ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Business of IT / IT Strategy

Mobile industry still waiting for upswing

By Ben Charny, CNET News, 15 July, 2003 11:23

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

Topics

Motorola, Samsung, Sony, Ericsson, Nokia, Phillips, Mobile, Slump, Recovery

NEWS
The communications market is still waiting to see a little daylight. Although a few companies are reporting signs that business is improving, most makers of mobile phones and related equipment are showing little indication of a turnaround. Sales of handsets are growing, but not by much, while handset makers continue to slow down spending on network improvements and expansion. Still, there are some signs of hope. Carriers, for instance, are turning to network equipment makers for the switches and other gear needed to add Wi-Fi wireless networking to their mix of service offerings. And the public continues to demand more bandwidth as Internet traffic grows. Both Nokia and Motorola braced the market for bad news about mobile phones back in June, when they lowered their forecasts for the quarter. Ericsson is expected to report yet another quarterly loss, dragged down by flagging sales of a handset joint venture with Sony. The three have cited various reasons for failing to turn around a nearly three-year dip in handset and infrastructure sales. A remaining concern is the Sars epidemic in China, which has dulled one of the few bright spots in the otherwise slumping wireless sector. "Managements' tone was definitely subdued," during recent conference calls, Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff told clients on Monday. "We don't expect them to suddenly reverse their position and become more positive on their second-half outlook for the entire industry." Motorola, the world's second-largest mobile phone provider, will report quarterly earnings on Tuesday. Motorola is expected to report a break-even quarter, with sales of handsets, chips and network infrastructure equipment of between $6bn (£3.69bn) and $6.2bn. Nokia, the No. 1 seller of handsets , is expected on Thursday to report a profit of 17 cents per share on $8bn in revenue. That represents a 3 cents per share dip from the previous quarter's numbers. In June, Nokia blamed Sars and a large inventory of mobile phones when it lowered its annual mobile phone sales forecast. Instead of being 8 percent ahead of 2002, this year's Nokia handset sales will grow by 4 percent, the handset maker said in June. Ericsson expects to report a quarterly loss of 19 cents per share, dragged down partly by the falling fortunes of Sony Ericsson. Although Sony Ericsson is expected to have captured more market share this quarter, the joint venture continues to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. Equipment provider Juniper Networks set the tone for the upcoming reports last week, when, even though reporting what analysts said was a "good" quarter, it said the next few quarters would not see much lift in sales.
If it moves, we cover it. See ZDNet UK's Mobile Technology News Section for the latest news, reviews and price checks on mobile phones, PDAs, notebook computers and anything else you can take away. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Related stories

China's mobile brands nurture global ambitions

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

TerryRK

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

4 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Freebies202

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

13 hours ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source
kevinmchapman

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

21 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Marg Menzies Harrison

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

23 hours ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid
zdnetukuser

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

23 hours ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface
Moley

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Dennis Nilsson

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

1 day ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany
GHar123

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

1 day ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
JCB33

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

2 days ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
bdantas

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

2 days ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

2 days ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

2 days ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

Latest in IT Strategy

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Featured white papers

Value of a team: Five pillars to strengthen employee culture

Citrix Online

Value of a team: Five pillars to strengthen employee culture

This white paper explores how to define objectives for employees and clients and how the business can benefit from encouraging... Read more

Key trends driving global business resilience and risk

IBM

Key trends driving global business resilience and risk

This IBM research paper looks at how businesses are thinking more about business resilience by improving the ability to adapt to a continuously changing business... Read more

Cloud computing security: A practical guide

SunGard Availability Services

Cloud computing security: A practical guide

Cloud computing has been the belle of the IT ball, but can you trust it to keep data reliable and... Read more

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Make faster, smarter decisions using BI

Make faster, smarter decisions using BI

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault