The growth of global LCD TV shipments is expected to fall in 2012, according to market research firm GfK. The company believes that in 2012, growth will come from emerging markets as demand from the U.S. and Europe will subside. Global TV shipments grew 12% in 2011, and that rate is expected to slow to an estimated 7% growth rate this year. In total, GfK expects vendors to ship 225 million LCD TVs worldwide in 2012, Digitimes reports. Samsung, the world’s largest TV vendor by shipment volume, has vowed to sell more than 50 million units into global channels this year.

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Sales of video game hardware and software in the United States plummeted last month according to new data from market research firm The NPD Group. The firm’s January figures suggest that sales of video game hardware fell 38% to $199.5 million, down from $324 million in January 2011. Video game software sales slid 38% as well in January, falling to $355.9 million, and sales of accessories in the U.S. dropped 18% year-on-year to $195.2 million. Total industry sales were down 34% to $750.6 million. “January retail performance experienced steep declines with a lack of software launches, and poor Hardware and Accessory performance partly related to bad comps from Kinect-related success in Jan’11,” NPD analyst Liam Callahan said in a statement. “Outside of new physical retail sales, we estimate that the consumer spend on other ways to acquire content including used games, full game and add-on content downloads, social network games, mobile games, rentals and subscriptions accounted for an additional $350 – $400 million in sales.” Callahan noted that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was the best-selling console for the sixth consecutive month in January, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the top-selling software title. A complete list of NPD’s top-10 games for the month follows below.

Global tablet sales reached 67 million units in 2011 and are expected to grow 38.8% annually to 248.6 million by the end of 2015, according to a new market report from Transparency Market Research. Led by Apple’s iPad, tablet sales increased 275.5% in 2011 from 17.8 million units sold in 2010. Smartphone sales in 2011 hit 468.9 million units, a 66.7% increase over 2010 sales of 282 million units, and sales are expected to reach 1.05 billion in 2015 with Asia accounting for 39.5% of the market. Smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2011 beat the combined sales from the full year of 2008, the report notes. The leap in sales was largely driven by consumer and enterprise adoption of the iPhone 4S, which shipped more than 36 million units in the quarter. Read on for Transparency Market Research’s press release.

Tablet Sales to End Users is Expected to Reach 248.6 Million Units by 2015, Smartphones Sales to End Users Will Reach 1,048.0 Million Units by 2015: Transparency Market Research

ALBANY, New York, February 8, 2012/PRNewswire/ –

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research (http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com) “Tablet Market and Smartphones Market: Global Database & Forecast (2010 – 2015) [http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tablet-and-smartphones-market.html ]“, Global Tablet sales to end users reached 67.0 million units in 2011 and is expected to reach 248.6 million units by the end of 2015, growing at a CAGR of 38.8% from 2011 to 2015. Asia – Pacific (including Japan) is expected to enjoy the highest share of overall global shipments and end user sales of Tablets at 36.1% and 35.3% respectively in 2015.

In 2011, Smartphone sales to end users reached 469.9 million units, registering a growth of 66.7% over 2010 sales of 282.0 million units. The Smartphone sales to end user are expected to reach 1,048.0 million units by 2015 with Asia – Pacific accounting for the largest market share at 39.5%. Asia Pacific is also expected to enjoy the highest growth rate at a CAGR of 36.3% from 2010 to 2015.

Browse the database at http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tablet-and-smartphones-market.html

The Tablet sales to end user increased by 276.5% in 2011 from 17.8 million units sold to end users in 2010. Globally, the installed base of Tablet devices have reached 81.2 million units in 2011 and expected to reach 388.8 million units by the end of 2015. This represents approximately 45% replacement/loss rate by the same year.

Form factor plays crucial role in adoption of Tablet devices. Our research indicates that consumer purchased the largest number of Tablet devices with screen size ranging 8 Inch and 10 Inch; whereas devices weighed between 450g and 900g (1 lb – 2 lbs) had the highest share of overall sales of tablet devices. Consumer segment is the largest adopter of media Tablet devices, while business users prefer communicators. Media Tablets is expected to remain the largest Tablet device segment with over 60% sales share in 2015, while hybrid segment will account for more than one-fourth of the sales in the same year. Continue reading here [http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tablet-and-smartphones-market.html ].

Smartphones are becoming more ubiquitous communication devices among all user segments with almost 75% of smartphone consumer (individual) subscriber use their smartphones for personal as well as business purposes. Moreover, 65% of global SMBs now allow employee owned smartphone for official use. This acted as the strong booster for Smartphone market growth. The smartphones market [http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tablet-and-smartphones-market.html ] grew by 66.7% during last year and sales reached to 469.9 million units in 2011. Smartphone sale in 4Q2011 alone crossed the combined sales of all the four quarters of 2008. This leap in sales came on account of consumer as well as enterprise adoption of iPhone 4S, which posted 36.1 million units sales to end user in Q42011 alone. Continue reading here [http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tablet-and-smartphones-market.html ].

This extensive database report covers quarterly sales to end users, installed base, revenue, ASP from 2009 to 2011 and forecast till 2015 for Tablets and Smartphones based on following segmentation.

