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revlis, I see 31,200 eom
Jean-Michel RIOND, http://www.interdigital.com/tech_products_introduction.shtml
Cingular Wireless and Nokia Bring Color to TDMA Customers; New Color
Display Nokia 3560 Handset to Enable Richer Wireless Experience
ATLANTA and IRVING, Texas, May 6, 2003 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Cingular Wireless and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) today announced the availability of the Nokia 3560 color display handset in Cingular's TDMA (800/1900 MHz, AMPS 800 MHz) markets. Sporting a high-resolution color display, the Nokia 3560 lets users personalize display elements such as wallpaper and choose from eight vibrant color schemes to adjust the menu headers, battery strength bars and network indicators.
"Cingular customers have been asking for color handsets in TDMA markets, and we are excited to be able to offer this with the Nokia 3560," said Mike Dobbs, vice president of product management for Cingular Wireless. "This device truly enhances a customer's wireless experience by allowing for a better entertainment experience and even more personalization options."
Additional features of the 3560 include powerful voice functionality with voice dialing for up to 10 numbers, up to three minutes of voice memo recording, and voice commands to control up to five menu items. For improved organization for customers on the go, the 3560 boasts a phone book that holds up to 250 contacts, each with multiple entries, a full-view calendar, to-do list, a currency converter and an alarm clock.
"The Nokia 3560 gives Cingular the ability to offer exciting new features that have previously not been available for their TDMA customers," said Tim Eckersley, senior vice president of sales for Nokia Americas. "Nokia has continuously brought the latest innovations in wireless communications to TDMA customers, and the introduction of the 3560 only furthers our commitment to these markets."
With the launch of the 3560 color handset comes the ability to download full-color games and polyphonic ringtones. Cingular customers can download the Cingular Racing Fever game, free of charge through June 1.
Players drive as Robby Gordon and experience full-color graphics and images that highlight the benefits of the color display handset.
For a limited time, the Nokia 3560 will be available at Cingular Wireless retail stores and authorized dealers for $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year service agreement.
ABOUT CINGULAR WIRELESS
Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between SBC Communications (NYSE: SBC) and BellSouth (NYSE: BLS), serves more than 22 million voice and data customers across the United States. A leader in mobile voice and data communications, Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover, the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Cingular provides cellular/PCS service in 43 of the top 50 markets nationwide, and provides corporate e-mail and other advanced data services through its GPRS and Mobitex packet data networks. Details of the company are available at www.cingular.com .
ABOUT NOKIA
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed broadband and IP networks. By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on six major exchanges.
SOURCE Cingular Wireless
CONTACT: Jennifer Bowcock of Cingular Wireless, +1-404-236-6319, or jennifer.bowcock@cingular.com , or Keith Nowak of Nokia Americas, +1-972-894-6182, or keith.nowak@nokia.com URL: http://www.prnewswire.com" target="_new">http://www.cingular.comhttp://www.prnewswire.com
Copyright (C) 2003 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
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KEYWORD: Georgia TexasINDUSTRY KEYWORD: CPR TLS CSE
revlis, Oh yeah...and that over 50% increase this year...SO FAR.
Worth a repeat:Q1 2003 InterDigital Communications Corporation Earnings Release
05/13/2003 to 05/13/2003 12:30:00
Q1 2003 InterDigital Communications Corporation Earnings Conference Call
05/13/2003 14:00:00 to 05/13/2003 14:00:00
InterDigital Communications Corporation at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray 5th Annual Technology Conference
05/14/2003 16:00:00 to 05/14/2003 16:00
Grand Hyatt New York at Grand Central Station
New York , NY , US
L2V, When IDCC gets to 50, they'll still be crying....damn, I'm happy as can be.
23.38 eom
sjratty, Feel better? 23.15 eom
over 100,000 shares traded in the first 14 min.eom
3: 3, the leading mobile video communication company, is launching
May 05, 2003 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- 3 believes that mobile video communication will give people a new way to reach each other. You can see, feel and experience more in the mobile, which brings mobile communication closer to real communication (face to face).
3's services are based on mobile video communication, advanced telecom services and national coverage of voice.
Today we start to take pre-bookings in the first retail outlets in our national distribution network and in our Flagship Stores at Stureplan in Stockholm, Kungsportsplatsen in Gothenburg, and Hamngatan in Malmoe.
"Mobile video communication provides new opportunities to enrich communication for our customers. We have started to develop the usage in all aspects from child health care, sport and business", says Chris Bannister CEO at 3. "We are the first to provide mobile video communication, and others will follow us. People can today make a video call (MoVi) as natural as we have been making voice calls for the last decade."
Today we have also started a marketing campaign based on outdoor advertisement, TV, internet, newspaper, magazines and tactical activities to meet with customers.
"We offer today mobile video and other advanced services at attractive prices for the frequent user of mobile communication. Trough our offering you will be first with mobile video and get attractive prices on voice calls by choosing the package that corresponds to your current usage of the mobile," says Fredrik Landahl, Marketing Director of 3. "We give more value for the money."
3 makes a wide range of video content available on the move.
The 3mobiles come with cameras front and back, so that you can show both yourself and your surroundings. You can also use it as a mobile high-speed modem.
Customers who pre-book the mobile before 10 June get the NEC e606 for SEK 3500 (ord. SEK 5695) and the NEC 808 for SEK 4400 (SEK 6559). Delivery will take place within 31 working days.
Customers can choose between the Blue and the Green packages depending on needs and current usage. In addition you can choose the Red package, which gives you more MoVi (video services). Customers who take the Red package get a monthly rebate in 24 months , which corresponds to the value of the 3mobile (SEK 5695 or SEK 238 per month).
For the Blue and the Red packages combined, the cost is SEK 349 per month, includes 450 minutes talk time (on the 3 network and fixed network), 50 MoVi clips (via MMS), 50 SMS, 50 minutes of MoVi, 100 e-mails and SEK 100 worth of content services.
For the Green and the Red packages combined the cost is SEK 679 per month, includes 1250 minutes talk time (on the 3 network and fixed network), 100 MoVi clips (via MMS), 100 SMS texts, 50 minutes of MoVi, 100 e-mails and SEK 100 worth of content services.
Consumers are offered to pay the mobile over 24 monthly instalments.
3's coverage consists of two different service areas. Our rapidly growing network for video communication services, and national coverage for voice and text messaging.
Internationally, we have roaming agreements with around 300 operators in about 100 countries.
For more information on the mobiles, prices and 3's content please visit tre.se.
About 3: 3 is the first company to offer mobile video communication in Sweden. In Sweden and Denmark, 3 is owned by Hutchison Whampoa (60%) and Investor AB (40%). Both companies have major international networks and possess world-leading industrial and technological expertise. Through Hutchison Whampoa, 3 is the world's leading mobile video communication company with 3G licences in Australia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Great Britain, Sweden and Austria.
Visit us on www.tre.se.
CONTACT: Fredrik Landahl, Marketing Director, 3 Tel: +46 735 33 7098 e-mail: fredrik.landahl@tre.se Niclas Lilja, Information Director, 3 Tel: +46 735 33 7090 e-mail: niclas.lilja@tre.se
M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com.
(C)1994-2003 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
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Cypress, Infineon and Micron Announce First CellularRAM Samples;
Multi-Generation Family of Low-Power PSRAMs Designed for 2.5G and 3G Wireless
Handsets
SAN JOSE, Calif., May 5, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The CellularRAM(TM) co-development team of Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:CY), Infineon Technologies AG (FSE, NYSE:IFX) and Micron Technology, Inc. (NYSE:MU), today announced the availability of 32 Megabit (Mb) CellularRAM devices for wireless handsets. Samples are available in both asynchronous and burst modes.
Last year, the three companies announced an agreement to co-develop specifications for CellularRAM products, a new multi-generation family of low-power pseudo-static RAM (PSRAM). The devices are designed to meet growing memory and bandwidth demands of future 2.5G and 3G handset designs by offering a lower cost/bit ratio than current solutions. CellularRAM devices incorporate several low-power features and are drop-in compatible, having the same voltage range, package, and ball assignment, with asynchronous low-power SRAMs currently used in cell phone designs. This compatible architecture provides designers a smooth transition from SRAM to CellularRAM products.
The co-development effort between Cypress, Infineon and Micron provides customers with pin- and function-compatible products from multiple sources, based on a jointly developed specification for CellularRAM memory. Each company is manufacturing products using their own design and process technologies and product development timetables. In addition to 32Mb density components, the co-development roadmap includes plans for 16Mb and 64Mb density components. Micron is currently sampling the 32Mb and 64Mb devices, with full production expected in the third quarter of 2003. Infineon is currently sampling the 32Mb with full production expected in the third quarter of 2003. And Cypress plans to have samples available in the first half of 2004.
"The CellularRAM architecture offers mobile handset designers the ability to add exciting new product features at very low costs by providing a unique combination of high performance and low power consumption in a simple, straightforward design," said Pashupathy Gopalan, director of marketing for Cypress's Memory Products Division.
"Supported by leading memory manufacturers, the CellularRAM product family is poised to become the preferred solution for emerging high-performance handset applications," said Dr. Ernst Strasser, director of marketing for Specialty DRAM at Infineon Technologies. "We also offer CellularRAM products in known-good die (KGD) wafer formats so that memory subsystems can be tuned to specific application requirements, such as integration into multi-chip package solutions."
"The CellularRAM architecture is our answer to handset designers' demands for a faster, more efficient, and simpler design in a high-throughput memory subsystem," said Mario Fazio, Micron's director of strategic marketing for Wireless Products. "It is also an ideal volatile memory companion to popular high-speed burst Flash memory. Combining CellularRAM memory with Flash memory in a multi-chip package provides improved system performance while reducing board space for emerging handset designs."
Based on a DRAM cell, the CellularRAM architecture provides significant advantages over traditional SRAMs and six-transistor (6T) SRAM cells by leveraging the technology and reduced size of a DRAM cell. The 32Mb CellularRAM samples currently available operate at up to 104 MHz clock rates with low initial latency of 70ns and can achieve up to 208 MB/s (1.5 Gb/s) of peak bandwidth. These devices emulate popular standard burst READ and WRITE modes including the Intel(R) W18 and Micron Flash Burst-compatible protocol with various I/O voltage options.
The 32Mb samples are organized as 2 Meg x 16. The 16Mb and 64Mb density components are organized as 1 Meg x 16 and 4 Meg x 16. To ensure full compatibility for customers seeking multiple sources, the CellularRAM co-development companies are now analyzing and validating each manufacturer's sample products for final verification.
CellularRAM co-development members are jointly working on the definition of the next generation of the CellularRAM product family, a 128Mb device, targeted for sampling in second half of 2004. For more information, visit www.cellularram.com.
About Cypress
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:CY) is Connecting from Last Mile to First Mile(TM) with high-performance solutions for personal, network access, enterprise, metro switch, and core communications-system applications. Cypress Connects(TM) using wireless, wireline, digital, and optical transmission standards, including USB, Fibre Channel, SONET/SDH, Gigabit Ethernet, and DWDM. Leveraging its process and system-level expertise, Cypress makes industry-leading physical layer devices, framers, and network search engines, along with a broad portfolio of high-bandwidth memories, timing technology solutions, and programmable microcontrollers. More information about Cypress is accessible online at www.cypress.com.
About Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for the automotive and industrial sectors, for applications in the wired communications markets, secure mobile solutions as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In fiscal year 2002 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 5.21 billion with about 30,400 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol:IFX). Further information is available at http://www.infineon.com.
About Micron
Micron Technology, Inc., is one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions. Through its worldwide operations, Micron manufactures and markets DRAMs, Flash memory, CMOS image sensors, other semiconductor components and memory modules for use in leading-edge computing, consumer, networking, and mobile products. Micron's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the MU symbol. To learn more about Micron Technology, Inc., visit its web site at www.micron.com.
CellularRAM is a trademark of Micron Technology, Inc. in the U.S. and is a trademark of Infineon Technologies outside the U.S. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Micron Technology, Inc.
CONTACT: Micron Technology, Inc. Echo Chadwick, 208/368-4400 echadwick@micron.com or Cypress Semiconductor Corporation Ed Rebello, 408/545-7665 ewr@cypress.com or Infineon Technologies Matthew Schmidt, 650/691-1488 matt@fscomm.com
(c) 2003 Business Wire. All reproduction, other than for an individual user`s reference, is prohibited without prior written permission.
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KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA INTERNATIONAL ASIA PACIFIC TRACKINDUSTRY KEYWORD: TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKING COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS PRODUCT
Symbian Enhances Multimedia with New OS
May 02, 2003 (Internet.com via COMTEX) -- Seeking to lay a definitive claim on the market for advanced phones with multimedia capabilities, London-based Symbian this week debuted the latest version of its mobile phone operating system.
Symbian ushered in Symbian OS v7.0s Tuesday at its Exposium03 developer conference, boasting new features including a lightweight multi-threaded multimedia framework, support for W-CDMA , support for the Java Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) 2.0, support for multiple primary/secondary PDP contexts and bi-directional text (like Thai, Arabic and Hebrew).
Symbian said the multi-threaded multimedia framework (MMF) provides enhanced audio recording, playback, audio streaming and imaging capabilities for Symbian OS applications. It includes a generic multimedia plug-in system which allows developers to write plug-ins using abstract and concrete classes representing actual resources and abstract components. Symbian said concrete classes include files, descriptors, sockets, audio I/O and video I/O. The MMF supports formats including WAV, AU, RAW (in various formats), PCM, uLaw, aLaw, and GSM6.10. It also includes a codec API, an audio Controller plug-in, support for sound device abstraction and arbitration, a video playback/recording/telephony framework, a MIDI client API and support for concurrent processing of multiple multimedia data streams.
