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Telefónica blamed fierce competition in its domestic Spanish market for dragging the company into its first quarterly loss in nine years. The operator the third-quarter loss of €429 million was caused by the decision earlier this year to cut 6,500 workers within its Spanish unit at a cost of €2.7 billion, and lower revenue from its domestic operations as customers switched to rivals’ cheaper offers.

While a loss was expected, forecasters had only predicted a loss of €213 million, according to the average estimate of 11 analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

“Expectations were low ahead of earnings, but across the board [core earnings] weakness is an incremental negative in our view,” said Goldman Sachs’ analyst Tim Boddy in a note to clients, according to Reuters.

In a statement, Telefónica blamed a tough regulatory environment and difficult business conditions amid sluggish economic growth for a weak performance, but forecast that the restructuring announced in September would positively impact the company’s efficiency. Telefónica confirmed that sales in its home market slid 8.8 per cent in its third quarter.

What also caused consternation among financial analysts was the company announcing a dividend payment of €1.75 per share for next year, and to keep this amount as a minimum from then on. “It’s shocking they haven’t lowered their guidance,” a London-based analyst (who requested anonymity) told Reuters.

Giovanni Montalti, an industry commentator with Credit Agricole Cheuvreux in London, heaped further criticism on Telefónica, telling Bloomberg: “Spain has deteriorated even further from previous quarters and we can expect weakness to persist. More austerity measures will also hit consumption. Telefónica should rethink its dividend policy and capital allocation.”

Any relief for the company was provided by its Latin American operations where sales climbed 18 per cent to €7.4 billion. The region now accounts for 46 per cent of its total revenues, up by 5 per cent from September of last year.

For more:
- see this Bloomberg article
- see this Reuters article
- see this Financial Times article (reg. req.)

Related Articles:
Telefónica to cut handset portfolio by nearly 60%
Telefónica drops separate Spanish unit in bid for growth
Telefónica’s O2 encourages users to shape new services
Telefónica and the irrelevance of mobile operators

FierceWireless

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs took command of the company’s iPhone 4 announcement at its Worldwide Developer Conference yesterday, going so far as to order the assembled media and developers to stop using WiFi so he could demonstrate the Web features of the new phone. Despite the technical foible, Jobs gave another charismatic performance as Apple’s pitchman and showed how Apple is continuing to innovate in terms of design and stay atop the application storefront heap.

 ”The new [Apple] device and OS clearly sets the bar again for the industry,” Nielsen analyst Roger Entner said. “While Android gained steam in the last quarter through the release of many great devices on various carriers leading up to the announcement today, the new iPhone takes this device category again to the next level and exceeds again the highest expectations.”

The iPhone 4 is an impressive piece of hardware. The gadget’s new display, with its “retina screen,” appears to enhance all of the device’s content. And the device’s new FaceTime video chat feature–arguably the iPhone 4′s best new feature–has the potential to take video calling mainstream, though I remain a little skeptical over how many people will actually use it day-in and day-out.

I was worried that Apple’s focus on video might clash with AT&T Mobility’s (NYSE:T) new tiered data plans–what’s the point of having a feature like video chat if you have to continually worry about your data usage? Apple side-stepped that by making the service available only via WiFi. The new plans might actually help Apple sell more devices. “Apple’s carrier partners will benefit more in renewed loyalty as existing customers upgrade than in new customer acquisitions, though we expect AT&T’s new introductory pricing tier will lure in family plan additions as well,” Forrester analyst Charles Golvin said. 

Apple’s trump card against its mobile competitors still remains the array of services it has integrated with its hardware: iTunes, the App Store and iBooks. Jobs said that last week Apple crossed 5 billion app downloads and has given developers billion so far–talk about a strong incentive. CCS Insight analyst John Jackson said the iPhone 4 announcement was unremarkable–Gizmodo took most of the suspense out if it in April by publishing photos of an iPhone 4 prototype–and noted it is becoming harder for Apple to out-do itself. However, he said comparing the iPhone with top Android phones is still like comparing apples and oranges. Android phones “are not the front end of a high-velocity commerce engine,” he said, referring to Apple’s iTunes content offerings. “At least not at this point.”  

Furthermore, Apple is ramping up its internatonal distribution efforts, and plans to release the iPhone 4 in 88 countries by September–its fastest iPhone rollout so far. Android is making big strides against Apple in terms of design and features. But to me, it’s still playing catch up. And Apple has no intention of slowing down. –Phil

FierceWireless

The telecommunications sector had 4,600 fewer jobs in May than in April, employing 929,500 positions in May. However, the year-over-year employment figures show a loss of 47,800 jobs since May 2009 – a nearly 4.9% increase, according to new U.
RCR Wireless News

iPad shuts down at high temperature

iphone news

Recently, the pros and cons of the tablet are discussed quite extensively on the Internet. After problems with Wi-Fi module iPad, the web appears quite contradictory information that the device is excluded only under certain conditions.

Today it became clear that there is a lot of first buyers of tablet complain about this problem. In the words of consumers, iPad can be automatically put if exposed to direct sunlight.

In the Internet appeared immediately respond to speculation. Says that the tablet is placed in a special sensor that monitors the temperature of the body, probably ensure that if the temperature is too high or too low.

According information by Apple, tablets works perfectly normal if its body temperature ranges from 0 to 35 degrees. Problems of iPad start if the temperature is 40-45 degrees above or below zero.

However, if the temperature is a serious problem for users of Apple recently released and a special device which is placed on a tablet and is used for cooling.

iPhone & iPad News

You know you’ve done it.  Somewhere along the line you left your keys or wallet somewhere and had that panic moment where you didn’t think you would ever see them again.  Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just pull out your phone and find exact coordinates on a Google Map?  What if your keys sent you a tweet if you left them behind?  Phone Halo makes these things possible.

Phone Halo, the application, is free for Android phones however it requires the one-time purchase of a Halo Device, about each.  It’s not a terribly bad price for peace of mind.  How badly do you need to guard those work keys or those launch codes?  I’d like to think Marcellus Wallace would have loved having Phone Halo for that briefcase in Pulp Fiction.

The GPS device runs about seven days on a charge and comes with a USB charger, Quick Start Guide, and Product Manual. Configurations include having your phone lock up on you when you are about to leave your valuables behind or sending a silent notification.  Phone Halo also takes proactive steps to help you recover misplaced and lost items with texted and/or emailed GPS coordinates.  It’s also possible to share this information with your friends, family, and other contacts to help track your stuff down.

For more information, head to Phone Halo’s website.

Win one of seven Motorola droid handsets being given out! Click here to see how it works!

NOTE: Phone Halo Uses GPS to Hunt Down Lost Keys, Other Valuables originally appeared on AndroidGuys. If you are reading this elsewhere, it was done without the consent of the author.

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