Tablet Market Segmentation

- By Operating System

- iOS

- Android

- Windows

- Blackberry Tablet OS (QNX)

- By Vendors

- Apple

- Samsung

- HTC

- Dell

- RIM

- Amazon

- Motorola

- By Form Factors

- Weight

- Width

- Length

- Display Screen Size

- Thickness (depth)

- Users

- Business liable

- Consumer liable

- Personal Only

- Personal and Business

- Usability

- Media Tab

- Communicators

- Hybrid

- Geography

- North America

- Europe

- Asia – Pacific (including Japan)

- ROW

Smartphones Market Segmentation

- By Operating System

- Symbian

- iOS

- Android

- Windows Mobile

- Blackberry OS

- Bada

- By Vendors

- Nokia

- Apple

- Samsung

- HTC

- RIM

- By Form Factors

- Weight

- Width

- Length

- Display Screen Size

- Thickness (depth)

- Users

- Business liable

- Consumer liable

- Personal Only

- Personal and Business

- Usability

- Media Tab

- Communicators

- Hybrid

- Geography

- North America

- Europe

- Asia – Pacific (including Japan)

- ROW

- Input Type

- Touchscreen

- Keyboard

- Keypad

When new CEO Thorsten Henis took the reins at Research In Motion, he immediately pointed to the smartphone vendor’s marketing strategy as an area the company needed to focus on if it hoped to regain share in key markets like the United States. The wheels on RIM’s recent marketing efforts had already been set in motion, however, and early reports suggest that the increased volume of familiar BlackBerry ads aren’t having the impact RIM was hoping for. Read on for more.

RIM ramped up its marketing efforts in January, but the move does not appear to have paid off. “Our January checks indicated weak sell-through trends for the new BlackBerry 7 smartphones despite increased marketing efforts,” Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley wrote in a research note to investors late Wednesday night. “With very strong share gains for the iPhone 4S, increasingly price competitive Android smartphones, improving Windows smartphones, and strong sales of the affordable 7 inch Amazon Kindle Fire tablet, we anticipate increasing competition across all tiers of RIM’s products in C2012.”

As a result of weakening device sales and RIM’s poor outlook for the current quarter, the analyst lowered his estimates for RIM’s February quarter as well as the vendor’s full fiscal year. And despite a new round of marketing that kicked off in February with RIM’s “Be Bold” campaign, Walkley doesn’t see much changing for the Waterloo, Ontario-based until late in 2012.

“Given the strong share gains for Apple post the launch of the iPhone 4S and increasing Android and Windows competition in all price tiers, we believe BlackBerry 7 products will continue to struggle until BB10 products launch in late C2012,” the analyst noted. RIM expected to launch its first QNX-powered BlackBerry 10 smartphone — code-named the BlackBerry London — toward the end of the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter.

Walkley reiterated his Hold rating on RIM’s stock and maintained his $15 price target.

Apple’s iPhone is the most profitable product offered by the most valuable company in the world. With only three iPhone models in its lineup, the Cupertino-based technology giant shipped more smartphones last quarter than any other vendor in the world. Carriers that sell Apple’s sought-after smartphone enjoy huge activation figures each quarter as a result, but activations and unit sales don’t necessarily paint a complete picture. In fact, according to some industry watchers, carriers hate the iPhone. Read on for more.

Wireless carriers trip over themselves to offer Apple’s iPhone, especially in the United States. Sprint wanted the handset so badly it was willing to guarantee Apple $15.5 billion over four years for the privilege of selling its sleek smartphone, and it certainly didn’t help matters much in the fourth quarter when Sprint posted a $1.3 billion loss. T-Mobile is still sour over failed negotiations with Apple, and the carrier has resorted to offering up free microSIM cards to iPhone users willing to come aboard and forgo 3G data speeds.

“A logical conclusion is that the iPhone is not good for wireless carriers,” Nomura Securities analyst Mike McCormack told CNNMoney. “When we look at the direct and indirect economics that Apple has managed to extract from the carriers, the carrier-level value destruction is quite evident.” The site notes that Verizon Wireless’s EBITDA service margin has dropped from an average of 46.4% per quarter to 42.2% since the carrier added the iPhone to its lineup one year ago.

But the iPhone is a necessary evil for carriers that some expect to pay off in the long run. Sprint on Wednesday reported its best quarter in more than six years for net subscriber additions thanks to the 720,000 new postpaid subscribers who came to the carrier for the iPhone. Some analysts also believe carriers will eventually raise their price points on the iPhone; despite the handset’s high cost to Apple’s partners, the iPhone 4S currently starts at $199 on contract to the end user while the iPhone 4 is available for $99 and the iPhone 3GS is free on contract from AT&T.

Regardless of what the iPhone is doing to carriers’ bottom lines, it remains the best-selling smartphone in the world and it likely will for some time. Apple is expected to launch a completely redesigned iPhone later this year that will reportedly feature a unibody aluminum case, a 4-inch display and 4G LTE connectivity.

