WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014 technology Carphone Warehouse sales get 4G boost

LONDON: Carphone Warehouse, and Vodafone started services in within the market,” he said, noting that of growth of 2 percent and second quar- ance for headline earnings per share of Europe’s biggest independent mobile August last year. growing penetration of 4G was also driv- ter like-for-like growth of 3.6 percent. 17-20 pence, up from 12.3 pence in the phone retailer, beat consensus forecasts Take-up of 4G is being driven by rock- ing a rise in incremental average revenue CPW UK like-for-like revenue rose 5 2012-13 year. It also reiterated guidance for third-quarter revenue growth at its eting demand for mobile data. “There is a per user (ARPU). percent during the quarter, building on for pro-forma headline earnings before main CPW Group business, helped by real willingness for customers to move to Shares in Carphone, up over a quarter growth of 16 percent in the same period interest and tax (EBIT) of 140-160 million growing sales of 4G superfast mobile 4G and a willingness for them to under- in the last year, rose 1.4 percent after the last year. The firm said its Virgin Mobile pounds ($230-263 million) for CPW broadband products. stand that data usage is going to go up in firm said sales at CPW Group stores open France joint venture maintained its post- Group. Mobile operator EE, a joint venture the future,” Carphone Chief Executive over a year rose 3.1 percent in the three pay customer base at 1.33 million, Carphone shares were up 3 pence at between Frances’ Orange and Deutsche Andrew Harrison told Reuters yesterday. months to Dec 28. That was a sixth though revenue fell 15.6 percent reflect- 282.5 pence at 0846 GMT, giving a mar- Telekom, launched 4G into Britain in “This time next year we should be look- straight quarter of like-for-like growth. It ing a declining overall market. ket capitalisation of about 1.6 billion late 2012, while rivals Telefonica’s O2 ing at quite a significant deployment compared to analysts’ consensus forecast Carphone reiterated its full-year guid- pounds. — Reuters In China, US tech firms weigh ‘Snowden Effect’ ‘American IT firms on the offensive’

BEIJING: Battling a perfect storm of government suspicion and pricing probes in China, US technology com- panies are having to re-think how they sell hardware and services in the world’s second-biggest economy. US multinationals, including IBM, Cisco Systems and Qualcomm, are looking to settle price-gouging inves- tigations and restore trust with Chinese regulators in the wake of reports that US government agencies directly collect data and tap networks of the biggest domestic technology companies. All US IT firms are “on the defen- sive” in China, said Scott Kennedy, director of the Research Center for Chinese Politics and Business at Indiana University. “They are all under LG to launch curved suspicion as either witting or unwit- ting collaborators in the US govern- ment’s surveillance and intelligence In this image made from video released by WikiLeaks on Friday, former gathering activities.” National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden speaks during a smartphone in Europe Former National Security Agency presentation ceremony for the Sam Adams Award in Moscow, Russia. — AP (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden’s Beijing, alongside China’s drive to pro- them from an important source of revelations about US government sur- mote indigenous champions and the political support and business, and SEOUL: South Korea’s LG Electronics said yesterday it United States by the end of March. LG, the world’s fourth- veillance may cost US technology deep ties between big US tech firms perhaps put them in violation of the would start selling its first curved-screen smartphone- largest smartphone maker, did not provide any pricing firms billions of dollars in lost sales, and the government, further compli- (US) Patriot Act or some secret execu- seen as a first step to fully flexible products-in Europe next details. Curved screens are still at a nascent stage in dis- analysts say. The US cloud computing cate the outlook. On Saturday, China’s tive order.” month . play technology, which is shifting towards flexible panels industry alone may lose as much as Commerce Ministry condemned the IBM may address official concerns The “G-Flex” was introduced in Seoul in October and that are bendable or can even be rolled or folded. $35 billion in worldwide sales over the $1.1-trillion spending passed by the by rolling out more technologies and will hit stores in some 20 European nations, including Handset makers including Samsung have launched next three years, the Information US Congress last week for including a services. Last month, IBM announced France, Germany, Britain and Sweden, the firm said in a curved-screen smartphones recently as they seek to stoke Technology & Innovation Foundation cyber-espionage review process for it was expanding its