Woo boy, I guess I was a little more right than I thought about more bad economic news; this time it hits a little closer to home.
Canadian telecommunications equipment manufacturer Nortel Networks has posted a loss of US$3.4 billion in Q3 2008, it’s largest loss in the past seven years. Revenue was down 14% year over year to US$2.32 billion and 1% year-to-date.
Commenting on the market dynamics, Nortel President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Zafirovski said: “In September, we signaled our view that a slowdown in the market was taking place. In the weeks since, we have seen worsening economic conditions, together with extreme volatility in the financial, foreign exchange and credit markets globally, further impacting the industry, Nortel and its customers. We are therefore taking further decisive actions in an environment of decreased visibility and customer spending levels.”
Nortel also announced plans to cut a further 1,300 jobs, on top of a previous round of cuts of 1,200 staff. About a quarter of the job cuts will occur this year, with the rest in 2009. None of the remaining staff will receive pay rises in 2009, unless already agreed. The cost savings are expected to reduce annual gross costs by approximately US$400 million in 2009.
Remember Golden Shellback, those guys who were waterproofing iPods, BlackBerrys and all sorts of other electronics? Well, we had a chance to talk with Sid Martin about the process, when we can expect it to go public, the possibility of manufacturers like RIM picking it up, and how much it might cost you. For more info and updates on Golden Shellback, be sure to check out their site.
Chip manufacturer Marvell saw a downgrade status rating on the stock market today from Jefferies & Co. due to losing the contract with RIM to provide parts for the upcoming BlackBerry 8900 (a.k.a Javelin) to competitor Freescale. The folks from Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. didn’t see it as quite that bad of a hit to Marvell.
“Not to minimize Freescale’s successful efforts, but we still think there is plenty of room for Marvell to feed at the Blackberry trough,” [analyst Craig Berger] wrote. “We believe Marvell’s unit shipments to Research In Motion could grow by 60%-80% this year.”
RIM’s been buying from Marvell for a long time, so we’re left to wonder what spurred the change in supplier. It could be as simple as going with the lowest bidder, but maybe Freescale’s got something that Marvell doesn’t… I guess we’ll have to wait for the Javelin around late November to see if she runs any differently.
The Opera Mini survey awhile back went to show just how popular BlackBerry is here in North America, but another survey by Springboard Research has revealed that BlackBerry devices are getting drastically outsold in Asia-Pacific. Windows Mobile devices racked up 6 million sales last year, versus RIM’s paltry 1 million. One of the main reasons for this, according to the researchers, is the high cost of push e-mail service for people in that region, making it a poor option for small and medium businesses. BlackBerry Unite! is helping a bit, since it’s free and can keep companies of up to 5 users linked together, but really it seems like a local NOC would go a long ways to increasing adoption in Asia-Pacific. There’s been talk about a factory opening up in China, and some kind of data centre in India to get around that whole security issue, but surely the biggest end result would be lowered costs for everyone in the neighbourhood. Still, with ad campaigns like this, how can you resist WinMo?
As usual, this week’s BlackBerry Cool Podcast features a few tidbits about the BlackBerry Thunder, BlackBerry Kickstart and BlackBerry Bold, but we’ve also got some fresh colours from Bell and T-Mobile on the way. We’re also giving you a snippet of Doug’s talk with Andy Brown of Strategy Analytics. Andy was at the UK Bold launch and had the opportunity to interview RIM’s co-CEO Mike Lazaridis.
Check out links to all the relevant news after the jump, as well as options for streaming and downloading the BlackBerry Cool Podcast.
A new UK military technology that was initially aimed at providing protection against biological warfare may soon find its way onto portable electronics. Developer P2i specializes in what’s called “ion-mask plasma surface enhancement”, which covers covers materials tightly with an extremely thin water-repellent film. By using high-energy plasma, devices can get coated inside and out without damaging electronics.
“Ion-mask is extremely effective against the problem of moisture ingress as it can be applied to the most intricate electronic objects without damaging the precious circuitry,” explains P2i’s Business Development Director, Ian Robins. “The process is particularly well suited to high value applications such as MP3 players, which are required to perform outdoors in all weather conditions, or other small, lightweight electronic items which may be inadvertently worn in the shower or while swimming.”
Yeah, I accidentally hop in the shower with my BlackBerry all the time.
We just read on Gizmodo about some upcoming Wi-Fi chip from Atheros which will be very forgiving to battery life. The AR6002 claims to be “The World’s Lowest-Power Mobile WLAN Solution” and will take 100 hours to drain a 3.7V, 800mAh battery running on VoIP, and has virtually no drain while the handheld runs in standby. We all know how much stock RIM puts into battery life, so maybe this little sucker will find its way into 8820s, 8120s, and 8320s after first quarter of 2008 when they get released.
Metrico has recently unveiled a new version of their testing system called Muse, which allows manufacturers to test handset voice quality in the field. These guys expanded their testing facilities not too long ago, and have partnered with RIM for previous testing. This new package should provide a solid option for future field testing no matter what new BlackBerrys they’re working with.
The Muse testing system supports the full spectrum of wireless technologies, including GSM, CDMA, UMTS, WiMAX and UMA, and can be used to analyze any type of telephony device. The robust, portable Muse system is affordable enough to allow wireless players to equip all of their wireless and/or audio engineers in the field with the tool.
By popular demand, we’ve got round two of our interview with the preeminent tech blogger Boy Genius. BlackBerry Cool’s EIC Doug Soltys yaks it up with the Big BG about leaks, carriers, manufacturers, advertisers, MVNOs, and the iPhone. Without further ado, here’s the podcast for your listening pleasure. (Also on iTunes, if that’s your bag.)
ABI’s fed the big companies into its newfangled Vendor Matrix, which one imagines as some giant machine that churns and bubbles and whizzes and clunks along until it dings a little bell and spits out a result, and has put Nokia at the top, with Motorola in second and RIM in third. After listening to a friend in the UK gushing about his new Nokia N95 this morning, it’s no surprise that Nokia’s on top. Criteria for ranking is based on performance in innovation and implementation of products.
In terms of implementation, Nokia has captured 56% of the global smartphone market, which is where they’ve really succeeded since RIM, Motorola and Sony Ericsson have all matched Nokia’s innovation score. While these reports need to be taken with a grain of salt, ABI’s standards are fairly comprehensive. Check the criteria behind the jump.
Woo boy, I guess I was a little more right than I thought about more bad economic news; this time it hits a little closer to home.
Chip manufacturer 
The 
A new UK military technology that was initially aimed at providing protection against biological warfare 
We just read on 
Metrico has 
By popular demand, we’ve got round two of our interview with the preeminent tech blogger 
ABI’s fed the big companies into its newfangled Vendor Matrix, which one imagines as some giant machine that churns and bubbles and whizzes and clunks along until it dings a little bell and spits out a result, and has put 
