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Sunday, July 29, 2012
This Absurdly Ornate iPad Dock Is Fit For a Czar [Ipad Docks]
Analysis: Apple sounds warning bell for smartphone industry
(Reuters) - If Apple Inc's weaker-than-expected quarterly result is anything to go by, the global smartphone industry is a lot more vulnerable to economic shocks these days than during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
In developed markets, every other person already owns a smartphone. In emerging markets, penetration rates are much lower, but cheaper phones that cost under $100 are squeezing profit margins.
That was not the case during the last recession, when Apple's iPhone and Google Inc's Android were still in their infancy. Smartphone demand remained strong even as sales of other electronics declined because consumers felt it was worthwhile to upgrade to a device with so much to more to give - touchscreens, email and full Web browsers.
Without a technology breakthrough such as touchscreen - made popular by the first iPhone in 2007 - people are in far less of a hurry to upgrade their phones this time around, analysts said.
That was evident from Apple's June quarterly results, which showed a much bigger hit from the European debt crisis than Wall Street expected.
"The economy is having an impact on all electronic goods. Even Apple, which did defy gravity in the last recession, is not escaping now," said Hudson Square Research analyst Daniel Ernst.
Smartphone users, who typically upgrade their phones every 18 to 24 months, are now holding on for three months longer than usual, according to Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.
"The reason to upgrade is less urgent" she said.
PRICE PRESSURE
Overall smartphone shipments rose 32 percent in the second quarter, their slowest pace since 2009's 16 percent increase, according to Strategy Analytics. The research firm forecast annual smartphone shipment growth would slow to 40 percent in 2012 from 68 percent in 2011 and ease further to 23 percent in 2013.
Analysts say demand from emerging markets will support smartphone shipments even if the global economy takes a turn for the worse, but a growing supply of lower price devices from vendors such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp will pressure prices even if the economy improves.
"We're forecasting ASPs (average selling prices) to dip in 2013 and accelerate from there on," said Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston. "If the economy continues to flat line or dip that will accelerate the move to lower cost models."
The popularity of Apple's iPhone and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's Galaxy S will give these companies some pricing insulation, analysts said.
But there could be much more pressure for price cuts at already struggling smartphone vendors, such as LG Electronics Inc, HTC Corp, Nokia Oyj and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd.
"Apple and Samsung's ownership of the high-tier and intense price erosion means the fight among others will be cutthroat," said CCS Insight analyst Geoff Blaber.
The tough road ahead for smaller vendors became more apparent this week, when market leader Samsung reported its best quarterly smartphone sales in history as it outsold Apple and won customers from smaller rivals. Samsung's bigger size allowed it to drive down costs and still make a profit on phones that would generate a loss for smaller rivals.
Some of Apple's earnings miss was attributed to consumers postponing purchases in anticipation of a new iPhone model hitting store shelves this fall. LG did not have that excuse - its cellphone division, which accounts for around one-fifth of sales, posted a quarterly loss as competition forced LG to spend more on marketing for cheaper phones.
LESS PURCHASING POWER
According to Gartner, about 35 percent of an estimated 1.9 billion cellphones sold this year will be smartphones. Between 20 percent and 25 percent of people in the world already own smartphones, with the penetration rate rising to 50 percent to 55 percent in the United States.
"The first wave is selling expensive models to affluent buyers. The second wave is selling lower cost models to less affluent buyers," Strategy Analytic's Mawston said.
Gartner's Milanesi said Huawei and ZTE are in the best position among the lower-tier smartphone vendors.
"If price is the first driver I'm going to pick the Chinese," said Milanesi, who said LG and HTC are most vulnerable to price declines as they "need more to stand out."
Also putting pressure on handset makers are the wireless service providers on which they are heavily dependent in many regions such as Europe and the United States for promotions. Carriers often subsidize phones to encourage their customers to commit to long term contracts.
In Europe, some operators such as Telefonica have been dropping subsidies entirely. The top three U.S. operators, Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc and Sprint Nextel Corp have all been improving profit margins because they cut down on their subsidy costs by offering customers upgrades less frequently.
If consumers do have to cut spending because of the weak economy, IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said: "There's smartphone available for just about every single budget out there."
(Reporting by Sinead Carew in New York and Tarmo Virki in Helsinki; editing by Tiffany Wu and Andre Grenon)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-apple-sounds-warning-bell-smartphone-industry-120831835--sector.html
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Earnings perform like 2009; Boos then, boos now
Nobody in Corporate America wants to go back to 2009, but by one measure companies are there right now.
Based on the 291 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 that have reported earnings so far ? along with estimates for the rest ? S&P Capital IQ expects overall profits to decline by half a percent from the same period a year ago. That would be the first time that profits have shrunk since the third quarter of 2009, just after the Great Recession. Analysts are predicting that earnings will shrink 0.3 percent for the third quarter, too.
Revenue for those 291 companies has increased just 2.3 percent, compared with a 10-year average of 7.1 percent, according to S&P Capital IQ.
Worse, companies are getting more pessimistic about the rest of the year.
Companies that should benefit from a recovery are instead getting ready for a slowdown. UPS, the world's largest package delivery company, said it expects the global economy to get worse before it gets better. It lowered its profit forecast for 2012. Cisco Systems said it will lay off 1,300 people and warned that revenue for the current quarter will grow much less than expected. Chemical maker DuPont said this year's profits will be at the low end of its expectations because of uncertainty about the economic outlook.
The last recession ended in June 2009, but the U.S. economy remains unusually sluggish this far into the recovery. It grew at an annual rate of just 1.5 percent from April through June. Unemployment remains above 8 percent.
"The economy is bordering on stall speed," said Kurt Reiman, a strategist at UBS.
To be sure, some companies are reporting profit growth. Caterpillar's quarterly profit jumped 67 percent, and the maker of big construction equipment boosted its outlook for the year. Boeing reported a better-than-expected 3 percent increase in profits as it delivers more planes.
But outlooks overall are very cautious. In a survey by data provider FactSet, 47 out of 60 companies lowered the earnings guidance they gave investors for the third quarter. And investors often trade more on outlooks than on the last quarter's results.
Shares of online game-maker Zynga plummeted nearly 40 percent on Thursday after it slashed its profit guidance for the year to between 4 cents and 9 cents per share, from 23 cents to 29 cents previously. UPS lost 5 percent of its value the day after cutting its full-year earnings forecast by 25 cents per share, to a range of $4.50 to $4.70. Its stock regained some of that loss later in the week.
Starbucks shares plummeted 9.4 percent on Friday after it cut its outlook for the current quarter and said it is still struggling in Europe.
Indeed, Europe's problems are causing slowdowns for others. U.S. airlines are cutting flying to Europe this fall. China's growth is slowing, in part because it's hard to sustain the torrid pace of the past few years, and in part because of less spending from Europe.
Dow Chemical has a good window into the world's economies because its materials are used in televisions, paint and agricultural products. CEO Andrew N. Liveris, for example, has visited China four times in the last four months.
"Every single visit, to customers and to governments, they were seeing a decline and the decline was the domino effect of Europe," he said on Dow's earnings conference call on Thursday. Dow has scrapped its prediction for an economic upturn in the second half of the year, and Liveris said it's now unlikely that the world's economy will have broad positive developments this year. Dow's quarterly profit missed analyst estimates, and revenue fell 10 percent.
Investors and corporate executives will be watching Washington Wednesday when the Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee meets.
One option for the Fed is another major round of bond purchases, where it would buy up more mortgage-backed debt to inject more money into the economy and, in effect, lower interest rates further. Such a move would be the third time that the Fed has engaged in so-called "quantitative easing."
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on June 20 that another round would be considered "if we need to take additional measures to strengthen the economy."
But Scott Wren, a senior equity strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors, doesn't think the Fed will announce a new round on Wednesday, and he doesn't think it would help much anyway. Rates are already low, but businesses are holding back because they don't know what their future tax burden will be or how much it will cost to hire more workers, he said.
"Their confidence isn't great. They're not hiring a lot of people ? and that harms consumer confidence. It's a negative circle. When confidence is low all the way around, people just aren't looking to borrow more money."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/earnings-perform-2009-boos-then-boos-now-231602882--finance.html
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Let's Talk Speech-Language Pathology: Blog Awards
Carrie from?Carrie's Speech Corner?has nominated me for two blog awards!
For receiving the One Lovely Blog award, I have to:
Here are the two awards:
For receiving the One Lovely Blog award, I have to:
- Follow the person who gave me the award - already done.
- Link back to the blog -?Carrie's Speech Corner
- Pass to 15 bloggers and let them know that they have received the award.
For receiving the Versatile Blogger award, I have to:
- Thank the blogger who nominated me - thank you, Carrie!
- Include a link to their blog - really, check out?Carrie's Speech Corner. Her blog is fantastic.
- Include the image award in my post - see above.
- Give seven random facts about myself - see below.
- Nominate 15 other blogs for the award.
- When nominating, include a link to the blog.
- Let the other bloggers know that they have been nominated.
Seven random facts about myself:
- I hardly drink pop. Yes, I do call soda "pop" because I am from Michigan. Water is my drink of choice.
- Fall is my favorite season. I love when the tree change colors, and I love all of the holidays leading to Christmas.
- I love playing card games. My family and I are currently obsessed with playing Phase 10. I also enjoy playing Skip-Bo, Uno, and Monopoly Deal.
- My favorite hobby (outside of blogging and Pinterest) is reading. I love to read YA novels (even though I'm technically not a young adult anymore). They are my great escape.
- I am terrified of frogs and toads. Ridiculous? I know. I can't explain it either. On the same note, I am also afraid of latex balloons. I can handle the metallic balloons, but I just cannot handle the latex balloons.
- My favorite color is blue. I love everything blue, and I frequently wear blue.
- I can be very stubborn at times. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it is bad.
Here are the fifteen blogs I am nominating for these awards:
Source: http://letstalkslp.blogspot.com/2012/07/blog-awards.html
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Dental-Exam Package with Cleaning and Digital X-ray, Sapphire ...