enterprise cloud statement. consumer interest in the increasingly saturated market (ITIF), a Washington, DC-based non- federal purchases of technology from platform into China as part of a $1.2 The G-Flex is curved on the vertical axis of the handset, with a new technology. Samsung launched its first curved profit think-tank, estimates. “The abili- China. billion global initiative. That followed which LG says offers a more immersive viewing experience smartphone-the Galaxy Round-in October to a tepid ty of US companies to sell abroad has Cisco Systems, which is locked in a Amazon.com Inc’s announcement and fits the contour of the face. LG said the new phone- reception from consumers disappointed by the largely been seriously compromised by for- commercial battle to sell telecoms already available in Asia-would also be introduced in the experimental device. — AFP that Amazon Web Services would eign customer concerns about the network equipment with Chinese launch its own cloud computing serv- relationship between the US intelli- domestic competitor Huawei ices in China. gence community and the tech sec- Technologies, reported China orders Amazon said it signed a technical tor,” said Daniel Castro, a senior ana- declined 18 percent last quarter, as deal with the Beijing city government Canon top among Japanese firms in US lyst at ITIF. top-five emerging market sales and with the government of Ningxia, th Nowhere is the so-called ‘Snowden slumped by more than a fifth. “I’ve an autonomous region, “to help foster patents ranking for 9 consecutive year Effect’ expected to have greater never seen that fast a move in emerg- development of a robust IT sector in impact than in China, says Sanford C. ing markets,” said Cisco CEO John western China.” DUBAI: Canon Middle East announced that its parent acquisition of patent rights in accordance with the man- Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi. “US Chambers. company, Canon Inc, world-leader in imaging solutions, agement direction of the Canon Group and technology technology companies face the most IBM also is reportedly in talks with China’s Lenovo Group Ltd to sell its again ranked first among Japanese companies and third trends while conducting thorough pre-application revenue risk in China by a wide mar- Quandary overall for the number of US patents awarded in 2013, searches to raise the quality of applications. Through gin, followed by Brazil and other For Qualcomm and InterDigital Inc, low-end server business, a move that according to the latest ranking of preliminary patent close cooperation between Canon’s technology and emerging markets,” he wrote in a which face anti-monopoly investiga- “may cool things down,” said Alberto results issued by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services on January intellectual property divisions, the company aims to research note this month. tions by China’s top planning agency, Moel, a Hong Kong-based analyst at 14, 2014. improve its technological the National Development and Reform Sanford C. Bernstein. On Friday, US Canon Inc actively pro- capabilities while further Earnings impact Commission, related to their patent President Barack Obama proposed motes the globalization of its enhancing its intellectual IBM, which reported a 22 percent licenses for wireless mobile handsets making changes to the NSA, without business and places great property rights. drop in third-quarter China sales, led and networks, the challenges may be addressing the government’s unau- value on obtaining patents Canon has ranked in by a 40 percent decline in hardware greater. Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs thorized access to company systems overseas, carefully adhering the top five patent holders revenues, may be a bellwether for the said earlier this month the company and technologies. to a patent-filing strategy for 28 consecutive years. ‘Snowden Effect’ when it reports was still in the dark on developments in That may not be enough for US that pursues patents in essential countries and regions Canon is a world-leading innovator and provider of fourth-quarter results later yesterday. the China probe, which the company tech firms. “The president’s speech was while taking into consideration the business strategies imaging and information technology solutions for indi- Revenue at the Armonk, NY-based announced in November. Qualcomm, empathetic, balanced and thoughtful, and technology and product trends unique to each loca- viduals and businesses. Canon provides both individual company is expected to contract 3.7 the leading provider of handset but insufficient to meet the real needs tion. Among these, the United States, with its many high- products and complete networked technology solutions percent in October-December from a chipsets for 4G networks, reports its of our globally connected world and a tech companies and large market scale, represents a par- for information input, management and output. Its prod- year earlier, to $28.2 billion, though earnings on Jan 29. “These firms are free Internet,” said Ed Black, president ticularly important region in terms of business expansion uct range is divided between Business Solutions (devel- net profit is seen rising 6 percent to between a rock and hard place,” said of the Computer & Communications and technology alliances. oping IT products, solutions and services for both the $6.5 billion, according to Thomson Kennedy of the Research Center for Industry Association, a group that rep- Canon prizes its corporate DNA of placing a high pri- office and professional print environments) and Reuters SmartEstimates. Chinese Politics and Business. “They can resents Google, Microsoft, Facebook, ority on technology. With regard to research and devel- Consumer Imaging (photography, video and digital cam- The mutually antagonistic relation- push the U.S. government to stop using opment results, the company actively promotes the era, Laser and Inkjet printers). Yahoo, and other US firms targeted by ship between Washington, DC and them to spy, but that will alienate NSA surveillance. — Reuters Sales of PCs tumble in Asia on mobile competition: IDC

SINGAPORE: Sales of personal computers fell 10 percent in the Asia-Pacific last year China orders real due to sluggish economic growth and tough competition from mobile devices, name register for an industry analyst said yesterday. International Data Corporation (IDC) video uploads said sales of PCs fell to 108 million units in BEIJING: Chinese Internet users are now required to regis- the Asia Pacific outside Japan, marking ter their real names to upload videos to Chinese online the region’s first annual double digit video sites, an official body said, as the Communist Party decline. “The economic sluggishness in tightens its control of the Internet and media to suppress big emerging markets in the region anti-government sentiment. adversely affected buying sentiments,” The new rule has been implemented to “prevent vulgar IDC said. content, base art forms, exaggerated violence and sexual “On the consumer side, smartphone content in Internet video having a negative effect on socie- and tablet distractions spread throughout ty,” China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, the region this year, further contributing Film and Television (SARFT) said on its website on Monday. to the sharp decline in the PC market.” IDC Online video sites are often a lodestone for comment analyst Handoko Andi added that “2014 is and critique on social issues in China, with users uploading expected to remain another challenging videos documenting corruption, injustice and abuse car- ried out by government officials and authorities. Online year for the PC market as competition will video sites are extremely popular in China, with 428 million only grow among the devices.” users. Those allowing user uploads include sites operated Chinese PC maker Lenovo retained its by Youku Tudou Inc and Renren Inc. top spot last year with a market share of Neither Youku Tudou nor Renren were available for 24.9 percent, although sales fell 9.5 per- immediate comment. Last year the Communist Party cent year-on-year due to a slump in its began a heavy-handed campaign to control online dis- home market China, IDC said. US firm course, threatening legal action against people whose per- Hewlett-Packard was in second place with ceived rumors on microblogs such as Sina Weibo are a market share of 10.5 percent, up from reposted more than 500 times or seen by more than 5,000 8.9 percent as sales rose due largely to an people. Rights groups and dissidents criticised the latest education project in India. crackdown as another tool for the ruling Communist Party to limit criticism of it and to further control freedom of Dell was in third spot with a 9.4 per- expression. China has attempted to implement similar real- cent market share, as sales dipped 2.8 name registration rules, including when buying SIM cards percent on a weaker China market. It was for mobile phones and signing up for Tencent’s WeChat trailed by Taiwan’s Acer and ASUS with a mobile messaging app and microblogs. market share of 8.1 percent and 6.9 per- However these have proven difficult to implement and cent, respectively, according to IDC. The easy to avoid for China’s tech-savvy Internet population. decline in sales was sharpest for the China’s Internet regulation system is mired in bureaucracy Taiwan PC makers. Sales for Acer fell by a and overseen by a number of government agencies, whopping 28.6 percent as the company including SARFT, the State Council and the Ministry of continued “to struggle with its product Industry and Information Technology, which can lead to strategy,” IDC said. ASUS sales were down Sales of personal computers fell 10 percent in the Asia-Pacific last year due to sluggish economic growth and tough competition conflicts of interest between these bodies. — Reuters by 13.4 percent. — AFP from mobile devices, an industry analyst said yesterday.