Sprint on Wednesday reported its results for the fourth quarter of 2011. The nation’s No.3 carrier sold 1.8 million iPhones, 40% of which were sold to new subscribers, and it managed 1.6 million total net subscriber additions in the quarter — its best performance in terms of customer acquisition since 2005. Sprint still posted a net loss of $1.3 billion in the quarter, however, or a diluted loss of $.43 per share. The carrier saw net operating losses increase to $438 million from $139 million in the same quarter a year earlier, and Sprint now has a total of 55 million subscribers including 33 million post-paid customers. The carrier notes that it recorded adjusted OIBDA of $842 million in the fourth quarter and $5.1 billion for the full year, representing the its first year of positive adjusted operating income since 2006. Sprint’s full press release follows after the break.

Sprint Nextel Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Results

Quarterly year-over-year Sprint platform postpaid ARPU growth of $3.69 is the best on record in the industry
Largest sequential increase in net operating revenues in more than five years
Sprint serves more than 55 million customers – highest level ever
1.6 million total net subscriber additions in the quarter – best since 2005
539,000 postpaid net additions on the Sprint platform in the quarter
Strong iPhone sales – 40 percent to new customers
Network Vision on schedule and on budget; six major cities to launch 4G LTE by mid-year with the addition of Kansas City and Baltimore
Adjusted OIBDA* of $842 million and the first year of Operating Income since 2006

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), February 08, 2012 – Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) today reported Adjusted OIBDA* of $842 million for the fourth quarter and nearly $5.1 billion for the full year 2011. Wireless service revenues for the fourth quarter increased more than 7 percent year-over-year, driven by Sprint platform postpaid ARPU growth of $3.69 – the largest year-over-year increase on record across the U.S. wireless industry. Strong revenue growth and cost management partially offset the impact of increased equipment net subsidies and sales expense associated with the successful launch of the iPhone®. Forty percent of Sprint’s 1.8 million iPhone sales in the fourth quarter were to new customers. Based on internal estimates, including incremental costs associated with iPhone sales, the combined impact of iPhone and Network Vision costs reduced fourth quarter Adjusted OIBDA* margin, which was 10.8 percent, by approximately 8.8 percentage points.

The company reported total net subscriber additions of 1.6 million during the fourth quarter of 2011 – the best quarterly result in six years – bringing total ending subscribers to the highest level in the company’s history. Total postpaid net additions of 161,000 for the fourth quarter represent the tenth consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement and were driven by continued strength of the Sprint platform, which had net postpaid additions of 539,000. This is the seventh consecutive quarter of net postpaid subscriber growth on the Sprint platform.

“Our strong fourth quarter performance illustrates the power of matching iconic devices like the iPhone with our simple, unlimited plans and industry-leading customer experience,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO. “During the past year, Sprint added more than 5 million net new customers and grew wireless service revenue by more than 5 percent, including 17 percent for the Sprint platform. This momentum gives us confidence as we execute our Network Vision upgrade and 4G LTE roll-out.”

The company continued to rapidly grow the number of prepaid and wholesale and affiliate subscribers in the fourth quarter. Prepaid net additions were 507,000 bringing total prepaid subscribers to nearly 14.8 million at the end of 2011, an increase of 20 percent since the end of 2010. Net additions of 954,000 for wholesale and affiliates in the fourth quarter were the highest in seven years.

Additionally, the company reported a net loss of $1.3 billion and a diluted loss of $.43 per share for the quarter, which includes pre-tax, non-cash charges of $241 million, or $.08 per share, consisting of asset and impairment charges of $78 million on property, plant and equipment, $135 million on Sprint’s investment in Clearwire and $28 million in severance costs.

Sprint’s Network Vision initiative remains on schedule and on budget. In the fourth quarter, the company completed field integration testing and launched the first multi-mode base station and first cluster of cell sites, validating improved 3G data performance metrics, such as voice quality, call drops and blocks and improved data speeds. The company expects to bring approximately 12,000 sites on air by the end of 2012 and to complete the majority of its Network Vision roll-out in 2013. In addition, as part of Network Vision Sprint has announced it expects to begin launching 4G LTE by mid-year 2012. In addition to Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Atlanta, Sprint today announced Kansas City and Baltimore will be among the initial six major cities to launch.

The company also raised a substantial portion of the additional cash needed to fund the Network Vision deployment, debt maturities and working capital requirements over the next few years. During the fourth quarter, Sprint raised additional financing of $4 billion and repaid all 2012 maturities prior to scheduled maturity. Sprint’s next scheduled debt maturities include $300 million due in May 2013 and $1.5 billion due in October 2013.

Sprint generated $257 million of Free Cash Flow* in the quarter. As of Dec. 31, 2011, the company’s total liquidity was approximately $6.7 billion, consisting of $5.6 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments and $1.1 billion of undrawn borrowing capacity available under its revolving bank credit facility.

