to improve the app as it is currently.
Yesterday the company pushed out another photo-centric update, this time making it easier to tag photos. You can now also choose a previously-created or new album when uploading individual or grouped photos, something that was previously possible only through the iPhone Facebook Camera app.
For an app build almost entirely in HTML5, Facebook for Android is actually quite spritely, especially when run on more modern hardware. We’re excited for the day when Facebook for Android is built on native code, but for the time being enjoy your improved photo uploading experience.
Facebook also made the “biggest overhaul of [its] Android SDK so far,” making it easier for developers to integrate the social network into third-party apps. These features include the Friend Picker and Places Picker, which apps can use to access the Open Grap in more comprehensive ways.
Yesterday the company pushed out another photo-centric update, this time making it easier to tag photos. You can now also choose a previously-created or new album when uploading individual or grouped photos, something that was previously possible only through the iPhone Facebook Camera app.
For an app build almost entirely in HTML5, Facebook for Android is actually quite spritely, especially when run on more modern hardware. We’re excited for the day when Facebook for Android is built on native code, but for the time being enjoy your improved photo uploading experience.
Facebook also made the “biggest overhaul of [its] Android SDK so far,” making it easier for developers to integrate the social network into third-party apps. These features include the Friend Picker and Places Picker, which apps can use to access the Open Grap in more comprehensive ways.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Google releases quarterly results draft early.
(Reuters) - Google Inc inadvertently released its draft quarterly results hours ahead of schedule, missing expectations on both revenue and earnings and wiping 9 percent off the market value of the Internet search and advertising leader.
Google said its financial printers, RR Donnelley, filed its draft results statement without authorization. The company said it was working now to finalize the statement.
The surprise announcement, which had been expected after the market close, pushed its shares down 9 percent to $687.30 before trading was halted by Nasdaq.
Google, which has been struggling to turn around loss-making cellphone maker Motorola Mobility that it bought for $12.5 billion, reported a 20 percent dive in net income to $2.18 billion. Excluding certain items, it earned $9.03 a share, vastly underperforming the $10.65 analysts had expected, on average.
"We have been saying this thing was ripe for a pullback. It's not like they're Google not being Google, but you still have some major issues," said BCG analyst Colin Gillis.
"Click prices declined for the fourth consecutive quarter after rising for eight consecutive quarters before then. That's a negative. This is the mobile problem.
"The other bit is the Motorola millstone had been ignored by the market, and - boom - now you've got weak revenue from Motorola. When you acquire a business and you're about to whack all kinds of people and close offices, you know what happens to the employees? They take their eye off the ball. Sales are down."
Google reported net revenue - excluding traffic acquisition costs - of $11.3 billion for the third quarter, below Wall Street's expectations for about $11.9 billion.
For the fourth consecutive quarter, the company reported a decline in average cost-per-click, a critical metric that denotes the price advertisers pay Google.
Average CPC declined 15 percent from a year ago and 3 percent from the second quarter of this year. Analysts say that Google, like many of its peers in the Internet industry, has been struggling to adapt to the rapid consumer uptake in mobile devices. Advertisers pay far less for adds on smartphones and tablets than for similar ads on desktop computers.
"The core business seems to have slowed down pretty significantly, which is shocking," said B. Riley analyst Sameet Sinha. "The only conclusion l can look at is, search is happening more and more outside of Google, meaning people are searching more through apps than through Google search."
"That could indicate a secular change, especially when it comes to ecommerce searches. The big fear has always been, what if people decide just to go straight to Amazon and do their searches? And potentially that's what could be happening."
Google, which recently overtook Microsoft Corp to become the second-largest U.S. technology company by capitalization, had been due to release its results after the market close.
The second paragraph of the press release merely read "Pending Larry quote," suggesting that space was reserved for comment from CEO Larry Page.
"Earlier this morning RR Donnelley, the financial printer, informed us that they had filed our draft 8K earnings statement without authorization," Google said in a statement. "We have ceased trading on NASDAQ while we work to finalize the document. Once it's finalized we will release our earnings, resume trading on NASDAQ and hold our earnings call as normal at 1:30 PM PT."
Shares of RR Donnelley, the U.S. printing service company, slid as much as 5 percent. They were down 2.2 percent at $10.61 in afternoon trade.
(Reporting by Gerry Shih in San Francisco; Editing by Bernard Orr)
What is truth. It's knowing what happened, but admitting it? Who will collar the trackers?