By adding support for 3GPP W-CDMA, Symbian is striving to round out its telephony stack, which already supports GSM , GPRS , EDGE , CDMA (IS-95) , and 3GPP2 cdma2000 1x (Release A) . By providing a multimode API for its clients, Symbian is trying to make it easier for handset manufacturers to port the Symbian OS from one mobile phone standard to another.
Symbian also upgraded its Java implementation to include Java MIDP2.0 , giving Symbian OS-based devices stronger support for games and Bluetooth. Symbian has also included Sun's new Java Virtual Machine (JVM), which it said provides sleeker performance and will encourage over-the-air download of Java applications.
The support for multiple primary/secondary PDP (Packet Data Protocol) contexts allows users to access more than one network service at the same time -- for instance surfing the Web while also accessing email or downloading an application. Symbian said this allows operators to create multiple, simultaneous revenue streams from a single handset, each with a different quality of service and charging model.
"The enhancements deployed in Symbian OS v7.0s will enable application developers and network operators to offer more advanced, entertaining and productivity-enhancing applications, content and services, making Symbian OS phones even more attractive to users," said Morten Grauballe, vice president of product line management at Symbian.
The Symbian OS is licensed by many mobile phone manufacturers, including Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Siemens and Sony Ericsson
By Thor Olavsrud
URL: http://www.internet.com
Copyright 2003 INT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.Republication and redistribution of INT Media Group content isExpressly prohibited without the prior written consent of INT MediaGroup, Inc.. INT Media Group, Inc., shall not be liable for any errorsor delays in the Content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
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SUBJECT CODE: API CDMA GSM Java
RACAL INSTRUMENTS: Racal Instruments offers mobile handset manufacturers
choice and flexibility in quad band conformance testing platforms
May 02, 2003 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Racal Instruments has developed quad band functionality within its 6103G digital radio test platform, providing 850,900,1800 & 1900MHz test capability. This will enable users of the 6103 AIME and 6103 AIME/CT to cover all the popular GSM bands using just one test platform. Racal has also developed proven 850 MHz protocol conformance test cases bringing users of the 6103 AIME/CT system quad band conformance testing capabilities. Orders have already been placed by three of the Top Five mobile handset manufacturers.
Manufacturers face a dilemma in upgrading dual and tri-band test systems, it is costly and can result in lost capacity. In some cases manufacturers may have to sacrifice existing testing capability in the 900 and 1800 MHz bands in order to incorporate the 850 MHz band on an existing platform, necessitating investment in further test equipment.
In short to develop a quad band phone can mean having to use two test systems, one for the 850/1900 MHz bands and a second configured for 900/1800/1900 MHz. To meet manufacturers' needs Racal's test platform with quad band test functionality in a single system gives the highest degree of flexibility allowing users to switch between different types of phone without reconfiguration quickly and easily.
In North America the 1900 MHz band is becoming increasingly populated, making the 850 MHz spectrum, conventionally used by analogue phones and whose use is declining, an attractive alternative. Therefore mobile phone manufacturers are now designing products for use in the 850 MHz band in addition to 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz bands and have already deployed to some network operators who have stated that they will not accept devices that do not have 850 MHz capability.
Certified by the PTCRB, the test cases enable GPRS, EGPRS and AMR testing of mobiles for use in the 850MHz band on the same system as the 900,1800 and 1900 MHz test cases required by the certification groups.
Protocol conformance testing involves validating the mobile terminals protocol stack by performing 3GPP TS51.010 compliant test cases as specified in North America by the PTCRB, using a validated conformance test system run in the1900 MHz band and requires a subset of the protocol conformance tests performed also in the 850 MHz band.
Products are starting to be rolled out and Racal has already supplied major mobile manufacturers with its latest test cases.
Note to editors
Racal Instruments, with over 800 employees and sales of $120 million, designs, manufactures and sells electronic test and measurement equipment and systems to leading high-technology customers throughout the world. It has offices in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, India, PRC, Hong Kong and Korea with a sales and support network in over 80 countries. The Wireless Solutions Group designs and manufactures a range of test and measurement equipment for parametric and protocol testing of mobiles, base stations and networks in design, installation and repair. UMTS, cdmaOne, CMDA2000, TD-SCDMA, GSM, GPRS and EDGE technologies are all covered.
CONTACT: Stephen Hire Tel: +44 (0)1628 610391 e-mail: stephen.hire@racalinstruments.com WWW: http://www.racalinstruments.com Diane Green, Instrotec PR Tel: +44 (0)208 658 3611 e-mail: diane@instrotec.demon.co.uk
M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com.
(C)1994-2003 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
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IPWireless: Thales Broadcast & Multimedia and IPWireless announce
distribution agreement for broadband wireless access deployments
Southwick, MA, May 01, 2003 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Thales Broadcast & Multimedia announced that it has signed a distribution agreement with IPWireless Inc., the world leader in commercial mobile broadband deployments, for sales and support of IPWireless' next-generation broadband wireless access solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, Thales will integrate and distribute the UMTS TD-CDMA (TDD) standards-based IPWireless product line that includes a complete network infrastructure solution, pocket-sized wireless desktop modems, and PC cards (PCMCIA) for laptops and PDAs. Leveraging a non-line-of-sight architecture, wireless telecommunications companies will be able to provide residential and business customers with instantaneous, "plug-and-play" last mile Internet access and rich multimedia applications on a high-capacity network designed to deliver data rates of up to 3Mbps to users in fixed, portable and mobile environments.
Thales has already received its first commercial deployment contract from a Southeast Asian operator that has already initiated a national deployment of the IPWireless solution and will offer commercial services by June of 2003.
Thales has also established a technical support center with trained personnel to support top tier operators in the South-East Asia region.
"Thales is excited to partner with IPWireless to meet the growing demand for broadband wireless Internet access in international markets," said Mark Kearns, CEO, Thales Broadcast and Multimedia Inc. "With IPWireless's proven industry leading technology, we will be able to provide operators with IP-based infrastructure to provide fixed, portable and mobile broadband services. This agreement, coupled with Thales' digital integration expertise, extensive multimedia products portfolio, and unmatched history of servicing the MMDS and WLL industry, is another symbol of Thales' longstanding tradition of product and service excellence."
"Our partnership with Thales provides us with another strong distribution channel to satisfy the surging worldwide demand for IPWireless mobile broadband," said Chris Gilbert, CEO, IPWireless. "They have already proven themselves as a fantastic partner through their development and support of a large customer opportunity. We look forward to the partnership successfully making the IPWireless technology available to more operators and consumers in other regions around the world."
About Thales and Thales Broadcast & Multimedia
Thales is a world leader in professional electronics in three key markets: Aerospace, Defence and Information Technology & Services (IT&S). The Group employs 60,000 people in nearly 50 countries worldwide, and generated revenues of over euro11 billion in 2002.
Thales Broadcast & Multimedia, a Thales Group company, designs, develops, manufactures and markets equipment, systems and solutions in the field of:
* Terrestrial Transmission (radio and TV)
* Digital Video Processing and Multimedia Distribution for broadcasting, cable TV, satellite and telecommunication services providers worldwide. Thales Broadcast & Multimedia has deployed its systems in 170 countries.
About IPWireless
IPWireless offers mobile broadband, an extremely disruptive technology that is on track to change the way people around the world communicate, access the Internet, and use a host of applications at home, at the office, or on the road. IPWireless has quickly established itself as a leader in the market, with commercial deployments around the world and trials with 10 of the top 20 global wireless operators. IPWireless has announced strategic partnerships and relationships with some of the largest players in the industry. Founded in April 1999, IPWireless is led by a world-class management team of seasoned entrepreneurs and technology and marketing executives from leading mobile and communication companies including Cisco, Lucent, Motorola, and Qualcomm. The company, backed by over $150 million in funding from leading venture capital firms, is headquartered in San Bruno, California, with R&D and sales facilities based in the U.K. For more information about IPWireless, visit the company's Web site at www.ipwireless.com.
CONTACT: Henny Valder/Joanna Lane, Brodeur Tel: +44 (0)20 7298 7075 e-mail: hvalder@uk.brodeur.com e-mail: jlane@uk.brodeur.com Mark Pittick, IPWireless Tel: +44 (0)1666 828 753 e-mail: mpittick@ipwireless.com
M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com.
(C)1994-2003 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
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"WRISTOMO" Wristwatch-style PHS Phone Goes on Sale May 7
Tokyo, Japan, May 02, 2003 (JCN Newswire via COMTEX) -- NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that the WRISTOMO(TM), the world's first commercial wristwatch-style Personal Handyphone System (PHS) mobile phone, will go on sale on May 7, 2003. The WRISTOMO works on the PHS mobile network in Japan.
The wrist watch costs 37,000 yen (excluding tax) and comes with a standard accessory kit including battery charger, cushioned pad and adjustable wrist band. An optional cable (SI1001) that connects the WRISTOMO with a PC to exchange data costs 6,200 yen (excluding tax).
An actual waterproof wristwatch, the phone opens up into a functional PHS handset when buttons on either side of the face are pressed.
The WRISTOMO is compatible with the "PALDIO E-mail" service to send/receive e-mails up to 6,000 alphanumeric characters. No Internet connection contract is required to use the service.
The wrist phone transfers data at up to 64 kbps. The WRISTOMO ccesses "Browserphone Content" web pages of DoCoMo's service, as well as sites based on a subset of HTML designed for mobile internet services such as (compatibility depends on each site). The WRISTOMO is also equipped for DoCoMo's "Location based Web Sites," which provide information about restaurants, weather, transportation and other concerning the user's current location.
The WRISTOMO can automatically exchange data with a PC to synchronize information, such as the address book or journal in Microsoft . Whenever information stored in the WRISTOMO or PC is changed, the other device is automatically updated via the mobile Internet or an optional cable.
Orders for the WRISTOMO will be accepted exclusively through the Internet (www.wristomo.com) beginning May 7 at 10 AM (Japan Standard Time). The site is in Japanese only. Existing DoCoMo PHS/PDC customers can pay via credit card (online), cash on delivery or the same method used for their monthly DoCoMo bills (automatic payment via bank, post office, etc.). New customers, however, must pay via credit card. WRISTOMO will be shipped out immediately after the order is completed. Customers should normally receive it in around 7 working days. However it should be noted that this is subject to change depending on when the order is made.
Specifications of WRISTOMO
Height x Width x Thickness (mm) 171.5 x 40.4 x 18.5 (when unfolded for handset use)Weight (grams) Approx. 113 (including battery) Continuous talk time (minutes) Approx. 120 Continuous stand-by time (hours) Approx. 200 Data transmission speed 64 kbps/ 32 kbps Body color Dark Gray Metallic
WRISTOMO is a trademark of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan.
mopera is a registered trademark of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan.
Microsoft Outlook is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the US and other countries.
i-mode and FOMA are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other countries.
About NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo is the world's leading mobile communications company with more than 44 million customers. The company provides a wide variety of leading-edge mobile multimedia services. These include i-mode(R), the world's most popular mobile internet service, which provides e-mail and Internet access to over 35 million subscribers, and FOMA(R), launched in 2001 as the world's first 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA. In addition to wholly owned subsidiaries in Europe and North and South America, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North and South America. NTT DoCoMo is listed on the Tokyo (TSE: 9437), London (NDCM), and New York (DCM) stock exchanges.
Source: NTT DoCoMo
Contact:
NTT DoCoMoInternational PR, Public Relations Departmentpress_dcm@nttdocomo.com+81 3 5156 1366
Copyright (C) 2003 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network KK.
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ADVISORY/InnerWireless Executives Available to Comment on Wireless
Technology Trends at IIR In-Building Wireless Conference May 6-7, 2003
May 01, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- InnerWireless executives will be available to discuss the role that future-proof, broadband in-building wireless distribution systems will have as building tenants and visitors and property owners/managers rapidly increase their reliance on wireless voice and data communications. InnerWireless, whose system installations include New York City's storied Rockefeller Center Concourse, is an in-building wireless technology, systems and services company that brings wireless communications indoors to enterprises, office buildings, campuses, and other high-traffic public places.
Who: Jim McCoy, CTO Annette Gieseman, CMO What: Availability of InnerWireless executives to discuss InnerWireless' distinctive business model, the company's uniquely future-proof, broadband in-building wireless distribution system, and the growing demand for and value of wireless voice and data communications in corporate enterprises, office buildings, convention centers, hospitals, education facilities, shopping malls and other high-traffic public places.Speaker: Jim McCoy, CTO -- Tuesday, May 6 (public access track panel), 12:15 p.m.: "Designing and Implementing Public Access Systems" -- Wednesday, May 7, (plenary session panel), 9 a.m.: "Provisioning Public Safety In-Building Wireless Networks" When: May 6 - 7, 2003 Where: Institute for International Research In-Building Wireless Conference Sheraton National Arlington, Va.Exhibit Information: Exhibit Booth # 1Media Contact: To learn more about InnerWireless or schedule a briefing, please contact: Annette Gieseman Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer InnerWireless 214/924-2001 (Mobile) gieseman@innerwireless.com
About InnerWireless
InnerWireless Inc., is an in-building wireless technology, systems and services company that brings the promise of anywhere, anytime wireless communications to high-traffic public spaces, commercial office buildings and enterprise campuses. The company's InnerMobile(TM) system employs patented technology to converge wireless voice and data onto a single in-building infrastructure that is reliable, efficient and versatile. One InnerMobile system can simultaneously provide coverage for multiple services from 400 MHz to 2.5 GHz using any current or future wireless protocols, including GSM, TDMA, CDMA, 2.5G, 3G, iDEN(R), paging, 2-way radio, and 802.11 b/g.
SOURCE: InnerWireless Inc.
CONTACT: InnerWireless Annette Gieseman, 214/924-2001 (Mobile) gieseman@innerwireless.comURL: http://www.businesswire.comToday's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internetwith Hyperlinks to your home page.