In 2011, Sprint’s Customer Satisfaction and First Call Resolution scores improved year-over-year for the fourth consecutive year and third parties continued to affirm Sprint’s customer experience leadership. In the fourth quarter, Frost & Sullivan awarded Sprint the North American Customer Value Enhancement of the Year Award in the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications market, and Analysys Mason gave Sprint the highest M2M scorecard ranking among North American-based communications service providers. Last month, Sprint received the ATLANTIC ACM Best-in-Class Network Award for Global Wholesale Excellence. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine’s annual 2011 Best of Everything list awarded top honors to Sprint’s unlimited data plan, no annual contract offerings from Boost Mobile and payLo by Virgin Mobile. Last week, Virgin Mobile USA received the highest ranking in the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Wireless Customer Care Non-Contract Study – Volume 1, with Boost placing second. Sprint’s sustainable efforts also continued to gather accolades. Following Sprint’s third place ranking among U.S. companies on Newsweek’s 2011 Green Rankings in October, Sprint joined the exclusive World Wildlife Fund’s Climate Savers Program – one of only 27 global partners selected since 1999.

Besides adding the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s to the company’s industry-leading line-up of devices, Sprint also launched several other innovative products during the fourth quarter including HTC EVO Design 4G™, the company’s 25th 4G device. Sprint also launched the first three Sprint Direct Connect® phones, Kyocera DuraMax, Kyocera DuraCore and Motorola Admiral™, the first Sprint Direct Connect Android™ smartphone. Earlier this year, Sprint announced the initial group of devices that will operate on its 4G LTE network: Galaxy Nexus™, LG Viper™ 4G LTE with eco-friendly features and Sierra Wireless™ Tri-Network Hotspot. Also during the fourth quarter, Sprint unveiled a redesigned website for business, www.sprint.com/business, launched 4G Fixed Business Access, a business solution that turns any area into an instant office, and collaborated on M2M solutions including wireless kiosks to capture health and wellness information remotely.

Apple Stores are often busy and with the release of new iPhones and iPads, Apple’s retail locations become bombarded with waves of excited customers. According to Needham & Company analyst Charlie Wolf, the launch of the iPhone 4S sent Apple Store sales to record heights during the holiday quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2011, revenue per store reached $17.08 million, a 42.6% increase over the same quarter in 2010. The average number of visitors per store was up 15.3% annually and sales per square foot reached $2,033 for the quarter — by comparison, the company’s nearest retail rival Tiffany & Co. saw sales of $2,974 per square foot last quarter, Fortune noted. Apple currently has 361 retail locations with 40 more planned for 2012, 30 of which will open overseas. The company currently has five locations in China and is looking to increase that number to 25 within the next three years.

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HTC on Monday reported earnings for the fourth quarter last year along with guidance for the first quarter that missed analysts’ estimates. Further highlighting the slump that began in October with the launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S, the Taiwan-based vendor posted fourth-quarter revenue of NT$101.42 billion, or approximately $3.5 billion USD, down 2.5% compared to the same quarter in 2010. Gross profit slid nearly 12% in the fourth quarter to NT$27.5 billion, and HTC’s total assets on hand at the end of the year slid more than 33% to NT$254.59 billion. In the first quarter of 2012, the vendor expects the rough patch to continue ahead of new product launches due later in the first half. HTC said first-quarter sales will likely fall between NT$65 billion and NT$70 billion while Wall Street expected guidance of approximately NT$85 billion.

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Industry watchers agree that smartphone sales will continue to balloon in 2012, but much of the projected growth will seemingly be enjoyed by just two companies. In a report to clients earlier this week, UBS analyst Maynard Um lowered his full-year unit sales projections for cell phones to 1.69 billion from his earlier estimate of 1.7 billion units. At the same time, however, he raised his industry revenue estimates to $242.8 billion from $238.8 billion thanks in large part to a huge year projected for both Apple and Samsung. Read on for more.

Um believes Apple and Samsung will combine to account for more than half of smartphone industry revenues in 2012. Each firm recently reported a moster holiday quarter — Samsung managed a company record in the fourth calendar quarter of 2011 while Apple posted the most profitable quarter in history among technology companies — and momentum is not expected to slow.

More telling than Um’s revenue predictions, however, are his profit estimates. The analyst believes Samsung and Apple will combine to record 90% of the smartphone industry’s pre-tax profits in 2012.

“Smartphones continue to grow strongly, now accounting for over 30% of total volumes and over 75% of total industry revenues,” the analyst wrote. “However, the performance disparity between the stronger players – Apple and Samsung – vs. the others remains stark and these two now account for over 55% of industry revenues and over 90% of total EBIT.”

Samsung has a number of exciting launches planned for the first half including a new Galaxy tablet with a high-resolution display and the quad-core Galaxy S III, Samsung’s sequel to the smartphone that drove much of its mobile profit in 2011. Apple is then expected to launch its next-generation iPhone over the summer or this coming fall.

Research In Motion’s newly appointed chairwoman of board Barbara Stymiest vowed on Thursday that the changes sweeping the struggling smartphone vendor will continue. RIM announced late last month that company co-founders Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis were stepping down from their roles as co-CEOs and co-chairmen of the board following more than a year of investor unrest. Replacing them atop RIM’s management team was Thorsten Heins, and Barbara Stymiest was named chairwoman of the board. Heins got off to a rocky start but promised that more change was coming, and now Stymiest has gone on record making a similar vow that the shake-up at RIM isn’t over. Read on for more.

Investors including Jaguar Financial, one of several firms that had been very vocal leading up to last month’s corporate shuffle, have voiced concerns that with Balsillie and Lazaridis still on RIM’s board, the company hasn’t yet done enough to right the ship. RIM’s new chairwoman argues that RIM is is still a work in progress, and while more change is coming, she appears confident in the company’s new leadership.

