The digital business week


24 Oct 2011

A digest of the top business and technology news stories from the past week.

Apple reports Q4 revenues of US$28.3bn, profits of US$6.6bn

Apple’s Q4 revenues of US$28.3bn signal it achieving a fiscal 2011 of more than US$100bn. However, it fell short of Wall Street expectations of US$29.5bn, yielding investors US$7.05 a share – the first time Apple has fallen short of earnings expectations in several years.

But despite investor reaction that saw company stock fall 8pc in after-hours trading, Apple is still a company in rude health.

Apple posted quarterly revenue of US$28.27bn and a quarterly net profit of US$6.62bn, or US$7.05 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of US$20.34bn and net quarterly profit of US$4.31bn, or US$4.64 per diluted share, a year ago.

Apple sold 17.07m iPhones in the quarter, representing 21pc unit growth over the year-ago quarter.

Apple sold 11.12m iPads during the quarter, a 166pc unit increase over last year.

The company sold 4.89m Macs during the quarter, a 26pc unit increase year-on-year. Apple sold 6.62m iPods, a 27pc unit decline from last year.

Samsung now looking to block iPhone 4S sales in Japan, Australia

Samsung is now seeking to block the sale of the iPhone 4S in Japan and Australia as its bitter patent dispute with Apple continues.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Samsung filed a preliminary injunction in both the Tokyo District Court in Japan and in the New South Wales Registry in Australia to try and prevent the iPhone 4S from being sold in these regions. It also asked the Tokyo District Court to ban the sale of the iPhone 4 and the iPad 2.

The filing in Japan relates to infringements on technology and UI patents. In Australia, Samsung claims that Apple has infringed its wireless communications patents.

Apple and Samsung are engaged in numerous lawsuits around the world over smartphone and tablet patents.

HTC loses US patent case against Apple

The US International Trade Commission has said Apple did not violate HTC’s mobile patents after HTC lodged a complaint against Apple last month.

The Wall Street Journal reports the ITC issued its initial determination saying Apple did not infringe HTC’s patents relating to technology for searching and dialling phone numbers and methods for managing power consumption.

HTC could still appeal the case, however.

Galway medical tech firm Crospon gets FDA clearance

Galway-headquartered Crospon has received FDA clearance for its EF-800 external channel endoscopic accessory.

This is the latest output in the collaborative development programme between Crospon and Israeli medical device developer Smart Medical announced in April 2011.

The device provides an external 4mm channel which can be applied to a diagnostic or therapeutic endoscope to allow the user to deploy endoscopic accessories whose diameter exceeds the typical channel diameter of such endoscopes.

“This general purpose channel may be used to deploy the company’s EndoFLIP catheters into hard-to-access parts of the gastrointestinal tract, for example for measurement of stomas in the stomach created during bariatric surgery procedures,” John O’Dea, CEO, Crospon, said.

“Equally, it will be useful for a variety of other endoscopic accessories, for example larger dilation catheters, graspers or imaging probes.”

RIM offers apps as compensation for massive outage

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) is offering customers affected by the recent outage apps worth US$100 instead of cash by way of an apology.

First, users in Europe and the Middle East, then the Americas, were hit by an outage that began 10 October and concluded 14 October. A failure in a back-up server at the company’s Slough data centre in the UK caused the outage.

During the outage users could not access the web, send email or BBMs.

The company said it would be offering a selection of premium apps worth a total value of more than US$100 to subscribers “as an expression of appreciation for their patience during the recent service disruptions.”

The apps will be made available to customers over the coming weeks on BlackBerry App World and will continue to be available until 31 December.

Zamano CEO stepping down

John O’Shea, CEO of mobile phone services group Zamano, is to step down from his position on 18 November “to pursue other interests”, the company said today.

Corporate financier Pat Landy, currently a non-executive director, will take on a temporary executive role at the group, which consists of Everneo, Zamano Solutions Ltd (ZSL) and Newsworthie, while the board identifies a replacement CEO, the company said in a statement.

In the meantime, Margaret O’Connor, managing director of Everneo, and Michael Connolly, group financial controller of Zamano, will have operational responsibility for the group.

Stay informed – get daily updates on the latest happenings in technology directly to your inbox.