Cellcom

Wednesday, 8 January 2014

(Reuters) - Apple Inc is seeking the removal of a lawyer appointed by a court to monitor its antitrust compliance following a ruling last year that the company had conspired to fix e-book prices.

An attorney for the consumer technology giant on Tuesday asked U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan to disqualify Michael Bromwich from serving as an external compliance monitor, arguing he had shown a personal bias against the company.

In a letter to Cote, Apple's lawyer cited a "wholly inappropriate declaration" filed by Bromwich last month.

In the declaration, Bromwich defended his work as a monitor against Apple's complaint that he had overstepped his mandate. He also detailed his unsuccessful efforts to gain Apple's cooperation for his assignment.

Cote appointed Bromwich in October following a ruling she made in July finding Apple liable for conspiring with five publishers to raise e-book prices above those established by the dominant retailer in the market, Amazon.com Inc.

But the relationship between Apple and Bromwich quickly spiraled downward.

In November, Apple complained Bromwich had aggressively sought to interview top executives, even though his mandate called for him to assess the company's antitrust policies 90 days after his appointment.

Apple also cited Bromwich's proposed hourly payment rate of $1,100. Those fees, Apple argued, provided Bromwich incentive to run "as broad and intrusive investigation as possible."

In the letter on Tuesday, Apple's lawyer repeated those same complaints.

A spokeswoman for Bromwich declined to comment.

The case is U.S. v Apple Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 12-2826.

(Reporting by Andrew Longstreth; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)

Tuesday, 7 January 2014

Xperia Z1ˢ -- The world's best camera in waterproof smartphone

Samsung Electronics sparks dividend debate after big worker bonus

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the world's largest smartphone maker, has reignited shareholder calls for more returns after splashing out on a special employee bonus estimated at nearly $1 billion.

The arch rival of Apple Inc drew on its $50 billion cash pile to mark 20 years of transformation into Asia's most valuable company - just two months after investors criticized it for not spending enough to increase its dividend yield.

The bonus, to commemorate Chairman Lee Kun-hee's "New Management" strategy, hit October-December operating profit which Samsung said likely fell 6 percent on year and 18 percent from a record third quarter to 8.3 trillion won ($7.8 billion).

Initial street estimates put the bonus at 300 billion to 700 billion won, but the extent of the profit decline indicated a payout closer to 1 trillion won, or an average $4,000 for each of the company's 240,000 employees, analysts say.

That is likely to have sent fourth-quarter profit below even the most bearish forecast among 23 polled analysts of 8.8 trillion won, to the lowest level since the 8.1 trillion won of July-September 2012.

"This (bonus) could increase pressure from some shareholders to raise shareholder returns, and I also do have some hopes for more payout either in the form of a share buyback or dividends," said Kim Kyung-yoon, head of equities management at Kyobo Axa Investment Managers, which owns Samsung shares.

Like most South Korean companies, Samsung has kept its dividend yield low at around 1 percent or less, which is a primary reason its shares are not as valuable as global peers.

"We are not against paying bonuses to workers but at least the shareholders should get as much," said Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group. "They should really celebrate the event with a big bonus, a bigger dividend, which may happen."

Samsung shares saw their first annual decline in 2013 in five years partly due to the company's conservative shareholder return policy, despite operating profit likely growing 28 percent to a record 36.8 trillion won. They closed down 0.2 percent on Tuesday, versus a 0.3 percent rise in the broader market.

Returns equal around 5.1 percent of profit, the lowest since 2007 when Samsung last bought back shares, at which time its rate of return was 15.8 percent.

"NO TRANSPARENCY"

Lee, who took over Samsung Group in 1987 from his founder-father, in 1993 ordered lieutenants to "change everything except your wife and children" to transform Samsung Electronics from a mid-tier television set manufacturer into a global technology leader.

It has since overtaken Sony Corp in TVs, Nokia Oyj in mobile phones and Apple in smartphones.