TOKYO - Japan's most senior policeman began an embarrassing climbdown Thursday after his officers arrested four people over cyber threats issued when their computers were apparently hacked.
Emails containing threats to attack targets including a school and a kindergarten attended by Emperor Akihito's grandchildren were sent from infected computers in different parts of the country.
The computer owners were arrested and held, in one case for several weeks, in a system where custody conditions are harsher than those in other developed countries and where police rely heavily on confessions.
Two of the suspects reportedly admitted sending the emails before a broadcaster and a lawyer received an anonymous message containing information investigators conceded could only have been known by the real culprit.
The message said its sender had taken control of several personal computers to send other threats.
"There is a high possibility that we have arrested people who are not actually criminals," Yutaka Katagiri, the head of the National Police Agency, told a news conference, while adding their innocence was not certain.
"If it is found to be so, we will take appropriate action, including issuing apologies to those who were wrongly arrested," Katagiri said, adding that police would introduce "more cautious measures" for tracking down cyber crime culprits.
Japan's legal system prizes confessions, and prosecutors are generally unwilling to take on cases without the suspect having first acknowledged his guilt.
Suspects can be held for a total of 23 days before they must be charged or released.
It is not uncommon for police initially to arrest someone on a lesser charge and then re-arrest them on suspicion of a more serious crime just before the 23 days is up.
Critics charge that this system is open to abuse and gives police the right to hold people without charge for long periods. They also say the use of intimidatory tactics by officers is not uncommon.
Emails containing threats to attack targets including a school and a kindergarten attended by Emperor Akihito's grandchildren were sent from infected computers in different parts of the country.
The computer owners were arrested and held, in one case for several weeks, in a system where custody conditions are harsher than those in other developed countries and where police rely heavily on confessions.
Two of the suspects reportedly admitted sending the emails before a broadcaster and a lawyer received an anonymous message containing information investigators conceded could only have been known by the real culprit.
The message said its sender had taken control of several personal computers to send other threats.
"There is a high possibility that we have arrested people who are not actually criminals," Yutaka Katagiri, the head of the National Police Agency, told a news conference, while adding their innocence was not certain.
"If it is found to be so, we will take appropriate action, including issuing apologies to those who were wrongly arrested," Katagiri said, adding that police would introduce "more cautious measures" for tracking down cyber crime culprits.
Japan's legal system prizes confessions, and prosecutors are generally unwilling to take on cases without the suspect having first acknowledged his guilt.
Suspects can be held for a total of 23 days before they must be charged or released.
It is not uncommon for police initially to arrest someone on a lesser charge and then re-arrest them on suspicion of a more serious crime just before the 23 days is up.
Critics charge that this system is open to abuse and gives police the right to hold people without charge for long periods. They also say the use of intimidatory tactics by officers is not uncommon.
The harsh realities of global competition.
You name it, and they are walking in. They are pretty much all very well-educated, global company experience, white collar workers
WATERLOO, Ont. — Former employees of Research In Motion who were laid off during the BlackBerry-maker’s sweeping cutbacks this year are getting a hand from the City of Waterloo.
This week a jobs centre opened at City Hall designed to help the newly unemployed workers find positions at other local technology firms.
It’s part of a partnership between the Ontario and municipal governments as well as other local groups, including tech industry lobbyist Communitech.
Together, they’re hoping to help funnel an estimated 3,000 laid off workers in the region into new jobs at other companies.
RIM announced in June that it would cut 5,000 employees worldwide as part of an effort to save $1 billion by the end of its fiscal year in February 2013.
More than half of the company’s 16,500 employees — about 9,000 — work in the Waterloo region.
Iain Klugman, the chief executive of Communitech, says the jobs centre is a unique project because jobs programs are typically reserved for massive layoffs at auto plants and mining companies.
He says the former RIM employees all have very specific skill sets, ranging from developers and quality assurance representatives, to sales and marketing people.
“You name it, (and they) are walking in,” Klugman said. “They are pretty much all very well-educated, global company experience, white collar workers.”
We’re seeing a bunch of technology companies outside the country who are saying ’We really would love to have access to some of that great talent that’s coming out of RIM
But Klugman says he’s confident there are many other opportunities for those job seekers at more than 1,000 other technology companies in the region.
Communitech says the Waterloo region has also seen a burst of startups since RIM began its layoffs, with more than 100 new companies registering with the organization since July.