“Driving change in an organization means a high-performing board and a high-quality management team,” Stymiest told Bloomberg Businessweek in an interview. “You get those two right and you can drive change quickly and effectively.”

As Heins did during a conference call with investors, Stymiest points to execution as a key area where RIM must focus. ”We can improve on product execution and Thorsten is well-positioned to do that,” she said. Execution is of the utmost importance, of course, as RIM prepares to launch new breed of devices powered by the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. The BlackBerry London is expected to launch late this fall as RIM’s first BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

Stymiest appears confident that RIM can deliver. When asked by Businessweek if she planned to personally invest further in RIM, Stymiest replied, “I’m well exposed to RIM and continue to accumulate.” Former co-CEO and co-chairman Mike Lazaridis said he plans to invest an additional $50 million in RIM stock as a vote of confidence.

Kazuo Hirai was appointed Sony’s new chief executive on Wednesday and one day later, the company reported a wider than expected loss in the third fiscal quarter of 2011 that sent its stock tumbling more than 6% in early trading. The firm posted an operating loss of $1.2 billion on $23.4 billion in revenue, down more than 17% compared to the same quarter in fiscal 2010, and its net loss for the quarter totaled $2 billion. Sony also said it now anticipates a full-year loss of $2.9 billion, more than twice its earlier projection of $1.2 billion. The flooding in Thailand was seen as contributing to Sony’s poor performance in the third quarter, but the company noted that its hefty losses were “primarily due to an impairment loss on the shares of S-LCD, which were sold in January 2012, and the recording of a valuation allowance on deferred tax assets at Sony Ericsson.” The company cut its full-year PlayStation 3 console sales forecast to 14 million units from 15 million, and it trimmed its full-year digital camera sales forecast to 21 million units from earlier estimates of 23 million.

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LG Electronics on Wednesday posted its second consecutive quarterly loss despite record flat-panel TV shipments and solid performance from its mobile handset division. The South Korea-based electronics vendor recorded revenue of KRW 13.81 trillion, or approximately $12.05 billion USD, in the fourth quarter of 2011 along with an operating profit of KRW 23 billion, or about $20 million USD. Including one-time charges however, LG posted a net loss of KRW 112 billion, or approximately $97.7 million USD. The firm’s mobile arm posted a profit of KRW 12 billion ($10 million USD) on revenue totaling KRW 2.78 trillion ($2.42 billion USD) and its home entertainment division shipped 8.8 million HDTVs in the quarter. LG warned that first-quarter HDTV sales and mobile handset sales will slow due to seasonal decreases in demand. The company’s full press release follows below.

LG ANNOUNCES FOURTH-QUARTER AND FULL-YEAR 2011 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Quarterly Results Reflect Record-High Flat Panel TV Shipments,
Strong Appliances Revenues and Profitable Mobile Business

SEOUL, Feb. 1, 2012 -– LG Electronics Inc. (LG) today announced fourth quarter 2011 consolidated revenues of KRW 13.81 trillion (USD 12.05 billion) with an operating profit of KRW 23 billion (USD 20 million). Quarter-on-quarter revenue growth reflected strong performance in home entertainment and home appliances with improved operating profit in the mobile and TV businesses.

Unaudited consolidated financial results, based on IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) for the period ending Dec. 31, 2011, showed a net loss of KRW 112 billion (USD 97.73 million) in the quarter, primarily due to a loss on investments in affiliated companies and net financial expense.

Full-year 2011 consolidated revenues reached KRW 54.26 trillion (USD 48.97 billion). Despite a 2011 net loss of KRW 433 billion (USD 391 million), operating profits improved significantly to KRW 280 billion (USD 253 million) from KRW 176 billion (USD 153 million) for full-year 2010.

The LG Home Entertainment Company shipped a record high 8.8 million flat panel TVs from October to December, increasing revenues 17.6 percent from the previous quarter to KRW 6.31 trillion (USD 5.5 billion). While quarterly sales declined modestly from the 2010 period, a strong 2011 holiday season and more premium product mix led by CINEMA 3D TV resulted in an operating profit of KRW 150 billion (USD 130.9 million) in the fourth quarter of 2011. Full-year 2011 home entertainment sales were KRW 22.38 trillion (USD 20.2 billion) with operating profit of KRW 423 billion (USD 382 million). For 2012, LG will continue strengthening its position in 3D and Smart TVs with a broadened line of TVs with Cinema Screen design and quality content.

The LG Mobile Communications Company improved its position in the fourth quarter with operating profits of KRW 12 billion (USD 10 million) and sales of KRW 2.78 trillion (USD 2.42 billion) on the strength of premium smartphones such as Optimus LTE (Long Term Evolution). For full-year 2011, the company posted sales of KRW
11.69 trillion (USD 10.55 billion), a decline of 9.9 percent from 2010. For 2012, the company will continue to strengthen its position by focusing on strategic markets with expanded smartphone line-up led by LTE smartphones.