Copyright (C) 2003 Business Wire. All rights reserved.
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KEYWORD: VIRGINIAINDUSTRY KEYWORD: TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKING ADVISORY TRADESHOW
Alcatel to expand Spacetel Yemen's GSM mobile network
May 1, 2003 (Al-Bawaba via COMTEX) -- Spacetel, one of the two mobile operators in Yemen, has chosen to proceed with Alcatel's, GSM-900 MHz solutions to expand its GSM based mobile network. This multi-million euro contract foresees the supply of Alcatel's Evolium solution, comprising of its radio sub-system and mobile switching centers.
Under the terms of this contract Alcatel will deploy new Base stations and will expand Spacetel Mobile Switching Centers (MSC), as well as Intelligent Network (IN) platform for value-added services enabling Spacetel to enhance pre-paid (PPS) applications. To carry the traffic, the network will also utilize Alcatel's low-medium and high-capacity urban microwave radio systems managed by the Alcatel cost-efficient and powerful network management platform.
When completed, the deployment of the Evolium base stations (BTS) will significantly increase the network capacity allowing the operator to provide cellular communication services, based on Alcatel's solutions, for over 300,000 GSM subscribers over the entire country. The Alcatel Evolium family can support GSM, GPRS and EDGE technologies that can integrate future 3G mobile data applications.
Spacetel Yemen was incorporated in 2000, as a local and international sharing company. Having launched its local mobile service in 2001, Spacetel Yemen uses telecom equipment from Alcatel. The service is offered in post-paid and prepaid products
The company covers around 96 provinces with over 60 percent of the total population. The expected coverage until end of year 2003 will be over than 80 percent of the total population.
The international roaming services are also available for Spacetel customers in various countries and it will gradually increase to reach most GSM networks worldwide. - (menareport.com)
By Mena Report Reporters
(C) 2003 Albawaba.com, All rights reserved.
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SUBJECT CODE: Business-Telecom
IPWireless: Thales Broadcast & Multimedia and IPWireless announce
distribution agreement for broadband wireless access deployments
Southwick, MA, May 01, 2003 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Thales Broadcast & Multimedia announced that it has signed a distribution agreement with IPWireless Inc., the world leader in commercial mobile broadband deployments, for sales and support of IPWireless' next-generation broadband wireless access solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, Thales will integrate and distribute the UMTS TD-CDMA (TDD) standards-based IPWireless product line that includes a complete network infrastructure solution, pocket-sized wireless desktop modems, and PC cards (PCMCIA) for laptops and PDAs. Leveraging a non-line-of-sight architecture, wireless telecommunications companies will be able to provide residential and business customers with instantaneous, "plug-and-play" last mile Internet access and rich multimedia applications on a high-capacity network designed to deliver data rates of up to 3Mbps to users in fixed, portable and mobile environments.
Thales has already received its first commercial deployment contract from a Southeast Asian operator that has already initiated a national deployment of the IPWireless solution and will offer commercial services by June of 2003.
Thales has also established a technical support center with trained personnel to support top tier operators in the South-East Asia region.
"Thales is excited to partner with IPWireless to meet the growing demand for broadband wireless Internet access in international markets," said Mark Kearns, CEO, Thales Broadcast and Multimedia Inc. "With IPWireless's proven industry leading technology, we will be able to provide operators with IP-based infrastructure to provide fixed, portable and mobile broadband services. This agreement, coupled with Thales' digital integration expertise, extensive multimedia products portfolio, and unmatched history of servicing the MMDS and WLL industry, is another symbol of Thales' longstanding tradition of product and service excellence."
"Our partnership with Thales provides us with another strong distribution channel to satisfy the surging worldwide demand for IPWireless mobile broadband," said Chris Gilbert, CEO, IPWireless. "They have already proven themselves as a fantastic partner through their development and support of a large customer opportunity. We look forward to the partnership successfully making the IPWireless technology available to more operators and consumers in other regions around the world."
About Thales and Thales Broadcast & Multimedia
Thales is a world leader in professional electronics in three key markets: Aerospace, Defence and Information Technology & Services (IT&S). The Group employs 60,000 people in nearly 50 countries worldwide, and generated revenues of over euro11 billion in 2002.
Thales Broadcast & Multimedia, a Thales Group company, designs, develops, manufactures and markets equipment, systems and solutions in the field of:
* Terrestrial Transmission (radio and TV)
* Digital Video Processing and Multimedia Distribution for broadcasting, cable TV, satellite and telecommunication services providers worldwide. Thales Broadcast & Multimedia has deployed its systems in 170 countries.
About IPWireless
IPWireless offers mobile broadband, an extremely disruptive technology that is on track to change the way people around the world communicate, access the Internet, and use a host of applications at home, at the office, or on the road. IPWireless has quickly established itself as a leader in the market, with commercial deployments around the world and trials with 10 of the top 20 global wireless operators. IPWireless has announced strategic partnerships and relationships with some of the largest players in the industry. Founded in April 1999, IPWireless is led by a world-class management team of seasoned entrepreneurs and technology and marketing executives from leading mobile and communication companies including Cisco, Lucent, Motorola, and Qualcomm. The company, backed by over $150 million in funding from leading venture capital firms, is headquartered in San Bruno, California, with R&D and sales facilities based in the U.K. For more information about IPWireless, visit the company's Web site at www.ipwireless.com.
CONTACT: Henny Valder/Joanna Lane, Brodeur Tel: +44 (0)20 7298 7075 e-mail: hvalder@uk.brodeur.com e-mail: jlane@uk.brodeur.com Mark Pittick, IPWireless Tel: +44 (0)1666 828 753 e-mail: mpittick@ipwireless.com
M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com.
(C)1994-2003 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
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TESTS OF LG'S W-CDMA EQUIPMENT HALTED DUE TO SARS
SEOUL - LG Electronics Inc. (KSE:66570) said Wednesday the tests of its wideband-code division multiple access (W-CDMA) system facilities in China were suspended temporarily due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) scare in that country.
The local electronics maker has worked with MTNet, a mobile communication-related research institute affiliated with China's Ministry of Information Industry regarding the tests, but due to the deadly disease, the tests were halted in the middle of this month, it added.
(C) 2003 Asia Pulse Pte Ltd
bulldzr, Lol...great post.eom
RACAL INSTRUMENTS: Racal Instruments has best track record for EGPRS test
cases
Apr 30, 2003 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Racal Instruments has now delivered 145 test cases to a major mobile manufacturer and now has 98% of the entire EGPRS 3GPP test case list delivered, debugged and verified against the most advanced EGPRS mobile phones in development.
There have been some concerns of late within the industry regarding the quality of early validation processes of new wireless features such as EGPRS and 3G. Some suppliers of test equipment, in a bid to have the most test cases validated by the GCF and PTCRB, have supplied test cases which over time have not been up to standard and have had to be withdrawn, culminating in loss of confidence by users.
In order to keep test case withdrawal to a minimum Racal Instruments has debugged and verified its deliverables using industry leading mobile terminals and has applied a more conservative rate of validation submissions to GCF/PTCRB of EGPRS test cases than some of its competitors ensuring that the compliance level is as high as possible.
Racal's EDGE development is now more than three years old and is based on test systems delivered to all major infrastructure manufacturers to assist them in their development of EDGE. The resulting technology formed the basis of Racal's 2.5G mobile tester and became available in 2001. The level of proven reliability of the platform has put Racal in a position where almost every EGPRS test case delivered by setcom is working on the 6103 AIME/CT system.
Dan Quant, product manager, is keen to encourage manufacturers to look at other performance indicators in addition to the volume of GCF/PTCRB validated test cases. He believes that in some cases manufacturers are effectively being used to carry out R&D on behalf of the test equipment supplier detracting the manufacturer from his core activity of product development. Quant explained, "When a manufacturer hits a problem with a test case he submits paperwork requesting that the test case is de- listed. The test case supplier then has 90 days to re-establish that the test case works before the test case has to go through formal re- validation by the certification body (either GCF or PTCRB). In either case the manufacturer is inconvenienced and confidence in the validation process of test cases is diminished. Racal Instruments has made a conscious decision not to go down this route and would suggest that in looking for a supplier of test equipment that a further question to ask after 'How many test cases have been certified by the GCF and PTCRB?' is 'How many have been de-listed?'
Note to editors
Racal Instruments, with over 800 employees and sales of $120 million, designs, manufactures and sells electronic test and measurement equipment and systems to leading high-technology customers throughout the world. It has offices in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, India, PRC, Hong Kong and Korea with a sales and support network in over 80 countries. The Wireless Solutions Group designs and manufactures a range of test and measurement equipment for parametric and protocol testing of mobiles, base stations and networks in design, installation and repair. UMTS, cdmaOne, CMDA2000, TD-SCDMA, GSM, GPRS and EDGE technologies are all covered.
setcom wireless products GmbH, based in Munich, Germany is Racal's sole supplier of all GPRS and EGPRS test cases and of the application programming interfaces, S-API. setcom is an independent technology supplier of cutting-edge test software solutions for wireless communications test equipment for GPRS, EDGE and UMTS standards.
setcom's core business is the engineering and sale of OEM products from company's comprehensive IP portfolio. All setcom conformance test cases are ETSI/3GPP compliant. In addition setcom has on offer a number of special purpose and customised test cases to address the specific requirements of the providers of software protocol stack, hardware integrators and manufacturers of mobile phones and test equipment.
CONTACT: Stephen Hire Tel: +44 (0)1628 610391 e-mail: stephen.hire@racalinstruments.com WWW: http://www.racalinstruments.com Diane Green, Instrotec PR Tel: +44 (0)208 658 3611 e-mail: diane@instrotec.demon.co.uk Setcom Tel: +49 89 444 88 990 Fax: +49 89 444 88 99 99 e-mail: info@setcom.de WWW: http://www.setcom.de
M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com.
(C)1994-2003 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
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Texas Instruments Technology Deployed in China TD-SCDMA Wireless
Basestations TI's DSP Technology Enables Easily Upgradeable and Cost Effective
Basestations
DALLAS, Apr 30, 2003 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Supporting China's rapidly growing wireless market, Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) (TI) today announced shipments of its high performance TMS320C64x(TM) class DSPs into Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Group's (Siemens mobile) Node B Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) basestations. The 3G-based basestations are already in field trials in China and deployments with Chinese operators are expected to start at the end of 2003.
Market forecasts peg China as one of the fastest growing wireless markets in the world, with over 200 million mobile phone users today. Siemens and the China Academy of Telecommunications Technology (CATT) jointly developed the TD-SCDMA standard to address the growing need for wide spectrum bandwidth allocation.
In October of 2002, the Ministry of Information allocated 155 Mhz of spectrum for use by TD-SCDMA as a newly adopted standard for third generation (3G) mobile networks in China. The standard features flexible up and downlink data rates peaking at 2Mbps, coverage up to 40km, and optimal spectral efficiency through use of TDMA and synchronous CDMA technology. TD-SCDMA also preserves carrier's investment in previous infrastructure by reusing the existing GSM core network, the most pervasive mobile network technology in China today.
Utilizing the TMS320C6416 DSPs, the industry's highest performance DSP designed for digital baseband processing, TI helps to reduce costs for carriers by offering a smooth migration from 2G to 3G. This programmable DSP platform allows basestations to be upgraded easily as standards change and evolve further, and demonstrates TI's leadership in the wireless infrastructure market, allowing customers like Siemens to build reliable and cost-effective basestations.
"By using a software approach based on the TMS320C6416 together with TI tools and service we were able to get to market fast, reduce cost and have a key differentiator for our customers in the Chinese market," said Klaus Maler, president, business segment TD-SCDMA within Siemens mobile networks.
"Siemens and TI strongly believe in TD-SCDMA and collaboration on this basestation underlines this belief and our partnership. China is the world's biggest mobile telecom market and continues to grow faster than all other markets," said Dave Shepard, general manager of TI's wireless infrastructure products group.
TI strongly believes in the momentum of the Chinese market and has jointly invested with other major mobile telecom players in the company COMMIT whose aim is to provide TD-SCDMA handsets for the Chinese market.
About TI
Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies to meet our customers' real world signal processing requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company's businesses include Sensors & Controls, and Educational & Productivity Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25 countries.
Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at www.ti.com
Trademarks
All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Safe Harbor Statement
NOTE: Statements contained in this press release regarding the growth of the mobile telecom market and other statements of management's beliefs, goals and expectations may be considered "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. The following factors and the factors discussed in TI's most recent Form 10-K could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements contained in this press release: actual customer demand. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release.
SOURCE Texas Instruments Incorporated
CONTACT: Marie-Helene Raynaud, +33-0-4-93-22-26-44, or mh-raynaud@ti.com , or Marcia Barnett, +1-214-480-2050, or mpickett@ti.com , both of Texas Instruments Incorporated; or Krista Schuelke, +1-713-513-9565, or kschuelke@golinharris.com , for Texas Instruments Incorporated. Please do not publish these numbers or email addresses. /Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010105/NEF016LOGO AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org PRN Photo Desk, +1-888-776-6555 or +1-201-369-3467URL: http://www.ti.com http://www.prnewswire.com
Copyright (C) 2003 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
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KEYWORD: Texas ChinaINDUSTRY KEYWORD: CPR TLS NET SEM EDA ECM STW
DoCoMo Sells More than 10 Million Camera Phones in 11 Months
Tokyo, Japan, Apr 30, 2003 (JCN Newswire via COMTEX) -- NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that it has sold more than 10 million camera phones since launching the first model, the SH251i, on June 1, 2002. The phones transmit photos via the i-shot(TM) photo messaging service available on DoCoMo's PDC network.