Klugman said the community has also started to get more attention from international firms who are looking to capitalize on the rush of job seekers.
“As people put a different kind of spotlight on RIM, they’re also starting to also look a little deeper into Waterloo region,” he said.
“We’re seeing a bunch of technology companies outside the country who are saying ’We really would love to have access to some of that great talent that’s coming out of RIM. We’re thinking of putting a development team up in your area.”’
Meanwhile, RIM is focusing on becoming a leaner operation as it pushes ahead with the launch of its much-delayed new BlackBerry smartphones and operating system, expected early next year.
The company, which posted a quarterly loss of US$235 million in its second quarter, anticipates a further operating loss in the third quarter as it works through the transition.
WATERLOO, Ont. — Former employees of Research In Motion who were laid off during the BlackBerry-maker’s sweeping cutbacks this year are getting a hand from the City of Waterloo.
This week a jobs centre opened at City Hall designed to help the newly unemployed workers find positions at other local technology firms.
It’s part of a partnership between the Ontario and municipal governments as well as other local groups, including tech industry lobbyist Communitech.
Together, they’re hoping to help funnel an estimated 3,000 laid off workers in the region into new jobs at other companies.
RIM announced in June that it would cut 5,000 employees worldwide as part of an effort to save $1 billion by the end of its fiscal year in February 2013.
More than half of the company’s 16,500 employees — about 9,000 — work in the Waterloo region.
Iain Klugman, the chief executive of Communitech, says the jobs centre is a unique project because jobs programs are typically reserved for massive layoffs at auto plants and mining companies.
He says the former RIM employees all have very specific skill sets, ranging from developers and quality assurance representatives, to sales and marketing people.
“You name it, (and they) are walking in,” Klugman said. “They are pretty much all very well-educated, global company experience, white collar workers.”
We’re seeing a bunch of technology companies outside the country who are saying ’We really would love to have access to some of that great talent that’s coming out of RIM
But Klugman says he’s confident there are many other opportunities for those job seekers at more than 1,000 other technology companies in the region.
Communitech says the Waterloo region has also seen a burst of startups since RIM began its layoffs, with more than 100 new companies registering with the organization since July.
Klugman said the community has also started to get more attention from international firms who are looking to capitalize on the rush of job seekers.
“As people put a different kind of spotlight on RIM, they’re also starting to also look a little deeper into Waterloo region,” he said.
“We’re seeing a bunch of technology companies outside the country who are saying ’We really would love to have access to some of that great talent that’s coming out of RIM. We’re thinking of putting a development team up in your area.”’
Meanwhile, RIM is focusing on becoming a leaner operation as it pushes ahead with the launch of its much-delayed new BlackBerry smartphones and operating system, expected early next year.
The company, which posted a quarterly loss of US$235 million in its second quarter, anticipates a further operating loss in the third quarter as it works through the transition.
J.K Rowling. MacBook Air changes her life.
You know how Apple is always calling its products “magical?” Well, it turns out that it may be right. Harry Potter author J.K Rowling not only uses a MacBook Air to write, but says that it has changed her life.
While you might expect the world of wizards, muggles and Hogwarts to have been scratched out onto parchment with ink and a quill, the reality is that most writers (not all these days use computers. And seeing as Harry Potter started life in an Edinburgh coffee shop, it makes sense for the author to be using Apple’s lightest non-tablet writing machine.
Publishers Marketplace:
In a rare product endorsement, Rowling proclaimed, “The MacBook Air changed my life.” She added, “I’ve written everywhere, including some very strange places.”
Sadly, there ends the interview. I would ask what software she uses, and which model she prefers (11 or 13-inch?) Then again, I’m a tech nerd and procrastinator, whereas she’s a successful writer who has published a bunch of great books. She probably writes in (ugh) Microsoft Word and doesn’t even care. Still, even Word is better than Cormac McCarthy’s typewriter.
While you might expect the world of wizards, muggles and Hogwarts to have been scratched out onto parchment with ink and a quill, the reality is that most writers (not all these days use computers. And seeing as Harry Potter started life in an Edinburgh coffee shop, it makes sense for the author to be using Apple’s lightest non-tablet writing machine.
Publishers Marketplace:
In a rare product endorsement, Rowling proclaimed, “The MacBook Air changed my life.” She added, “I’ve written everywhere, including some very strange places.”