The LG Home Appliance Company posted record-high quarterly sales of KRW 2.99 trillion (USD 2.6 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2011 with strong growth in Korea, the U.S. and developing countries with more energy-efficient products. Modestly lower operating profit of KRW 65 billion (USD 57 million) in the fourth quarter reflected increased raw material costs and unfavorable foreign exchange rates. Total 2011 home appliance sales were KRW 11.11 trillion (USD 10.03 billion) with operating profit of KRW 295 billion (USD 266 million). New energy efficient appliances being introduced around the world this year are expected to contribute to 2012 revenue growth.

The LG Air Conditioning & Energy Solutions Company reported sales of KRW 680 billion (USD 593 million) in the fourth quarter, essentially flat with the 2010 fourth quarter. An operating loss of KRW 38 billion (USD 33 million) was attributed to negative macroeconomic issues and product mix weakness in developing markets. For full-year 2011, the company recorded air conditioning and energy solutions revenues of KRW 4.56 trillion (USD 4.11 billion) and operating profit of KRW 58 billion (USD 52 million). The company is increasing its focus on high-efficiency air conditioning systems to help drive sales in 2012.

2012 Business Direction
For 2012, LG Electronics is targeting a revenue goal of KRW 57.6 trillion (USD 53.8 billion) with plans to spend KRW 1.6 trillion (USD 1.5 billion) in capital expenditures and to invest KRW 2.6 trillion (USD 2.4 billion) in research and development.

2011 4Q Exchange Rates Explained
LG Electronics unaudited earnings results are based on IFRS. Amounts in Korean won (KRW) are converted into U.S. dollars (USD) at the average rate of the three month period in each corresponding quarter: KRW 1,146 per USD (2011 4Q) and KRW 1,133 per USD (2010 4Q). Average rate of the twelve-month period in 2011 was KRW 1,108 per USD and KRW 1,157 per USD in 2010. LG expects the exchange rate in 2012 to be KRW 1,070 per USD.

Amazon on Tuesday reported its earnings for the fourth quarter, during which it took in $17.4 billion in revenue. While its net sales were up 35% from the $12.95 billion reported during the fourth quarter last year, the company missed analyst estimates of $18.26 billion in revenue for the quarter. Amazon’s net income decreased 58% to $177 million during the quarter, or $0.38 per diluted share, compared with the net income of $416 million it reported during the same quarter last year. Net sales for the year jumped 41% to $48.08 billion, up from the $34.20 billion the company reported in 2010. Amazon said its Kindle Fire tablet has been the #1 best-selling, most wished-for and most gifted product on its website for the past 17 weeks. In addition, the company said the nine-week holiday period ended December 31st, 2011 resulted in a 177% increase in Kindle unit sales, which includes the Kindle Fire. Amazon expects net sales to fall between $12 billion and $13.4 billion during the first quarter of this year, up between 22% and 36% from the first quarter last year. Amazon’s full press release follows after the break. 

Amazon.com Announces Fourth Quarter Sales up 35% to $17.43 Billion; Kindle Device Sales Nearly Triple During the Holidays

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 31, 2012– Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced financial results for its fourth quarter endedDecember 31, 2011.
Operating cash flow increased 12% to $3.90 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $3.50 billion for the trailing twelve months endedDecember 31, 2010. Free cash flow decreased 17% to $2.09 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $2.52 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2010.

Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 468 million on December 31, 2011, compared with 465 million a year ago.

Net sales increased 35% to $17.43 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $12.95 billion in fourth quarter 2010. Excluding the $101 millionfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales would have grown 34% compared with fourth quarter 2010.

Operating income was $260 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $474 million in fourth quarter 2010. The favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter on operating income was $5 million.

Net income decreased 58% to $177 million in the fourth quarter, or $0.38 per diluted share, compared with net income of $416 million, or $0.91 per diluted share, in fourth quarter 2010.

“We are grateful to the millions of customers who purchased the Kindle Fire and Kindle e-reader devices this holiday season, making Kindle our bestselling product across both the U.S. and Europe,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “Our millions of third-party sellers had a tremendous holiday season with 65% unit growth and now represent 36% of total units sold.”

Full Year 2011
Net sales increased 41% to $48.08 billion, compared with $34.20 billion in 2010. Excluding the $1.09 billion favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the year, net sales would have grown 37% compared with 2010.
Operating income decreased 39% to $862 million, compared with $1.41 billion in 2010. The favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the year on operating income was $53 million.

Net income decreased 45% to $631 million in 2011, or $1.37 per diluted share, compared with net income of $1.15 billion, or $2.53 per diluted share, in 2010.
Highlights
• During the nine-week holiday period ending December 31, 2011, Kindle unit sales, including both the Kindle Fire and e-reader devices, increased 177% over the same period last year.

• Kindle Fire is the #1 bestselling, most gifted, and most wished for product across the millions of items available on Amazon.com since its introduction 17 weeks ago.