DoCoMo's camera phone sales have been expanding in recent months as customers become more aware of the convenience and functionality of i-shot. They are especially popular among users between the ages of 20 and 30, who account for about 60% of total sales.
DoCoMo's i-shot service allows still images taken with the phone's built-in camera to be transmitted to virtually any device capable of receiving e-mail. DoCoMo has found that photos are viewed/transferred an average of 2.19 times.
The DoCoMo lineup currently offers 11 camera phones equipped for i-shot and offering a wide variety of related features, including the ability to edit photos as original screensavers using downloaded picture frames. DoCoMo will expand its lineup with recently announced models offering high-resolution cameras with up to 1.3 megapixels.
*i-mode and FOMA are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other countries.
*i-shot is a trademark of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan.
*mova is a registered trademark of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan.
About NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo is the world's leading mobile communications company with more than 44 million customers. The company provides a wide variety of leading-edge mobile multimedia services. These include i-mode(R), the world's most popular mobile internet service, which provides e-mail and Internet access to over 35 million subscribers, and FOMA(R), launched in 2001 as the world's first 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA. In addition to wholly owned subsidiaries in Europe and North and South America, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North and South America. NTT DoCoMo is listed on the Tokyo (TSE: 9437), London (NDCM), and New York (DCM) stock exchanges.
Source: NTT DoCoMo
Contact:
NTT DoCoMoTakumi Suzukisuzukitaku@nttdocomo.co.jp+81 3 5156 1111
Copyright (C) 2003 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network KK.
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Hey guys, Can someone email it to me @ danielsnow@msn.com.
Thanks
Briefing.com Introductory Service: Story Stocks
Apr 29, 2003 (Briefing.com via COMTEX) -- Story Stocks
Updated: 29-Apr-03
Quotes at time of story, top stories today: (ERICY 11:38) (FMKT 10:53)
11:38 ET ******
Ahead of the Curve: Ericsson (ERICY) 8.74 +1.29 (+17%) Fighting the last war. That is what investors buying Ericsson are doing today. Yes, there is good news in the report issued today - no financing needs required, deeper cuts coming, gross margin improvements - all good things.
But from a higher perspective, what's the point? If we came to you and said: "Here's a company you should look at. It has sequential and yearly revenue declines of about -30%, hasn't made a profit in eight quarters, has an operating margin of -9%, compared to -8% a year ago, is cutting staff drastically, is booking orders lower than last year, and operates in a market with a 10% projected growth rate" what would you say?
Most people would probably say something like "what airline company are you talking about?" The only thing that keeps people interested in Ericsson, and other companies in the wireless industry, is the legacy investment premise. Ericsson, along with Nokia, Qualcomm, and Motorola, were the beneficiaries of one of the greatest secular trends of all time - the advent of cellular phones. Year after year, handset sales exceeded even the loftiest growth expectations by wide margins. Capacity was the issue at most handset manufacturers for most of the 1990s decade. These stocks were great performers even before the bubble ever started. Ericsson was just in the right place at the right time and the rode the wave correctly - for as long as it lasted.
But everything that drove handset sales in the past 10 years is gone. The 3G "broadband on a cell phone" promise has fizzled. Nearly everyone who is going to buy a cell phone already has one - in the US. There are growth possibilities in the third world, but it increasingly looks like China will choose to develop their own systems, even though it will take longer, and selling to less developed countries makes for a slow sales ramp. An investment in Ericsson today is a lot closer to a turnaround premise than anything like a growth premise. From that perspective, an investment in Ford looks more appealing than one in Ericsson right now - for long term investors. We suspect investors in Ericsson would cringe at the idea of investing in Ford, but without any emotional attachment to either company, the situations are similar. (There is still a lot of short term trading opportunity in Ericsson and other fallen giants, but the Ahead of the Curve column follows a long term approach.)
A lot of people are coming back to Ericsson on the theory that it is "the next Ericsson." We think it is time to look elsewhere for the next wave of great five year investments. Over a year ago, we argued that financial stocks and healthcare stocks would lead the market going forward, not tech stocks. This earnings season is confirming that, particularly for financial stocks. There are a lot of opportunities there. Healthcare stocks are headed there, but are not as far ahead as financials. In addition, "applied-technology" stocks look interesting. An extremely good example of one is Exult, profiled one today's Stock Brief
page. If the only place you have been looking for revived signs of growth are areas where growth was once fantastic - like Ericsson - it is time to broaden the vision. - Robert V. Green, Briefing.com
11:08 ET ******
Technical Levels: So the Nasdaq continues to favor this overhead in the general vicinity of 1461 to 1468. In fact, the index posted a healthy 28-point gain yesterday, and despite the intraday extension, still managed to close at 1462. Now from a strictly technical perspective, this area approximates the mid-January highs, and also matches with former trendline resistance going back sixteen months. Yet from a more practical standpoint, that 1468 level also got to the heart of
yesterday's review
.
The relevant passage from that review
yesterday
follows: "As one final point, also note that simply because you would conventionally expect additional time before a break above 1468 does not mean it has to play out that way. This current leg higher has been unusually strong, and if the index would begin to favor that area on a closing basis over the next several sessions -- i.e. test that level and hold towards it -- the upside risk likely outweighs any potential downside. Recall we have established an intermediate-term target in the vicinity of Nasdaq 1510 to 1521."
At any rate, this first chart is an hourly chart of the Nasdaq in which each bar on the chart represents the opening and closing levels for each sixty-minute time frame. The most obvious take away once again pertains to the index' 20-period exponential moving average. Recall the break below that line contributed to our consolidative immediate bias back on
April 24th
. Then
yesterday
, the subsequent break back above that 20-period ema contributed to our reversion back to the predominant bullish bias.
So looking back, the index carved out a relatively minor 36-point 'consolidation phase' over the course of two sessions. Now whether that amounts to 'real' consolidation or a head fake probably hinges on your preferred time horizon. In either case, two days was enough for the index to observe our second support point at 1431 (the index technically bottomed at 1432), and also placed the Nasdaq within striking distance of our target support point at 1423.
To read the remainder of this review -- which addresses one approach to this early sell pressure -- please click
here
to visit Briefing.com's Stock Brief page. -- Mike Ashbaugh, Briefing.com
10:53 ET ******
FreeMarkets Inc. (FMKT) $6.36 -0.46: FreeMarkets (FMKT) reported earnings after the close of the market last night, surpassing Rueters Research estimates of a loss of $0.10, posting a loss of $0.06. Revenues were down 20% from the same quarter as last year, and in line with consensus estimates of $34.5 mln.. The Company also provided guidance for next quarter and CY03, and is expecting a loss of $0.06 per share and revenues of $36 mln to $37 mln. The street was looking for a loss of $0.03 and revenues of $36 mln in 3Q03. For the CY03, FMKT expects to earn $0.02 per share on revenue of $155 mln which is better than the consensus estimates of a loss of $0.02 and $152 mln in revenue.
The Company, like most software companies is looking for the sales cycle to push more sales to the end of quarter / end of the year. FMKT also expects its new product line to add depth to the pipeline and sees the long term renewal rate of 75% as reasons to be positive about the upcoming quarters. Although the weighted sales cycle is quite common, many investors will likely say that the expectations are getting worse in the near term and possibly too lofty down the road.
Management looks for the top line to drive EPS higher in 2H03, and sees little in the way of cost cutting. The optimism is a result of what management termed the robust pipeline of new products and improved execution. Analysts were hoping that costs cutting would provide some savings, and thus improve margins. In the most recent quarter, gross margins slipped to 47% from 56% in the same quarter last year.
This weaker near term guidance has brought the sellers back to FMKT, as the stock dropped $0.32 to $6.50 in early trading. Briefing.com believes that sellers will remain present until FMKT shows that it can bring in more than the 3-5 new customers its currently averaging and grow revenues in the process. Investors should also look for margin improvement before committing new capital to FMKT. One potentially good sign of improvement is that the Company is hiring in the Asian market.
The once high flying internet B2B play has come back down to earth amid a challenging technology environment. IT spending has been well below historic levels, and management sees little signs of improvement. There remains opportunity for FMKT if there is a general recovery in IT spending, but until then Briefing.com suggests that investors look for more consistent performers.--Brian Bolan, Briefing.com
09:21 ET ******
Morning Set-Ups : The market started the week on an impressive note and although volume was low, market breadth statistics were strong. For this morning, the pre-market indicators suggest that we will see some follow through interest in early dealings. Overseas markets are firmer as is the Dollar while the Treasury market is on the defensive
S&P 500 Levels: From a chart perspective the index is working on taking out resistances at a long term
trendline off the Aug 2000/March 2002 highs (approx 918 this week, yesterday's high 918.15), last week's high (919.74) and its 50 week ema (921.50). Failure on a short term basis would bring initial supports at 914/913.50 and 910 into play. Resistances beyond these levels are at 925 and 927 with sustained follow through setting the stage for a run at the upper boundaries of the now nine month trading range (Jan high first up at 935).
Dow Industrial Levels: First resistance for the Dow is in the 8500 area with a penetration allowing for a run at the top of its one monthtrading range highs
between 8520/8526. If a break is seen, the next resistance is in the 8505/8560 area. On the downside short term supports are at 8460 and 8440/8432.
Chart Watch: Hewlett-Packard (HPQ
)-- edged above its week long trading range on an intraday basis on Monday but was stymied once again near its 50 day averages (16.2) which has played an important role on several occasions over the last several months. Watching for sustained penetration which would argue for a run at resistance at 16.85/16.94 and 17.17/17.24. Stock to watch that have displayed upside momentum and are now hovering just off multi-month highs include: FWRD, KNGT, HITK, NARA, SEPR, SRE, COLM, KRB, BMY.
200 Day Watch: Stocks closing above this widely followed moving average included: ELX, XOM, KRB, BMY, LNC, MAS, JP, DOV. Ending below this average were: NEM, CAM, SU.
Send comments or suggestions to -- Jim Schroeder, Briefing.com
08:56 ET ******
Page One - Ahead of the Open: Stock futures are slightly higher on a continuation of the momentum from yesterday. Earnings reports this morning are mixed, but the overall earnings picture is still positive.
Through last evening, first quarter reports were in from 342 of the S&P 500 companies, and the market-capitalization weighted gain is 13.3%. Reports from smaller companies appear to be not quite as good, particularly for some of the smaller technology companies. Nevertheless, so far it is a good quarter.
There are not a lot of major reports impacting the market this morning. After the close yesterday, semiconductor maker Altera (ALTR 16.50) reported earnings of $0.08 per share, a penny ahead of expectations on a respectable 13.4% increase in revenue from the same quarter last year. They also guided revenue estimates slightly higher for the second quarter. Not bad, but the stock has rallied 40% since early March, so there was some profit taking on the news in after hours trading. ALTR is indicated to open about $0.50 lower.
This morning, Dow 30 component and chemical maker DuPont (DD 41.73) posted operating earnings seven cents ahead of expectations, but warned that earnings for the second quarter would be in the mid-50's as opposed to the average Wall Street forecast of $0.63 per share, due to high energy costs. It may be down today. Steady-as-a-rock McGraw-Hill (MHP 59.25) beat by a penny on a meager revenue increase of 1.9%. Drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY 24.36), which has been beset by accounting issues, posted first quarter earnings of $0.39 per share. That beat by a penny on a slim 1.1% revenue gain but was down from $0.45 per share last year. None of these reports will have broad market impact.
An upgrade of note: Dow 30 component McDonald's (MCD 16.93) was upgraded by Smith Barney Citigroup to in-line from underperform with a 12-month price target of $18. The stock has bounced off its low of 12.12 of early March.
The focus may soon shift from earnings reports to the economic data. On Friday, the April employment data are due. A modest decline in payrolls is expected by most economists. This release has the potential to move the market substantially - either way. For a detailed forecast, please see our
link
off the Economic Calendar. -- Dick Green, Briefing.com
Briefing.com is the leading Internet provider of live market analysis for U.S. Stock, U.S. Bond and world FX market participants. 1-800-752-3013 or http://www.briefing.com
Copyright (C) 2003 Briefing.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Sharp Launches SharpMotionART(TM) Extension for QUALCOMM's BREW(TM)
Platform Technology Enhances Graphics on BREW-Based Applications
MAHWAH, N.J., Apr 29, 2003 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Sharp Electronics Corporation today announced the launch of the SharpMotionART (SMART) extension, developed for QUALCOMM's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless(TM) (BREW) platform.
The SMART extension, coupled with a comprehensive authoring environment for the PC, enables BREW developers to streamline their application development efforts. SMART is ideal for creating more compelling user interfaces, latency screens, application menus, skins, screensavers and applications, requiring minimal software programming knowledge.
The SMART technology is a total network service solution that consists of an authoring tool, a playback engine and server software. The extension can be used to render figures and images within mobile handsets using vector graphics. Patented frame interpolation technology enables the SMART extension to playback an animation graphic with key frames only, creating additional frames on the handset according to device capabilities. This makes possible the viewing of graphical interactive content on the handset in ultra-compact file sizes, ideal for quick and efficient wireless transmission.
"Sharp is excited to work with QUALCOMM and the BREW solution to build on the success of Sharp's wireless strategy in Japan," said Bruce Goldstein, senior manager of the SharpMotionART development team, Sharp Electronics. "SharpMotionART is one of many cutting-edge technologies that we are pleased to offer as part of a broad global wireless strategy in both the hardware and software space. The BREW extension model is the perfect business and technical solution to allow Sharp to offer technology to developers around the world."
Sharp also announced that the SMART extension for the BREW client will provide developers with a server based solution to combine XML data with SMART vector graphic files to produce dynamic data services within the BREW environment. Sharp's discussions with wireless developers confirms that developers are actively seeking a mobile graphics solution that will help minimize application file size, reduce the need to optimize applications for each device and enable faster time-to-market.