Sadly, there ends the interview. I would ask what software she uses, and which model she prefers (11 or 13-inch?) Then again, I’m a tech nerd and procrastinator, whereas she’s a successful writer who has published a bunch of great books. She probably writes in (ugh) Microsoft Word and doesn’t even care. Still, even Word is better than Cormac McCarthy’s typewriter.
Apple gets a slap down in U.K. court ruling.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) lost a U.K. court appeal ruling over whether Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy tablet infringed the design of the iPad as a judge criticized divergent rulings in the global intellectual property fight between the two companies.
A three-judge panel in London upheld an earlier decision by a U.K. judge that said several of Samsung’s Galaxy tablets weren’t “cool” enough to be confused with the iPad. The ruling called a German judgment from July granting Apple a Europe-wide injunction preventing Samsung from selling one model “extreme.”
The ruling is the latest in a long line of disputes in courts across the globe as rivals including HTC Corp. (2498), Apple and Samsung fight for dominance in the smartphone and tablet computer markets. The cases in the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands and Spain often lead to conflicting rulings as judges apply diverging national laws.
“If courts around Europe simply say they do not agree with each other and give inconsistent decisions, Europe will be the poorer,” Judge Robin Jacob said in the written ruling.
Samsung said in an e-mailed statement that it continues “to believe that Apple was not the first to design a tablet with a rectangular shape and rounded corners.”
“Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims in other countries based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited,” the company said.
Alan Hely, a spokesman for Apple, didn’t immediately respond to a call requesting comment.
Apple must also publish notices in U.K. newspapers with details of the U.K. ruling, Judge David Kitchin said today.
Jacob said a publicity order was necessary to avoid consumer confusion because of the news coverage of the “not as cool” judgment in the U.K. and the contrasting German court’s decision.
A link to the notice must appear on Apple’s website for one month and the company must publish it in the Financial Times and Daily Mail newspapers.
Apple has agreed to ask the German court to “discharge” the injunction, Jacob said.
If Apple’s registered design ‘‘has a scope as wide’’ as the Cupertino, California company says, ‘‘it would foreclose much of the market for tablet computers,’’ Jacob said.
Courts around the world have issued divergent rulings in patent cases between the two companies.
In August, Apple won a $1.05 billion U.S. jury verdict in a patent case between the companies, while a week later a Tokyo court ruled Samsung products don’t infringe an Apple invention for synchronizing music and video data with servers.
Australian and Dutch courts have also issued rulings that contrasted with decisions in the U.S. case.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy Hodges in London at jhodges17@bloomberg.net
A three-judge panel in London upheld an earlier decision by a U.K. judge that said several of Samsung’s Galaxy tablets weren’t “cool” enough to be confused with the iPad. The ruling called a German judgment from July granting Apple a Europe-wide injunction preventing Samsung from selling one model “extreme.”
The ruling is the latest in a long line of disputes in courts across the globe as rivals including HTC Corp. (2498), Apple and Samsung fight for dominance in the smartphone and tablet computer markets. The cases in the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands and Spain often lead to conflicting rulings as judges apply diverging national laws.
“If courts around Europe simply say they do not agree with each other and give inconsistent decisions, Europe will be the poorer,” Judge Robin Jacob said in the written ruling.
Samsung said in an e-mailed statement that it continues “to believe that Apple was not the first to design a tablet with a rectangular shape and rounded corners.”
“Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims in other countries based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited,” the company said.
Alan Hely, a spokesman for Apple, didn’t immediately respond to a call requesting comment.
Apple must also publish notices in U.K. newspapers with details of the U.K. ruling, Judge David Kitchin said today.
Jacob said a publicity order was necessary to avoid consumer confusion because of the news coverage of the “not as cool” judgment in the U.K. and the contrasting German court’s decision.
A link to the notice must appear on Apple’s website for one month and the company must publish it in the Financial Times and Daily Mail newspapers.
Apple has agreed to ask the German court to “discharge” the injunction, Jacob said.
If Apple’s registered design ‘‘has a scope as wide’’ as the Cupertino, California company says, ‘‘it would foreclose much of the market for tablet computers,’’ Jacob said.
Courts around the world have issued divergent rulings in patent cases between the two companies.
In August, Apple won a $1.05 billion U.S. jury verdict in a patent case between the companies, while a week later a Tokyo court ruled Samsung products don’t infringe an Apple invention for synchronizing music and video data with servers.
Australian and Dutch courts have also issued rulings that contrasted with decisions in the U.S. case.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy Hodges in London at jhodges17@bloomberg.net
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