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Teeth are more than just precious rocks that fall out of skulls so that they can be turned into jewelry. Keep your headstones polished with this Groupon.Choose from Three Options$49 for a dental exam, cleaning, and digital x-ray (a $225 value)$119 for a Sapphire teeth-whitening treatment (a $450 value)$149 for both of the above treatments (a $675 total value)Willoughby DentalTucked inside the Brooklyn location he opened in 1987, Dr. Ezra Trachtenberg ushers patients' teeth toward their brighter, healthier selves with a diverse set of services. He uses panoramic x-rays and Sapphire lesion detection to inspect oral health during exams, and corrects gaps or shopping-cart dings with porcelain crowns and veneers. In addition to bolstering his own prowess by attending continuing courses, Dr. Trachtenberg empowers patients to make informed decisions by plying them with online educational resources.Ask a QuestionGroupon SaysThe Groupon Guide to: Cheating at Board GamesA rainy afternoon of board games is a great way to shred a family dynamic or discern who in your social circle has other issues in their lives that drive them to hound petty victories over their friends. Tip the balance with this guide to board-game cheating:Scramble (Harsbo, 1948): In this game, billed to the scant demographic of literate children in the 1940s as 'the crossword puzzle you build yourself,? you can easily secure victory by preemptively removing any dictionaries from your home and inventing long, complex words with vague definitions, such as quizlix: 'a medical term, often used by highly intelligent Scramble players.?Boatleshoot (Marshall Bradford, 1967): This guessing game of naval warfare is just like regular warfare?once you're surrounded by it, there are no rules. Every time your opponent guesses a point on your grid that is a 'hit,? reply instead 'miss.? Your board is, after all, obscured from their view and in international waters, there is no honor system.Chess (sixth century AD): If someone invites you to play chess, they have revealed three crucial weaknesses: they know how to play chess, they enjoy playing chess, and they have spent enough time practicing to have an expectation of victory. Cheat at chess by punching them in the face and taking anything they have that you yourself want.Share this on TwitterComment on our feelings board
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Iran begins stockpiling 3-month food supply
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? An Iranian news agency is reporting the country has begun to stockpile a three-month supply of foodstuffs for its population.
The Friday report by semi-official Mehr quotes deputy industry minister Hasan Radmard as saying the country has been buying wheat, cooking oil, sugar and rice for the food reserve.
Radmard said the decision came based on a decree by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in recent weeks. Part of the purchased foodstuffs has already been imported, he added.
Iran's trade with other countries has been hindered since the United States and the European Union imposed a banking and insurance embargo on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program.
The West suspects Iran is pursuing nuclear weapon, a charge Iran denies.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-begins-stockpiling-3-month-food-supply-191253402.html
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Sales Pro: Business Development Manager - E-Billing Solutions
Job ID: 76179
Job Views: 40
Location: London, London
Job Category: Field Sales
Employment Type: Full time
Salary:
Posted: Sat Jul 28
Keywords (tags):
Job Description
Business Development Manager ? E-billing Solutions
Southern UK
45-50K base, 70K OTE + Excellent Benefits
Our Client is a leading European provider of Outsourced Digital Mailroom, Document Management and E-Processing Solutions. Through providing a comprehensive set of synergistic services which includes digital mailroom solutions, outsourced document processing, off-site mail screening and reprographic solutions they are well placed to meet the demanding needs of even the largest of corporates. They continue to experience growth through service and innovation and as such have an immediate opening for a Business Development Manger to further expand upon their E-billing offering.
As a Business Development Manager you will work as part of a growing team delivering new business activities for a solid portfolio of E-billing solutions with a focus on global business to business, business to customer billing, paper to digital transformation, automated Account Receivable and Account Payable processing hosted service solutions for corporate clients throughout Southern England. This role comes with varied sales cycles, bid support and an opportunity to define and work key vertical markets. Through managing the entire sales cycle from lead generation through to closure and ongoing account management, you will build and develop a lucrative pipeline to leverage all opportunities to maximise client revenue and profitability. Contact Certus Sales Recruitment for further information on this exciting role. ?
The ideal candidate will possess 3+ years successful and verifiable exposure to selling outsourcing and E-billing solutions and/or services to the corporate sector. You will have a proven ability to generate prospects, create and manage your own pipeline in a corporate sales environment and be commercially astute & numerate. You will be educated to degree level and will most certainly be personable, professional, focused and driven.
This successful candidate can expect a base salary of 45-50k with an uncapped 70K OTE plus a generous benefits package.
Certus is an established and experienced specialist sales recruitment and marketing recruitment consultancy, providing sales and marketing recruitment services to the business to business marketplace throughout the UK. We are experts in the recruitment of internal and external (field sales) sales professionals from Graduate & Sales Trainee through to Sales Manager and Sales Director levels. With specialist Sales divisions covering: Commercial Sales, FMCG, Information, Financial, Medical and Pharmaceutical, IT/Technology (Software, Hardware, Telco and Services), Media, Rec2Rec and a Marketing division covering everything from Marketing Executives through to PR Managers and Marketing Director level positions; we are well positioned to deliver cost effective recruitment solutions in a timely manner. To find out more about Certus, please visit http://www.certussales.com and http://www.certusmarketing.com ?
Contact Details
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