"Sharp is pleased to be one of the first technology enablers to provide such a powerful extension for the BREW platform," said Goldstein. "SMART is designed to make wireless application development easier, and the user experience superior and more personalized."
Dr. Nimish Shrivastava, president and CTO of Embience, a Select(R) BREW Developer stated, "We are excited about the release of SharpMotionART and we are eager to promote it to our clients. We have been working with the tools in our labs and have several BREW applications that can use the enhancements SharpMotionART is able to provide."
"We look forward to growing our partnership with Sharp Electronics and offering the SMART extension to the BREW developer community," said Jan Lezny, senior director of developer and OEM relations, QUALCOMM Internet Services. "SMART is a valuable addition to the growing portfolio of BREW extensions and enables us to supply our developers with user-friendly tools to create fun and enticing applications for wireless subscribers."
The application is now available to developers via the QUALCOMM BREW Developer Extranet as a BREW extension for the BREW 1.0 and BREW 1.1 platform. QUALCOMM's BREW solution is a complete product and business system for the development and over-the-air deployment of data services on wireless devices. The BREW solution provides the necessary tools and value-added services to developers, device manufacturers and wireless operators for application development and distribution, device configuration, and billing and payment.
About Sharp Electronics Corporation
Sharp Electronics Corporation (www.sharpusa.com) is the Mahwah, N.J.-based marketing and sales subsidiary of Japan's Sharp Corporation. Sharp is a worldwide developer of the core technologies that are integral to shaping the next generation of home entertainment products, appliances and networked, multi-functional office solutions and mobile communication and information tools. Leading brands include AQUOS(TM) Liquid Crystal Televisions, 1-Bit audio products, the SharpVision(R) line of projection products, Zaurus(TM) Personal Mobile Tool, Viewcam(R) camcorders, Sharp Carousel microwaves, Imager(TM) digital multi-functional systems and the Notevision(R) line of multi-media projectors. Sharp Electronics Corporation employs approximately 2,000 people throughout the U.S. supporting more than 50 product lines.
Interested parties who would like more information on SharpMotionART can visit www.SharpMotionART.com.
QUALCOMM is a registered trademark of QUALCOMM Incorporated. BREW is a trademark of QUALCOMM Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE Sharp Electronics Corporation
CONTACT: David Fogelson, Sharp Electronics, +1-201-529-8680, david.fogelson@sharpusa.com; Deanna Davis, Stanton Crenshaw, +1-212-789-1900, ddavis@stantoncrenshaw.comURL: http://www.prnewswire.com http://www.sharpusa.com
Copyright (C) 2003 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
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KEYWORD: New Jersey JapanINDUSTRY KEYWORD: CPR CSE TLS STW NETSUBJECT CODE: PDT
Wall Street Journal: Nokia falls behind rollout of 3G mobile-phone
services
Apr 28, 2003, (Wall Street Journal /FT Information via COMTEX) -- Nokia Corp. has been slow in issuing equipment supporting commercial third-generation mobile-phone services compared to its rivals in the telecommunications industry. Nokia has yet to commercially launch a wideband code division multiple access handset in the global market and has sparsely distributed base stations used in WCDMA networks.
Abstracted from: The Wall St Journal (US Edition)
Copyright 2003: Financial Times Information. All rights reserved
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INDUSTRY KEYWORD: Broadcasting & Telecommunications Communications Equipment Mfg Computer & Electronic Product Mfg Information Radio TV Broadcast & Wireless Communications EquipmentMfg TelecommunicationsSUBJECT CODE: Company News Marketing New Products & Services
and just like that, we're over 22.25.eom
worth a repeat-IDCC mentioned in this:Ericsson takes additional actions to increase competitiveness in an
increasingly challenging market
Apr 29, 2003 (Hugin via COMTEX) -- First quarter summary - Net sales down 30% to SEK 25.9 b. - GSM/WCDMA track down 12% - Net income SEK -4.3 b. - Earnings per share SEK -0.27 - Cash flow before financing SEK 0.7 b. - maintaining good liquidity - WCDMA 12% of mobile networks sales - five Ericsson networks launched - Restructuring program well on plan - additional opportunities identified and in progress
First quarter Fourth quarter SEK b. 2003 2002 Change 2002 Change Orders booked, net 27.1 41.9 -35% 30.7 -12% Net sales 25.9 37.0 -30% 36.7 -30% Adjusted gross margin (%) 34.1% 31.7% - 32.6% - Adjusted operating income -3.4 -4.4 - -2.3 - Adjusted income after financial items -3.5 -5.2 - -2.1 - Net income -4.3 -3.0 - -8.3 - Earnings per share -0.27 -0.27 - -0.58 - Cash flow before financing activities 0.7 -4.1 - 1.6 - Opex run rate, annualized 47 68 -31% 51 -8% Number of employees 60,940 82,012 -26% 64,621 -6% Net sales in the first quarter were down 30% sequentially. Orders booked declined by 12%. Gross margin improved, despite falling volumes, as a result of lower component prices, better capacity utilization and other cost reductions. Operating expense reductions well on plan reaching a run rate of SEK 47 b. Cash flow before financing was positive with reductions in working capital. Liquidity was maintained with a payment readiness of SEK 66 b. CEO COMMENTS "I am positively surprised by the spirit and strong commitment among our employees given our challenging situation and ongoing restructuring. Despite the near-term uncertainties, the longer-term market opportunities are obvious and I am convinced that the convenience of mobility and the benefits of 3G will continue to attract new customers and increase usage," says Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson. "However, our ambition as the industry leader is to create a strong and profitable company, irrespective of market fluctuations. The macroeconomic environment has become more uncertain with weaker short-term demand, further actions are therefore needed. We are heading in the right direction but a lot more can be done to simplify our way of working and further reduce costs. My experience is that the more you work with process improvements the more opportunities you find." "A market leader should have market-leading profitability with clear cost advantages. We already have a leading market position, the most advanced technology and world class competence, but we have yet to achieve operational excellence." "We remain determined to return to profit during 2003 excluding additional charges for the further restructuring announced today. Although first quarter sales are likely to be the low point this year, I want us to be able to generate profit even if sales remain at current levels. We are therefore implementing further operating expense reductions of SEK 5 b. and additional cost of sales reductions of SEK 8 b. The additional SEK 11 b. restructuring charges have a relatively quick pay back and we have sufficient liquidity to carry us through." "The ongoing restructuring actions, including announced outsourcing projects, would have brought the headcount down to 54,000 during this year. With the additional actions, headcount will approach 47,000 next year," concludes Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson. Cost reductions and operational realignment Cost reduction activities reduced operating expense run rate to SEK 47 b. from SEK 68 b. in the first quarter last year and also contributed to an improvement of the gross margin to 34.1%. The earlier planned and announced restructuring charges for 2003 amounted to SEK 5.3 b. During the quarter, restructuring charges were SEK 3.2 b. of which SEK 0.6 b. is related to asset write-downs. The remaining charge of SEK 2.1 b. is expected in the second quarter. Cash outlays were SEK 2.8 b. The new cost reduction actions launched will further reduce cost of sales by approximately SEK 8 b. and the annual operating expenses by SEK 5 b. The actions will be fully implemented by the third quarter 2004. Costs for these new actions are estimated to be SEK 11 b. Cash outlays associated with these new actions are estimated to be approximately SEK 8 b. Restructuring charges for the full year in total, including new measures, are estimated to be SEK 16 b. Total cash outlays for restructuring, including SEK 7.5 b. for charges taken in 2002, are expected to be approximately SEK 15 b. in 2003 and SEK 5 b. in 2004. During the quarter headcount was reduced by 3,700, bringing the workforce to 61,000 by the end of March. Including all cost reduction actions, e.g. restructuring, outsourcing and divestments, the number of employees will be reduced to approximately 52,000 by the end of the year. The new actions are expected to result in a headcount approaching 47,000 during 2004. CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS FINANCIAL REVIEW As explained under "Accounting principles," a consequence of adopting new Swedish reporting rules is that the presentation of certain items in the income statement will change. Minority interests before tax and income before tax will no longer be reported. Minority interests are now reported net of taxes. Net income and earnings per share will not be affected. The presentation of the balance sheet will not change, but reported amounts of certain items will be affected. Please see restated financial statements for last year on pages 16 and 17. Income Orders booked were SEK 27.1 b. after deduction of cancellations of SEK 0.7 b. This is a 35% decline year-over-year, of which ten percentage points are due to negative currency exchange rate effects. Compared to the fourth quarter, orders booked declined 12%. The book-to-bill ratio was greater than one. Sales were SEK 25.9 b., representing a decline of 30% on a sequential basis, in line with normal seasonality. The year-over-year decline was also 30%, of which seven percentage points are attributable to negative currency exchange rate effects. Adjusted for such currency effects, North America was up slightly while several other large markets were weak, including China, Japan, UK and Italy. The gross margin adjusted for restructuring improved year-over-year from 31.7% to 34.1%. Gross margin improved, despite falling volumes, as a result of lower component prices, better capacity utilization and other cost reductions. Adjusted operating expenses in the quarter were SEK 11.4 b., a reduction of 32% year-over-year. The net effect of capitalization of development costs was reduced from SEK 1.0 b. in the first quarter of last year to SEK 0.6 b. This was a result of both lowered development expenses and the stage of individual development projects. During the quarter, a patent infringement dispute with InterDigital Communications Corporation (IDC) was settled. In accordance with this settlement, Ericsson and Sony Ericsson will pay approximately USD 34 m. in royalties to IDC for past sales. For the years 2003 through 2006, Ericsson will pay an annual fee of USD 6 m. for sales of infrastructure equipment. Sony Ericsson will pay a royalty for each licensed product sold 2003 through 2006. Existing provisions for risks related to patent litigations are sufficient to cover royalties related to past sales. Adjusted operating income, excluding items affecting comparability, was SEK -3.4 b. This is a SEK 1 b. improvement compared to last year, despite the substantially lower sales. Net effects of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on operating income compared to the rates one year ago were insignificant. Financial net was SEK -0.1 b. compared to SEK -0.8 b. last year, due to the substantial cash position. Net income was SEK -4.3 b. (-3.0 b.). The estimated taxes resulted in an average tax rate of 30%. Earnings per share, diluted, were SEK -0.27 (-0.27). Balance sheet and financing In the quarter, total assets declined by SEK 4.1 b., attributable mainly to trade receivables. There were no material changes in cash or debt, with a continued net cash position of almost SEK 6 b. The equity ratio declined from 36.4% at year-end to 34.9%. Days sales outstanding (DSO) for trade receivables improved by five days compared with the first quarter last year to 109. DSO increased by 17 days compared to the previous quarter due to lower sales and seasonally slower payments by customers. Inventory turnover was 4.9 turns, up from 4.1 a year ago. During the quarter, gross risk exposure for customer financing was reduced from SEK 21.8 b. to SEK 20.1 b. Risk provisions were increased by SEK 0.1 b. to 38% of gross exposure (see page 23 for further details). Unutilized credit commitments decreased by SEK 1.5 b. to SEK 12.5 b. In February 2003, Moody's lowered their long-term credit rating of Ericsson by two notches to B1. This will result in increased interest expenses of SEK 110 m. associated with certain borrowings with rating triggers. Cash flow Cash flow before financing activities was positive by SEK 0.7 b. A cash payment of SEK 1.4 b. related to the investment in Sony Ericsson was offset by a release of cash collateral for pensions of SEK 1.5 b. Reduced trade receivables and limited capital expenditures more than compensated for seasonality effects in inventory and payables. Payment readiness remained high at SEK 66 b. SEGMENT RESULTS As a consequence of a newly adopted segment reporting recommendation, explained under "Accounting principles," and in order to increase transparency only commercial operations are now included in the segment Other Operations. Internal service units are therefore now reported under Systems, since most of their services are provided to Systems. This will reduce orders and sales in Other Operations and also reduce eliminations from inter-segment sales. Employees in those units are reported under Systems. Restated segment information can be found on pages 19 and 20. SYSTEMS Orders and sales for Network Equipment and Professional Services are now reported separately. As before, Network Equipment, including Network Rollout services will be subdivided into Mobile Networks and Fixed Networks. First quarter Fourth quarter SEK b. 2003 2002 Change 2002 Change Orders booked 25.0 37.7 -34% 28.5 -12% Mobile networks 17.5 29.3 -40% 20.9 -16% Fixed networks 2.0 2.7 -26% 1.9 4% Professional Services 5.5 5.7 -2% 5.7 -3% Net sales 24.0 33.3 -28% 33.2 -28% Mobile networks 17.6 25.6 -31% 24.7 -28% Fixed networks 1.9 3.3 -42% 3.0 -38% Professional Services 4.4 4.5 -1% 5.5 -20% Adjusted operating income -2.1 -2.8 - -0.3 - Adjusted operating margin (%) -9% -8% - -1% - The decline in orders booked year-over-year for Systems is mainly attributable to lower network equipment demand as operators continue to limit capital expenditures. The 34% decline includes ten percentage points due to negative effects of currency exchange rate changes and seven percentage points due to lower equipment orders for TDMA/PDC. Orders for the GSM/WCDMA track declined 28%. However, Professional Services were up adjusting for foreign currency effects. Orders in Western Europe and Brazil were flat year-over-year while orders were down in all other regions. Orders for GSM/WCDMA were down 10% sequentially while other mobile equipment, including CDMA, were down even more. Orders for Professional Services were down 3% sequentially, mainly due to seasonal effects. Orders in Latin America improved sequentially, mainly due to orders for GSM and EDGE equipment in Brazil. Demand in the US and China was weak with most other areas of Asia holding up relatively well. The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region was generally weak with the exception of the UK and Spain. Of the 28% year-over-year decline in Systems sales, seven percentage points were related to negative currency exchange rate effects. Sales of the GSM/WCDMA track declined 12%, less than the mobile systems market overall. TDMA/PDC declined almost 90%. Sales of TDMA/PDC now represent less than 5% of Systems sales. Sales of WCDMA equipment and associated network rollout services represented 12% of mobile network sales. Although system sales were almost SEK 10 b. lower than in the first quarter last year, the losses were reduced by SEK 0.7 b. to an adjusted operating income of SEK -2.1 b. Excluding risk provisions for customer financing of SEK 0.1 b. (0.6 b.) the result was SEK -2.0 b. (-2.2 b). The sequential decline before customer financing provisions was SEK 2.4 b. mainly due to the SEK 9.2 b. lower sales. OTHER OPERATIONS Internal sales by pure support functions, such as internal IT- and facilities services, are now excluded from Other Operations and have also reduced inter-segment sales. Corresponding headcount is reported in Systems, as almost all of the services are now provided to Systems. Other Operations now include the following commercial businesses: Defense Systems, Network Technology, Enterprise Systems, Mobile Platforms and Bluetooth. First quarter Fourth quarter SEK b. 2003 2002 Change 2002 Change Orders booked 2.6 4.9 -47% 2.6 1% Orders booked less divestitures 2.6 3.8 -31% 2.5 5% Net sales 2.4 4.3 -45% 3.9 -39% Net sales less divestitures 2.4 2.9 -17% 3.8 -38% Adjusted operating income -0.5 -1.3 - -1.2 - Adjusted operating income less divestitures -0.5 -0.7 - -1.2 - Adjusted operating margin (%) -21% -31% - -32% - Adjusted operating margin less divestitures (%) -21% -24% - -31% - Adjusted for the divestment of parts of Microelectronics and the transfer of phone operations in China to SEMC, orders booked increased 5% sequentially while sales were 38% lower. Sales declined largely in Defense Systems and Mobile Platforms. Adjusted operating income improved sequentially, however, mainly due to a better result in Enterprise Systems and unabsorbed costs in support units in the fourth quarter. The year-over-year improvement reflects a favorable development in Enterprise Systems and divestment of parts of Microelectronics. During the quarter, the opto-electronics operations were divested to Northlight Optronics. This is in line with the focus on core business. In total 48 employees were transferred through the purchase. PHONES During the quarter, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (SEMC) shipped 5.4 million units, which is a 7% decline compared with the first quarter 2002. Sales declined 35% sequentially and 28% year-over-year due to lower volumes and price pressure. However, with the planned phase out of TDMA products, shipments of TDMA dropped more than 90% compared to the first quarter last year. At the same time, GSM unit shipments increased 30% with the introduction of new models. The planned product mix shift along with increased price pressure has led to a lower average selling price. Although SEMC reported a loss for the quarter, volumes and sales are expected to increase during the second quarter with the introduction of new models in the Japanese and GSM/GPRS markets. SEMC's ambition is to be profitable for the full year. Ericsson's 50% share of income before taxes in the quarter was SEK -0.5 b. and is included in "Earnings from Joint Ventures and Associated Companies." RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (SEMC) SEK m. First quarter 2003 First quarter 2002 Sales to SEMC 576 1,201 Royalty from SEMC 56 87 Purchases from SEMC 265 605 Increased equity investment 1,384 Receivables from SEMC 541 730 Liabilities to SEMC 115 1,422 MARKET VIEW The number of mobile subscribers continues to grow on pace to exceed 1.5 b. subscribers within three years. We expect between 165 and 180 million net additions this year with approximately 44 million during the first quarter. An estimated 98 million mobile phones were sold during the first quarter and we maintain our view that unit volume will increase 10% with over 430 million units expected to be shipped this year. The effects of the weakening macroeconomic environment on mobile operator investment plans for network infrastructure are unclear. Continued weak systems demand is the likely implication for the near term, as mobile operators continue to reduce capital expenditures. Last quarter, we indicated that we thought the mobile systems market, measured in USD, could be down as much as 10% this year. The uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment has increased, and several operators are reducing their capital expenditures. This implies that the market for mobile systems could decline by more than 10% this year. Operators are also focusing on operational cost reductions, which stimulates the market for outsourcing of network related activities. This is a trend we believe will continue and underpins our expectations that the available market for professional services in USD will continue to grow by about 10% a year. OUTLOOK We expect to maintain our shares of the mobile systems and professional services markets this year. However, our total sales reported in SEK will decline more than the total market, mainly due to foreign exchange effects. Divestments and closure of certain businesses as part of our restructuring activities also continue to affect our sales. Previously we indicated that we planned to return to profit at some time during 2003. This plan did not include additional restructuring measures. Excluding the additional charges for restructuring announced today we remain determined to return to profit during 2003. We are increasingly confident in our cost reduction activities. For the second quarter, we believe sales will be up slightly on a sequential basis. Parent Company information The Parent Company business consists mainly of corporate management and holding company functions. It also includes activities performed on a commission basis by Ericsson Treasury Services AB and Ericsson Credit AB regarding internal banking and customer credit management. The Parent Company has branch and representative offices in 16 (15) countries. Net sales for the first quarter amounted to SEK 0.5 b. (0.3 b.) and income after financial items was SEK 1.1 b. (0.3 b.) Major changes in the company's financial position were: - Increased current and long-term commercial and financial receivables from subsidiaries of SEK 21.5 b. - Increased cash and short-term cash investments of SEK 2.6 b. The increases were primarily financed through increased internal borrowings of SEK 22.0 b. and increased other current liabilities of SEK 2.4 b. At the end of the quarter, cash and short-term cash investments amounted to SEK 61.9 b. (59.3 b.). In accordance with the conditions of the Stock Purchase Plan for Ericsson employees, 1,603,813 shares from treasury stock were distributed during the first quarter to employees who left Ericsson. An additional 191,100 shares were sold in the first quarter, to cover social security payments related to the Stock Purchase Plan. The holding of treasury stock at March 31, 2003 was 152,565,365 Class B shares. The Annual General Meeting decided, in accordance with the proposal from the Board of Directors, that no dividend will be paid for 2002. The Annual General Meeting approved a new employee stock purchase plan of 158 million new shares. The Annual General Meeting also approved a temporary increase in the fee to the Chairman of the Board of SEK 5.5 m. for each of the years 2002 and 2003. On April 8, Carl-Henric Svanberg succeeded Kurt Hellstrom as President and CEO of Ericsson. The new President and CEO will receive an annual compensation consisting of a base salary of SEK 12 m. and a variable salary of up to 80% of the base salary. The pension benefit is premium based with an annual premium of 35% of the total of the base salary plus 50% of the variable salary. The President and CEO has the right to retire at the age of 60 years. Severance pay amounts to two years' salary. Additional benefits are not material. Accounting principles See page 18. Stockholm, April 29, 2003 Carl-Henric Svanberg President and CEO Date for next report: July 18, 2003 Auditors' Report We have reviewed the first quarter report as of March 31, 2003, for Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ). We conducted our review in accordance with the recommendation issued by FAR. A review is limited primarily to enquiries of company personnel and analytical procedures applied to financial data and thus provide less assurance than an audit. We have not performed an audit and, accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion. Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the First quarter report does not comply with the requirements for interim reports in the Annual Accounts Act. Stockholm, April 29, 2003 Carl-Eric Bohlin Bo Hjalmarsson Thomas Thiel Authorized Public Authorized Public Authorized Accountant Accountant Public Accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers AB PricewaterhouseCoopers AB Safe Harbor Statement of Ericsson under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995; All statements made or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management's beliefs and certain assumptions made by us. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "predicts", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", "may", "will", "should", "would", "potential", "continue", and variations or negatives of these words, and include, among others, statements regarding: (i) strategies, outlook and growth prospects; (ii) positioning to deliver future plans and to realize potential for future growth; (iii) liquidity and capital resources and expenditure, and our credit ratings; (iv) growth in demand for our products and services; (v) our joint venture activities; (vi) economic outlook and industry trends; (vii) developments of our markets; (viii) the impact of regulatory initiatives; (ix) research and development expenditures; (x) the strength of our competitors; (xi) future cost savings; and (xii) plans to launch new products and services. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and are based upon the information available to us at this time. Such information is subject to change, and we will not necessarily inform you of such changes. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Important factors that may cause such a difference for Ericsson include, but are not limited to: (i) material adverse changes in the markets in which we operate or in global economic conditions; (ii) increased product and price competition; (iii) further reductions in capital expenditure by network operators; (iv) the cost of technological innovation and increased expenditure to improve quality of service; (v) significant changes in market share for our principal products and services; (vi) foreign exchange rate fluctuations; and (vii) the successful implementation of our business and operational initiatives. A glossary of all technical terms is available at: http://www.ericsson.com/about and in the Annual Report. To read the full report, please go to: www.ericsson.com/investors/3month03-en.pdf FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Financial Statements Page +--------------------------------------------------------+ / Consolidated income statement / 12 / /---------------------------------------------------+----/ / Consolidated balance sheet / 13 / /---------------------------------------------------+----/ / Consolidated statement of cash flows / 14 / /---------------------------------------------------+----/ / Consolidated stockholders' equity / 15 / /---------------------------------------------------+----/ / Consolidated income statement for / / / 2002 restated for change in accounting principles / 16 / /---------------------------------------------------+----/ / Consolidated balance sheet for 2002 restated / / / for comparability / 17 / +--------------------------------------------------------+ Additional Information Page +---------------------------------------------------+ / Changed accounting policies and reporting / 18 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Orders booked by segment by quarter / 19 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Net sales by segment by quarter / 19 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Adjusted operating income, operating margin / / / and employees by segment by quarter / 20 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Orders booked by market area by quarter / 21 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Net sales by market area by quarter / 21 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / External orders booked by market area by / / / segment / 22 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / External net sales by market area by segment / 22 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Top ten markets in orders and sales / 23 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Customer financing risk exposure / 23 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Other information / 24 / +---------------------------------------------------+ The full report including tables can be downloaded from the enclosed link.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT Henry Stenson, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications Phone: +46 8 719 4044; E-mail: henry.stenson@lme.ericsson.se Investors Gary Pinkham, Vice President, Investor Relations Phone: +46 8 719 0000; E-mail: investor.relations@ericsson.com Lotta Lundin, Investor Relations Phone: +46 8 719 0000; E-mail: lotta.lundin@clo.ericsson.se Glenn Sapadin, Investor Relations Phone: +1 212 843 8435; E-mail: investor.relations@ericsson.com Lars Jacobsson, Vice President, Financial Reporting and Analysis Phone: +46 8 719 9489, +46 70 519 9489; E-mail: lars.jacobsson@lme.ericsson.se Media Pia Gideon, Vice President, External Relations Phone: +46 8 719 2864, +46 70 519 8903; E-mail: pia.gideon@lme.ericsson.se Ase Lindskog, Director, Media Relations Phone: +46 8 719 9725, +46 730 244 872; E-mail: ase.lindskog@lme.ericsson.se Ola Rembe, Director, Media Relations Phone: +46 8 719 9727, +46 730 244 873; E-mail: ola.rembe@lme.ericsson.se
Copyright (c) 2003, HUGIN AS. All rights reserved.
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KEYWORD: SwedenSUBJECT CODE: Finance
Goblue, This board will bitch and moan forever...watch when we hit 30...50....etc..
2003 Sprint Business User Forum to Kick Off Three Days of Education
Focusing On the Future of the Wireless Industry and Mobile Computing Conference
Offers Business Customers an Opportunity to Learn from Wireless Industry
Experts, Analysts and Peers
OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Apr 29, 2003 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Sprint (NYSE: FON, PCS), which operates the largest Third Generation (3G) voice and data wireless network in the United States, today announced that, in conjunction with Lucent Technologies, QUALCOMM and Microsoft, it will present the 2003 Sprint Business User Forum in Dallas, Texas, on June 1-3, 2003 at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel. The second annual educational technology conference offers business customers a unique opportunity to learn more about leading wireless applications and network with analysts, industry leaders and peers to share ideas, benchmark initiatives and discover how to maximize their return on wireless investments. Registration for this one-of-a-kind event is free, quick and easy at www.sprint.com/userforum/registration .
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001013/SPRINTLOGO )
Tailored workshops will focus on multiple topics including wireless security, integrated wireless and wireline solutions, wireless email, return on investment, emerging voice services, wireless account management tools and previews of innovative devices for today and the future. Sprint customers will be on hand to present first-hand experiences and key learnings derived from implementing their own wireless data solutions.
Dr. Stephen R. Covey, co-founder and vice chairman of Franklin Covey Company, will serve as a keynote presenter to discuss principles for maximizing potential in personal and professional settings. Opening and breakout sessions will be hosted by Gary Forsee, CEO of Sprint; Len Lauer, president for the PCS Division of Sprint; Phil Bowman, vice president of business marketing for the PCS Division of Sprint; and Rich Cremona, president of business sales for the PCS Division of Sprint.
"More than ever, companies are looking for ways to wirelessly empower their employees to increase productivity, reduce costs, enhance customer satisfaction and gain an advantage over competitors," said Phil Bowman, vice president of business marketing for the PCS Division of Sprint. "The Sprint Business User Forum is designed to give our business customers ample opportunity to learn about emerging wireless opportunities from Sprint, explore proven wireless strategies and tools, and help them make more informed, effective decisions on how to put the technological advancements of the enhanced Sprint Nationwide PCS Network to work for them."
In addition to value-packed information sessions, attendees can look forward to an exclusive dinner and special performance by Neil Goldberg's Cirque and appearances by Olympic champions Jimmy Shea and Jonny Moseley.
For more information or to register for the Sprint Business User Forum, visit www.sprint.com/userforum/registration .