Lee, who turns 72 this week, set the agenda for the future in his New Year speech by stressing the need to drop a hardware-centric culture and adopt new ways of thinking to stimulate innovation.

"In theory this (bonus) has nothing to do with Samsung's enormous profit... and will not be repeated, although there is no transparency on this issue and so no guarantees," CLSA analyst Matt Evans said in a note.

"Whether shareholders will receive any similar 'bonus' in the form of a meaningful dividend or share buyback remains to be seen. However, this analyst is not holding his breath as M&As are a more likely way" of using its cash reserves.

Korean companies often top up low salaries with bonuses. Samsung Electronics gives up to 50 percent of annual salary by returning 20 percent of profit that exceeds targets. It also offers up to 100 percent of basic monthly salary to employees in units which achieve targets.

SMARTPHONE SALES

Fourth-quarter earnings were also likely affected by Samsung's flagship Galaxy S and Note smartphones losing out somewhat to Apple's iPhone in primary markets such as the United States and Japan during the year-end holiday season.

The company, ahead of releasing final figures on January 24, estimated fourth-quarter sales of 59 trillion won. This compared with the 61 trillion won Thomson Reuters' Starmine SmartEstimate of 23 analysts, which gives greater weighting to the more accurate analysts.

"Even taking into account one-off costs, the (fourth-quarter) profit is lower than expected. Samsung has not provided details, but smartphone profit may have fared worse than expected, given increased marketing expenses," said IBK Investment & Securities analyst Lee Seung-woo.

Samsung is bracing itself for its toughest year at its mobile devices division since it started making smartphones in 2007, as Apple raises its China presence and fights back with larger-screen offerings.

Analysts estimate 2014 profit growth at its mobile arm to range from low single digit to mild contraction after growing eight times over the past five years.

($1 = 1065.5000 Korean won)

(Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Joyce Lee in SEOUL and Nishant Kumar in HONG KONG; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

Monday, 6 January 2014

Apple smartphone market share down year-on-year

Cellcom

The iPhone 5s and 5c are doing well, but competition from rivals is making it difficult for Apple to grow its market share

Apple’s share of smartphone sales continues to grow month-on-month following the release of the iPhone 5s and 5c, but its share of most major markets remains lower than this time last year, in the face of growing competition from rivals.

According to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Apple now accounts for 69 per cent of the Japanese market, 43 per cent in the United States, 35 per cent in Australia and 30.6 per cent in Britain.

Strong sales of the iPhone 5s and 5s can be linked to high levels of customer satisfaction with both models, despite fears that the lower-end 5c could damage Apple’s appeal.

However, resurgent performances from LG, Sony and Nokia have made making year-on-year share gains increasingly challenging for Apple.

Android still dominates in Europe, with a 69 per cent market share, but Windows Phone is now the third largest mobile operating system across Europe with 10 per cent – more than double its share compared with last year.

Europe remains a high point for Nokia and Windows, but progress in the world’s two largest smartphone markets remains stubbornly slow with share stuck at 4.7 per cent in the US and 2.7 per cent in China.

China is likely to be the easier and more rewarding target for Windows, according to Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, because Nokia has a huge existing presence in the market, retains strong customer preference and can sell handsets at the right price to capture large numbers of users.

“You don’t have to conquer China and the US to win in the smartphone market, but you do need success in one of them," said Sunnebo. "At the moment there are few signs of progress in either country for Windows Phone and momentum needs to be made soon before OS loyalty severely limits the available market."

Smartphone penetration in Britain stands at 69 per cent in November, with 86 per cent of devices sold in the past three months being smartphones.

Last week, one of Wall Street's biggest investment banks downgraded Apple, warning that the iPhone maker can expect lower profit margins and less support from operators in the future.

Wells Fargo cut its rating on the company from "outperform" to "market perform", sending Apple shares down as much as 1.4 per cent in early US trading on Thursday.

The bank said there was "limited" opportunity for Apple to improve profits due to squeezed consumer conditions around the world, while the iPhone 6, expected to be introduced later this year, would be less profitable than previous models.