• Amazon launched Kindle Stores at Amazon.it and Amazon.es. Kindle moved to the top of the bestseller list on launch day in both countries and held the top spot this holiday season. The new Kindle was also the bestselling product on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de and Amazon.fr.
• Amazon.com announced the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, a benefit of Prime membership that offers over 80,000 books to borrow for free – including over 100 current and former New York Times bestsellers – as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates.
• Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) announced KDP Select, an annual fund of at least $6 million dedicated to independent authors and publishers who participate in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. In December alone, customers borrowed 295,000 KDP Select titles, and KDP Select has helped grow the total library selection of books by over 16X.
• Amazon continued to expand its catalog of title offerings for Prime Instant Video, announcing licensing agreements with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, which added the popular FOX and FX television shows Glee and Sons of Anarchy, and Disney-ABC Television, which added popular television shows including Lost and Grey’s Anatomy. These deals bring the total number of Prime Instant Videos to more than 13,000 movies and TV shows from partners such as CBS, Fox, NBCUniversal, Sony, Warner Bros., PBS, ABC-Disney and many more.
• The number of videos purchased or rented from Amazon Instant Video and the number of Amazon Instant Video customers both more than doubled year-over-year in the fourth quarter. In addition, the number of Prime Instant Video streams increased nearly 300% in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter.
• Amazon Appstore for Android customers nearly tripled in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter. In addition, customers downloaded more apps from the Amazon Appstore during the fourth quarter than they had during all previous quarters combined.

• North America segment sales, representing the Company’s U.S. and Canadian sites, were $9.90 billion, up 37% from fourth quarter 2010.
• International segment sales, representing the Company’s U.K., German, Japanese, French, Chinese, Italian and Spanish sites, were $7.53 billion, up 31% from fourth quarter 2010. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 29%.
• Worldwide Media sales grew 15% to $6.01 billion. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 14%.
• Worldwide Electronics and Other General Merchandise sales grew 48% to $10.91 billion. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 47%.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the launch of its new South America (Sao Paulo) Region and U.S. West (Oregon) Region, bringing the total to eight geographic regions worldwide to which the company has deployed its global cloud computing services.
• AWS announced the launch of Amazon DynamoDB, a fully managed NoSQL database service that provides extremely fast and predictable performance with seamless scalability. With a few clicks in the AWS Management Console, customers can launch a new Amazon DynamoDB database table, scale up or down their request capacity for the table without downtime or performance degradation, and gain visibility into resource utilization and performance metrics.
• AWS announced that customers can now run their Microsoft Windows Server applications within the AWS Free Usage Tier – a program designed to help new AWS customers get started in the cloud. Developers and businesses with Windows Server applications can take advantage of 750 hours of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) Micro Instance usage per month, at no charge for a one-year period.

Financial Guidance
The following forward-looking statements reflect Amazon.com’s expectations as of January 31, 2012. Our results are inherently unpredictable and may be materially affected by many factors, such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and consumer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the Internet and online commerce and the various factors detailed below.
First Quarter 2012 Guidance

• Net sales are expected to be between $12.0 billion and $13.4 billion, or to grow between 22% and 36% compared with first quarter 2011.
• Operating income (loss) is expected to be between $(200) million and $100 million, or between 162% decline and 69% decline compared with first quarter 2011.
• This guidance includes approximately $200 million for stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets, and it assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions or investments are concluded and that there are no further revisions to stock-based compensation estimates.
A conference call will be webcast live today at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET, and will be available for at least three months at www.amazon.com/ir. This call will contain forward-looking statements and other material information regarding the Company’s financial and operating results.
These forward-looking statements are inherently difficult to predict. Actual results could differ materially for a variety of reasons, including, in addition to the factors discussed above, the amount that Amazon.com invests in new business opportunities and the timing of those investments, the mix of products sold to customers, the mix of net sales derived from products as compared with services, the extent to which we owe income taxes, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international growth and expansion, the outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, risks of inventory management, seasonality, the degree to which the Company enters into, maintains and develops commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, and risks of fulfillment throughput and productivity. Other risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks related to new products, services and technologies, system interruptions, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. In addition, the current global economic climate amplifies many of these risks. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

Our investor relations website is www.amazon.com/ir and we encourage investors to use it as a way of easily finding information about us. We promptly make available on this website, free of charge, the reports that we file or furnish with the SEC, corporate governance information (including our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics), and select press releases and social media postings.

Global mobile phone shipments grew 14% annually to shatter the previous shipment record in 2011. Market research firm Strategy Analytics estimates that 1.6 billion cell phones were shipped last year, representing more than one-fifth of the world’s total population, which surpassed 7 billion in late October last year according to the Population Reference Bureau. An earlier report from the GSMA estimated that there are now more than 6 billion total mobile connections worldwide. Read on for more.

Handset shipments grew 11% to reach 445 million units globally last quarter according to Strategy Analytics, 155 million of which were smartphones. Nokia retained its No.1 position globally with mobile phone shipments totaling 113.5 million units, and Samsung followed with 95 million units. With just one smartphone line that includes just three models, Apple was the world’s No.3 cell phone vendor last quarter with shipments totaling 37 million units.

Nokia was also the top vendor for the full year, having shipped 417.1 million phones globally according to Strategy Analytics’s figures. Samsung shipped 327.4 million units in 2011 and Apple sold 93 million iPhones into distribution channels.