About Sprint
Sprint is a global communications company serving more than 26 million business and residential customers in over 70 countries. With approximately 72,000 employees worldwide and nearly $27 billion in annual revenues, Sprint is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying state-of-the-art network technologies, including the United States' first nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network and an award-winning Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint provides local voice and data services in 18 states and operates the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide PCS wireless network in the United States.
SOURCE Sprint
CONTACT: Amy Schiska, +1-913-762-7027, aschis01@sprintspectrum.com , or Suzanne Lammers, +1-913-762-7039, slamme01@sprintspectrum.com , both of Sprint /Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001013/SPRINTLOGO AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org PRN Photo Desk, +1-888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840URL: http://www.sprint.com/userforum/registration http://www.prnewswire.com
Copyright (C) 2003 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
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KEYWORD: KansasINDUSTRY KEYWORD: TLS CPR EDUSUBJECT CODE: PDT TDS
18,000 @ 21.95 just went by.
sjratty, I finally agree with you.good post.
Ericsson reports loss and additional job cuts in Q1
Apr 29, 2003 (NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT via COMTEX) -- Swedish telecomms solutions provider Ericsson reported today (29 April) an adjusted operating loss of SEK3.4bn on net sales of SEK25.9bn for the financial period January-March 2003.
The adjusted operating loss improved from the loss of SEK4.4bn while net sales decreased 30% from SEK37bn, as compared to corresponding period in 2002.
Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO of Ericsson, said that the company was determined to return to profit during the full-year 2003, and would implement further operating expense reductions of SEK5bn and additional cost of sales reductions of SEK8bn.
The company would reduce the number of its employees from the current 61,000 to some 52,000 at the end of 2003 while the new planned actions would reduce the number of employees to some 47,000 during 2004, according to the CEO.
Ericsson said that its joint company Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (SEMC) shipped 5.4m mobile phones during the first quarter 2003, a decline of 7% as compared with the first quarter 2002. The shipments of TDMA products dropped more than 90% as compared to the first quarter last year, while GSM unit shipments increased 30% with the introduction of new models.
Ericsson expected the number of mobile subscribers to exceed 1.5bn within three years. The company expected between 165m and 180m net additions this year with some 44m during the first quarter.
An estimated 98m mobile phones were sold during the first quarter, the company said, and Ericsson maintained its view that unit volume would increase 10% with over 430m units expected to be shipped this year.
Ericsson expected its sales to increase during the second quarter of 2003, and said that the company would maintain its market share of the mobile systems and professional services markets in 2003.
One Swedish krona (SEK) is worth approximately 0.08 British pounds (GBP).
(C)1998-2003 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com
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Ericsson Builds 3G Platform
BEIJING, Apr 29, 2003 (SinoCast via COMTEX) -- Ericsson has completed tests on voice and data calling of 2.1GHz CDMA2000 networks based on CDMA20001XEV-DV infrastructure networks. Ericsson now has built a 3G platform for three stages of CDMA2000 networks including CDMA20001X, CDMA20001XEV-DO and CDMA20001XEV-DV. Now, everything is prepared for mass commercialization of 3G networks.
Ericsson says it has got ready to meet demand of telecom carriers whichever 3G standard telecom carriers choose.
Excepting R&D centers in America and Europe, Ericsson also opened 2.1GHz CDMA2000 research center in Beijing. Its joint venture Nanjing Ericsson Panda Communications Co., Ltd. has been providing solutions and products of 2.1GHz CDMA2000.
From Source: Beijing Youth Daily page 20, Monday, April 28, 2003 info@SinoCast.Com
Copyright (C) 2003 SinoCast, All rights reserved
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KEYWORD: BEIJINGINDUSTRY KEYWORD: Joint Venture International ExchangeSUBJECT CODE: Computers, Telecom and Information Technology
Korea Adopts Java for Wireless Standard
Apr 29, 2003 (Internet.com via COMTEX) -- Sun Microsystems Monday said it has scored a wireless coup in Korea as the country has adopted its Java platform for a new wireless Internet standard.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based network computer maker said it has signed an agreement in Seoul on April 14 with Korean Wireless Internet Standardization Forum (KWISF) to jointly develop and commercialize the next version of the country's Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability (WIPI).
KWISF is a consortium of Korean network operators SK Telecom, KTF, and LG TeleCom. WIPI was developed as Korea's wireless Internet standard for mobile handsets to open up the national mobile Internet network and harmonize the development efforts of Korean telecommunications companies. The country also supports next-generation CDMA and GSM cellular technologies like 1x EV-DO and W-CDMA.
As part of the agreement, WIPI will adopt Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME Platform) as its official Java specification. J2ME is the Java platform for consumer and embedded devices such as wireless handsets, PDAs, TV set-top boxes, in-vehicle telematics systems, and a broad range of embedded devices.
Sun estimates Korean operators will likely deploy the new standard beginning in March 2004.
"Korea is one of the most advanced cell phone markets in the world. The decision to make Java technology an integral part of Korea's wireless standard underscores the significant value early adopters place on this technology," said Sun Director of Engineering Alan Brenner.
The collaboration of JCP and WIPI specifications is expected to facilitate next-generation wireless technologies based on interoperable, standards-based platforms. However, the deal may just create some friction at first considering KTF uses QUALCOMM's BREW technology, a competing standard to Java and SK Telecom and KTF offer 1x EV-DO services while LG Telecom holds only a cdma2000 license and currently offers 1xRTT service. Fortunately, QUALCOMM has been working with Sun of late to blend functions between BREW and Java.
"Through the Java Community Process, we plan to work together with members of KWISF to develop new features and functions for mobile handsets in line with WIPI. This will support application developers in Korea and help them to bring new handset experiences to local wireless subscribers," Brenner said.
A WIPI commercialization event is scheduled to take place in Korea on April 29 to announce the availability of the WIPI standard.
By Michael Singer
URL: http://www.internet.com
Copyright 2003 INT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.Republication and redistribution of INT Media Group content isExpressly prohibited without the prior written consent of INT MediaGroup, Inc.. INT Media Group, Inc., shall not be liable for any errorsor delays in the Content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
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SUBJECT CODE: BREW CDMA Community
IDCC mentioned in this:Ericsson takes additional actions to increase competitiveness in an
increasingly challenging market
Apr 29, 2003 (Hugin via COMTEX) -- First quarter summary - Net sales down 30% to SEK 25.9 b. - GSM/WCDMA track down 12% - Net income SEK -4.3 b. - Earnings per share SEK -0.27 - Cash flow before financing SEK 0.7 b. - maintaining good liquidity - WCDMA 12% of mobile networks sales - five Ericsson networks launched - Restructuring program well on plan - additional opportunities identified and in progress
First quarter Fourth quarter SEK b. 2003 2002 Change 2002 Change Orders booked, net 27.1 41.9 -35% 30.7 -12% Net sales 25.9 37.0 -30% 36.7 -30% Adjusted gross margin (%) 34.1% 31.7% - 32.6% - Adjusted operating income -3.4 -4.4 - -2.3 - Adjusted income after financial items -3.5 -5.2 - -2.1 - Net income -4.3 -3.0 - -8.3 - Earnings per share -0.27 -0.27 - -0.58 - Cash flow before financing activities 0.7 -4.1 - 1.6 - Opex run rate, annualized 47 68 -31% 51 -8% Number of employees 60,940 82,012 -26% 64,621 -6% Net sales in the first quarter were down 30% sequentially. Orders booked declined by 12%. Gross margin improved, despite falling volumes, as a result of lower component prices, better capacity utilization and other cost reductions. Operating expense reductions well on plan reaching a run rate of SEK 47 b. Cash flow before financing was positive with reductions in working capital. Liquidity was maintained with a payment readiness of SEK 66 b. CEO COMMENTS "I am positively surprised by the spirit and strong commitment among our employees given our challenging situation and ongoing restructuring. Despite the near-term uncertainties, the longer-term market opportunities are obvious and I am convinced that the convenience of mobility and the benefits of 3G will continue to attract new customers and increase usage," says Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson. "However, our ambition as the industry leader is to create a strong and profitable company, irrespective of market fluctuations. The macroeconomic environment has become more uncertain with weaker short-term demand, further actions are therefore needed. We are heading in the right direction but a lot more can be done to simplify our way of working and further reduce costs. My experience is that the more you work with process improvements the more opportunities you find." "A market leader should have market-leading profitability with clear cost advantages. We already have a leading market position, the most advanced technology and world class competence, but we have yet to achieve operational excellence." "We remain determined to return to profit during 2003 excluding additional charges for the further restructuring announced today. Although first quarter sales are likely to be the low point this year, I want us to be able to generate profit even if sales remain at current levels. We are therefore implementing further operating expense reductions of SEK 5 b. and additional cost of sales reductions of SEK 8 b. The additional SEK 11 b. restructuring charges have a relatively quick pay back and we have sufficient liquidity to carry us through." "The ongoing restructuring actions, including announced outsourcing projects, would have brought the headcount down to 54,000 during this year. With the additional actions, headcount will approach 47,000 next year," concludes Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson. Cost reductions and operational realignment Cost reduction activities reduced operating expense run rate to SEK 47 b. from SEK 68 b. in the first quarter last year and also contributed to an improvement of the gross margin to 34.1%. The earlier planned and announced restructuring charges for 2003 amounted to SEK 5.3 b. During the quarter, restructuring charges were SEK 3.2 b. of which SEK 0.6 b. is related to asset write-downs. The remaining charge of SEK 2.1 b. is expected in the second quarter. Cash outlays were SEK 2.8 b. The new cost reduction actions launched will further reduce cost of sales by approximately SEK 8 b. and the annual operating expenses by SEK 5 b. The actions will be fully implemented by the third quarter 2004. Costs for these new actions are estimated to be SEK 11 b. Cash outlays associated with these new actions are estimated to be approximately SEK 8 b. Restructuring charges for the full year in total, including new measures, are estimated to be SEK 16 b. Total cash outlays for restructuring, including SEK 7.5 b. for charges taken in 2002, are expected to be approximately SEK 15 b. in 2003 and SEK 5 b. in 2004. During the quarter headcount was reduced by 3,700, bringing the workforce to 61,000 by the end of March. Including all cost reduction actions, e.g. restructuring, outsourcing and divestments, the number of employees will be reduced to approximately 52,000 by the end of the year. The new actions are expected to result in a headcount approaching 47,000 during 2004. CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS FINANCIAL REVIEW As explained under "Accounting principles," a consequence of adopting new Swedish reporting rules is that the presentation of certain items in the income statement will change. Minority interests before tax and income before tax will no longer be reported. Minority interests are now reported net of taxes. Net income and earnings per share will not be affected. The presentation of the balance sheet will not change, but reported amounts of certain items will be affected. Please see restated financial statements for last year on pages 16 and 17. Income Orders booked were SEK 27.1 b. after deduction of cancellations of SEK 0.7 b. This is a 35% decline year-over-year, of which ten percentage points are due to negative currency exchange rate effects. Compared to the fourth quarter, orders booked declined 12%. The book-to-bill ratio was greater than one. Sales were SEK 25.9 b., representing a decline of 30% on a sequential basis, in line with normal seasonality. The year-over-year decline was also 30%, of which seven percentage points are attributable to negative currency exchange rate effects. Adjusted for such currency effects, North America was up slightly while several other large markets were weak, including China, Japan, UK and Italy. The gross margin adjusted for restructuring improved year-over-year from 31.7% to 34.1%. Gross margin improved, despite falling volumes, as a result of lower component prices, better capacity utilization and other cost reductions. Adjusted operating expenses in the quarter were SEK 11.4 b., a reduction of 32% year-over-year. The net effect of capitalization of development costs was reduced from SEK 1.0 b. in the first quarter of last year to SEK 0.6 b. This was a result of both lowered development expenses and the stage of individual development projects. During the quarter, a patent infringement dispute with InterDigital Communications Corporation (IDC) was settled. In accordance with this settlement, Ericsson and Sony Ericsson will pay approximately USD 34 m. in royalties to IDC for past sales. For the years 2003 through 2006, Ericsson will pay an annual fee of USD 6 m. for sales of infrastructure equipment. Sony Ericsson will pay a royalty for each licensed product sold 2003 through 2006. Existing provisions for risks related to patent litigations are sufficient to cover royalties related to past sales. Adjusted operating income, excluding items affecting comparability, was SEK -3.4 b. This is a SEK 1 b. improvement compared to last year, despite the substantially lower sales. Net effects of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on operating income compared to the rates one year ago were insignificant. Financial net was SEK -0.1 b. compared to SEK -0.8 b. last year, due to the substantial cash position. Net income was SEK -4.3 b. (-3.0 b.). The estimated taxes resulted in an average tax rate of 30%. Earnings per share, diluted, were SEK -0.27 (-0.27). Balance sheet and financing In the quarter, total assets declined by SEK 4.1 b., attributable mainly to trade receivables. There were no material changes in cash or debt, with a continued net cash position of almost SEK 6 b. The equity ratio declined from 36.4% at year-end to 34.9%. Days sales outstanding (DSO) for trade receivables improved by five days compared with the first quarter last year to 109. DSO increased by 17 days compared to the previous quarter due to lower sales and seasonally slower payments by customers. Inventory turnover was 4.9 turns, up from 4.1 a year ago. During the quarter, gross risk exposure for customer financing was reduced from SEK 21.8 b. to SEK 20.1 b. Risk provisions were increased by SEK 0.1 b. to 38% of gross exposure (see page 23 for further details). Unutilized credit commitments decreased by SEK 1.5 b. to SEK 12.5 b. In February 2003, Moody's lowered their long-term credit rating of Ericsson by two notches to B1. This will result in increased interest expenses of SEK 110 m. associated with certain borrowings with rating triggers. Cash flow Cash flow before financing activities was positive by SEK 0.7 b. A cash payment of SEK 1.4 b. related to the investment in Sony Ericsson was offset by a release of cash collateral for pensions of SEK 1.5 b. Reduced trade receivables and limited capital expenditures more than compensated for seasonality effects in