“Smartphone specialist Apple shipped 93.0 million handsets worldwide in 2011, nearly doubling the previous year’s volumes,” Strategy Analytics analyst Tom Kang said. “Currently in just its fifth year of participation in the handset market, Apple is on track to ship well over 100 million units during 2012. China is becoming a key market for Apple this year, and we expect Apple’s share to grow rapidly in 2012, despite countless copycat rivals.” The firm’s full press release follows below.

Strategy Analytics: Global Handset Shipments Reach 1.6 Billion Units in 2011

Boston, MA – January 26, 2012 – According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global handset shipments grew 11 percent annually to reach 445 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011. Apple was the star performer, capturing a record 8 percent market share worldwide during the quarter. Full-year handset shipments reached 1.6 billion units globally in 2011, with annual growth of 14 percent.

Alex Spektor, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Despite continued macroeconomic difficulties in major markets like Western Europe, global handset shipments grew a reasonable 11 percent annually to reach 445 million units in Q4 2011. Apple was the star performer, shipping 37.0 million iPhones worldwide and capturing a highest-ever 8 percent market share. Apple’s growth was fuelled by intense demand for its refreshed iPhone 4S, as well as the availability of three generations of iPhones at a variety of price points at operators like AT&T in the United States.”

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Nokia’s global handset shipments declined 8 percent annually to 113.5 million units in Q4 2011. Volumes were buoyed by the sales of Nokia’s low-end dual-SIM models in emerging markets like Southeast Asia, but were a little soft overall, as initial shipments of Microsoft Lumia phones could not offset declining Symbian sales. Hot on Nokia’s heels, second-ranked Samsung captured 21 percent share with shipments of 95.0 million units. Samsung’s 18 percent annual growth was fuelled by robust shipments of its broad Galaxy-branded 3G portfolio, headlined by the Galaxy S2 superphone.”

Tom Kang, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Smartphone specialist Apple shipped 93.0 million handsets worldwide in 2011, nearly doubling the previous year’s volumes. Currently in just its fifth year of participation in the handset market, Apple is on track to ship well over 100 million units during 2012. China is becoming a key market for Apple this year, and we expect Apple’s share to grow rapidly in 2012, despite countless copycat rivals.”

Exhibit 1: Global Handset Vendor Shipments and Market Share in Q4 2011

[See chart above]

The full report, Global Handset Shipments Reach 445 Million Units in Q4 2011, is published by the Strategy Analytics Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, details of which can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/3tbnzb6.

Investors had been clamoring for Research In Motion co-founders Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis to relinquish their co-CEO and co-chairman roles, and the company finally announced this past Sunday that Balsillie and Lazaridis were out, replaced by new chairperson of the board Barbara Stymiest and new chief executive officer Thorsten Heins. RIM’s stock plunged more than 13% when Heins introduced himself as the company’s new CEO, due in large part to a video interview during which he essentially told the same story RIM’s former chiefs have been telling for more than a year. The new CEO has since backed away from the company’s old it’s OK, we’re OK message while speaking to the press and analysts, however, and it is no coincidence that RIM’s stock has recovered a bit as Heins assures investors that change is brewing. Read on for more.

Moving away from what seemed to be a string of PR-approved messages, Heins admitted in a recent interview with CNBC that RIM fell behind its competition in the key U.S. market. ”It hurts. It hurts me to see us losing market share in the U.S.,” Heins confessed. “There was a paradigm shift, and we did not shift with it. I know we’ve made mistakes, and I know I’m in for a fight.” Apple and Google owned a combined 75.6% of the U.S. smartphone market in the three month through November 2011 while RIM’s market share slid to 16.6% according to comScore.

The fighting spirit is what investors are looking for, and a new wave of panic swept over the Street when that spirit seemed almost completely absent in Heins’s ill-received introductory video. The new chief is changing his tune, however. “We want to stop the bleeding,” Heins told CNBC.

In a separate interview with CrackBerry.com, Heins emphasized that change is coming but stated that RIM will continue to focus on its strengths. “There is a lot of change,” the executive said. “There is a lot of structure change, there has been already a lot of change in terms of our software, our software platform, bringing QNX in. There is no standstill at any moment here at RIM. What I wanted to make clear to the market is that we believe in our own strength. We are BlackBerry, we are an integrated solution, hardware, software, services and network.”

Heins also made sure to point out that RIM is well aware of the positions its competition has taken. He explained that RIM has a team dedicated to testing competitors’ devices and he himself tests iPhones, Android handsets and other phones. RIM’s historical lack of movement when it comes to features and elements of the user experience that have driven success on competing platforms has not gone unnoticed, so Heins’s comments are refreshing if nothing else.

Where device launches are concerned, RIM has a slow year ahead. BGR exclusively revealed the company’s 2012 roadmap early this week, which is highlighted by a new 7-inch PlayBook tablet — the sequel to a slate that cost RIM $485 million last quarter — and a single BlackBerry 10 smartphone that won’t launch until late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter. Its new chief executive has at least begun to publicly exhibit an understanding of the new smartphone landscape that has left the company trailing its competition, however, which is something RIM has never truly done in the past.

We still have eight months or even longer to wait before RIM releases its first BlackBerry 10 smartphone but in the meantime, RIM might do well to let its new CEO speak candidly more often.