inventory and payables. Payment readiness remained high at SEK 66 b. SEGMENT RESULTS As a consequence of a newly adopted segment reporting recommendation, explained under "Accounting principles," and in order to increase transparency only commercial operations are now included in the segment Other Operations. Internal service units are therefore now reported under Systems, since most of their services are provided to Systems. This will reduce orders and sales in Other Operations and also reduce eliminations from inter-segment sales. Employees in those units are reported under Systems. Restated segment information can be found on pages 19 and 20. SYSTEMS Orders and sales for Network Equipment and Professional Services are now reported separately. As before, Network Equipment, including Network Rollout services will be subdivided into Mobile Networks and Fixed Networks. First quarter Fourth quarter SEK b. 2003 2002 Change 2002 Change Orders booked 25.0 37.7 -34% 28.5 -12% Mobile networks 17.5 29.3 -40% 20.9 -16% Fixed networks 2.0 2.7 -26% 1.9 4% Professional Services 5.5 5.7 -2% 5.7 -3% Net sales 24.0 33.3 -28% 33.2 -28% Mobile networks 17.6 25.6 -31% 24.7 -28% Fixed networks 1.9 3.3 -42% 3.0 -38% Professional Services 4.4 4.5 -1% 5.5 -20% Adjusted operating income -2.1 -2.8 - -0.3 - Adjusted operating margin (%) -9% -8% - -1% - The decline in orders booked year-over-year for Systems is mainly attributable to lower network equipment demand as operators continue to limit capital expenditures. The 34% decline includes ten percentage points due to negative effects of currency exchange rate changes and seven percentage points due to lower equipment orders for TDMA/PDC. Orders for the GSM/WCDMA track declined 28%. However, Professional Services were up adjusting for foreign currency effects. Orders in Western Europe and Brazil were flat year-over-year while orders were down in all other regions. Orders for GSM/WCDMA were down 10% sequentially while other mobile equipment, including CDMA, were down even more. Orders for Professional Services were down 3% sequentially, mainly due to seasonal effects. Orders in Latin America improved sequentially, mainly due to orders for GSM and EDGE equipment in Brazil. Demand in the US and China was weak with most other areas of Asia holding up relatively well. The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region was generally weak with the exception of the UK and Spain. Of the 28% year-over-year decline in Systems sales, seven percentage points were related to negative currency exchange rate effects. Sales of the GSM/WCDMA track declined 12%, less than the mobile systems market overall. TDMA/PDC declined almost 90%. Sales of TDMA/PDC now represent less than 5% of Systems sales. Sales of WCDMA equipment and associated network rollout services represented 12% of mobile network sales. Although system sales were almost SEK 10 b. lower than in the first quarter last year, the losses were reduced by SEK 0.7 b. to an adjusted operating income of SEK -2.1 b. Excluding risk provisions for customer financing of SEK 0.1 b. (0.6 b.) the result was SEK -2.0 b. (-2.2 b). The sequential decline before customer financing provisions was SEK 2.4 b. mainly due to the SEK 9.2 b. lower sales. OTHER OPERATIONS Internal sales by pure support functions, such as internal IT- and facilities services, are now excluded from Other Operations and have also reduced inter-segment sales. Corresponding headcount is reported in Systems, as almost all of the services are now provided to Systems. Other Operations now include the following commercial businesses: Defense Systems, Network Technology, Enterprise Systems, Mobile Platforms and Bluetooth. First quarter Fourth quarter SEK b. 2003 2002 Change 2002 Change Orders booked 2.6 4.9 -47% 2.6 1% Orders booked less divestitures 2.6 3.8 -31% 2.5 5% Net sales 2.4 4.3 -45% 3.9 -39% Net sales less divestitures 2.4 2.9 -17% 3.8 -38% Adjusted operating income -0.5 -1.3 - -1.2 - Adjusted operating income less divestitures -0.5 -0.7 - -1.2 - Adjusted operating margin (%) -21% -31% - -32% - Adjusted operating margin less divestitures (%) -21% -24% - -31% - Adjusted for the divestment of parts of Microelectronics and the transfer of phone operations in China to SEMC, orders booked increased 5% sequentially while sales were 38% lower. Sales declined largely in Defense Systems and Mobile Platforms. Adjusted operating income improved sequentially, however, mainly due to a better result in Enterprise Systems and unabsorbed costs in support units in the fourth quarter. The year-over-year improvement reflects a favorable development in Enterprise Systems and divestment of parts of Microelectronics. During the quarter, the opto-electronics operations were divested to Northlight Optronics. This is in line with the focus on core business. In total 48 employees were transferred through the purchase. PHONES During the quarter, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (SEMC) shipped 5.4 million units, which is a 7% decline compared with the first quarter 2002. Sales declined 35% sequentially and 28% year-over-year due to lower volumes and price pressure. However, with the planned phase out of TDMA products, shipments of TDMA dropped more than 90% compared to the first quarter last year. At the same time, GSM unit shipments increased 30% with the introduction of new models. The planned product mix shift along with increased price pressure has led to a lower average selling price. Although SEMC reported a loss for the quarter, volumes and sales are expected to increase during the second quarter with the introduction of new models in the Japanese and GSM/GPRS markets. SEMC's ambition is to be profitable for the full year. Ericsson's 50% share of income before taxes in the quarter was SEK -0.5 b. and is included in "Earnings from Joint Ventures and Associated Companies." RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (SEMC) SEK m. First quarter 2003 First quarter 2002 Sales to SEMC 576 1,201 Royalty from SEMC 56 87 Purchases from SEMC 265 605 Increased equity investment 1,384 Receivables from SEMC 541 730 Liabilities to SEMC 115 1,422 MARKET VIEW The number of mobile subscribers continues to grow on pace to exceed 1.5 b. subscribers within three years. We expect between 165 and 180 million net additions this year with approximately 44 million during the first quarter. An estimated 98 million mobile phones were sold during the first quarter and we maintain our view that unit volume will increase 10% with over 430 million units expected to be shipped this year. The effects of the weakening macroeconomic environment on mobile operator investment plans for network infrastructure are unclear. Continued weak systems demand is the likely implication for the near term, as mobile operators continue to reduce capital expenditures. Last quarter, we indicated that we thought the mobile systems market, measured in USD, could be down as much as 10% this year. The uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment has increased, and several operators are reducing their capital expenditures. This implies that the market for mobile systems could decline by more than 10% this year. Operators are also focusing on operational cost reductions, which stimulates the market for outsourcing of network related activities. This is a trend we believe will continue and underpins our expectations that the available market for professional services in USD will continue to grow by about 10% a year. OUTLOOK We expect to maintain our shares of the mobile systems and professional services markets this year. However, our total sales reported in SEK will decline more than the total market, mainly due to foreign exchange effects. Divestments and closure of certain businesses as part of our restructuring activities also continue to affect our sales. Previously we indicated that we planned to return to profit at some time during 2003. This plan did not include additional restructuring measures. Excluding the additional charges for restructuring announced today we remain determined to return to profit during 2003. We are increasingly confident in our cost reduction activities. For the second quarter, we believe sales will be up slightly on a sequential basis. Parent Company information The Parent Company business consists mainly of corporate management and holding company functions. It also includes activities performed on a commission basis by Ericsson Treasury Services AB and Ericsson Credit AB regarding internal banking and customer credit management. The Parent Company has branch and representative offices in 16 (15) countries. Net sales for the first quarter amounted to SEK 0.5 b. (0.3 b.) and income after financial items was SEK 1.1 b. (0.3 b.) Major changes in the company's financial position were: - Increased current and long-term commercial and financial receivables from subsidiaries of SEK 21.5 b. - Increased cash and short-term cash investments of SEK 2.6 b. The increases were primarily financed through increased internal borrowings of SEK 22.0 b. and increased other current liabilities of SEK 2.4 b. At the end of the quarter, cash and short-term cash investments amounted to SEK 61.9 b. (59.3 b.). In accordance with the conditions of the Stock Purchase Plan for Ericsson employees, 1,603,813 shares from treasury stock were distributed during the first quarter to employees who left Ericsson. An additional 191,100 shares were sold in the first quarter, to cover social security payments related to the Stock Purchase Plan. The holding of treasury stock at March 31, 2003 was 152,565,365 Class B shares. The Annual General Meeting decided, in accordance with the proposal from the Board of Directors, that no dividend will be paid for 2002. The Annual General Meeting approved a new employee stock purchase plan of 158 million new shares. The Annual General Meeting also approved a temporary increase in the fee to the Chairman of the Board of SEK 5.5 m. for each of the years 2002 and 2003. On April 8, Carl-Henric Svanberg succeeded Kurt Hellstrom as President and CEO of Ericsson. The new President and CEO will receive an annual compensation consisting of a base salary of SEK 12 m. and a variable salary of up to 80% of the base salary. The pension benefit is premium based with an annual premium of 35% of the total of the base salary plus 50% of the variable salary. The President and CEO has the right to retire at the age of 60 years. Severance pay amounts to two years' salary. Additional benefits are not material. Accounting principles See page 18. Stockholm, April 29, 2003 Carl-Henric Svanberg President and CEO Date for next report: July 18, 2003 Auditors' Report We have reviewed the first quarter report as of March 31, 2003, for Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ). We conducted our review in accordance with the recommendation issued by FAR. A review is limited primarily to enquiries of company personnel and analytical procedures applied to financial data and thus provide less assurance than an audit. We have not performed an audit and, accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion. Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the First quarter report does not comply with the requirements for interim reports in the Annual Accounts Act. Stockholm, April 29, 2003 Carl-Eric Bohlin Bo Hjalmarsson Thomas Thiel Authorized Public Authorized Public Authorized Accountant Accountant Public Accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers AB PricewaterhouseCoopers AB Safe Harbor Statement of Ericsson under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995; All statements made or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management's beliefs and certain assumptions made by us. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "predicts", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", "may", "will", "should", "would", "potential", "continue", and variations or negatives of these words, and include, among others, statements regarding: (i) strategies, outlook and growth prospects; (ii) positioning to deliver future plans and to realize potential for future growth; (iii) liquidity and capital resources and expenditure, and our credit ratings; (iv) growth in demand for our products and services; (v) our joint venture activities; (vi) economic outlook and industry trends; (vii) developments of our markets; (viii) the impact of regulatory initiatives; (ix) research and development expenditures; (x) the strength of our competitors; (xi) future cost savings; and (xii) plans to launch new products and services. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and are based upon the information available to us at this time. Such information is subject to change, and we will not necessarily inform you of such changes. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Important factors that may cause such a difference for Ericsson include, but are not limited to: (i) material adverse changes in the markets in which we operate or in global economic conditions; (ii) increased product and price competition; (iii) further reductions in capital expenditure by network operators; (iv) the cost of technological innovation and increased expenditure to improve quality of service; (v) significant changes in market share for our principal products and services; (vi) foreign exchange rate fluctuations; and (vii) the successful implementation of our business and operational initiatives. A glossary of all technical terms is available at: http://www.ericsson.com/about and in the Annual Report. To read the full report, please go to: www.ericsson.com/investors/3month03-en.pdf FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Financial Statements Page +--------------------------------------------------------+ / Consolidated income statement / 12 / /---------------------------------------------------+----/ / Consolidated balance sheet / 13 / /---------------------------------------------------+----/ / Consolidated statement of cash flows / 14 / /---------------------------------------------------+----/ / Consolidated stockholders' equity / 15 / /---------------------------------------------------+----/ / Consolidated income statement for / / / 2002 restated for change in accounting principles / 16 / /---------------------------------------------------+----/ / Consolidated balance sheet for 2002 restated / / / for comparability / 17 / +--------------------------------------------------------+ Additional Information Page +---------------------------------------------------+ / Changed accounting policies and reporting / 18 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Orders booked by segment by quarter / 19 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Net sales by segment by quarter / 19 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Adjusted operating income, operating margin / / / and employees by segment by quarter / 20 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Orders booked by market area by quarter / 21 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Net sales by market area by quarter / 21 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / External orders booked by market area by / / / segment / 22 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / External net sales by market area by segment / 22 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Top ten markets in orders and sales / 23 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Customer financing risk exposure / 23 / /----------------------------------------------+----/ / Other information / 24 / +---------------------------------------------------+ The full report including tables can be downloaded from the enclosed link.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT Henry Stenson, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications Phone: +46 8 719 4044; E-mail: henry.stenson@lme.ericsson.se Investors Gary Pinkham, Vice President, Investor Relations Phone: +46 8 719 0000; E-mail: investor.relations@ericsson.com Lotta Lundin, Investor Relations Phone: +46 8 719 0000; E-mail: lotta.lundin@clo.ericsson.se Glenn Sapadin, Investor Relations Phone: +1 212 843 8435; E-mail: investor.relations@ericsson.com Lars Jacobsson, Vice President, Financial Reporting and Analysis Phone: +46 8 719 9489, +46 70 519 9489; E-mail: lars.jacobsson@lme.ericsson.se Media Pia Gideon, Vice President, External Relations Phone: +46 8 719 2864, +46 70 519 8903; E-mail: pia.gideon@lme.ericsson.se Ase Lindskog, Director, Media Relations Phone: +46 8 719 9725, +46 730 244 872; E-mail: ase.lindskog@lme.ericsson.se Ola Rembe, Director, Media Relations Phone: +46 8 719 9727, +46 730 244 873; E-mail: ola.rembe@lme.ericsson.se
Copyright (c) 2003, HUGIN AS. All rights reserved.
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KEYWORD: SwedenSUBJECT CODE: Finance
Jangis, I'm using tradestation.com
100,000 block @ 4:00:42 pm below the bid.eom
another 100,000 block eom