Posts tagged buying

Boy scolded for buying mobile, runs away

Mar 26th

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COIMBATORE: A 16-year-old tenth standard student of a city school reportedly fled from his residence after his parents scolded him for stealing their money to buy a mobile phone. The police are now trying to trace him and have finally located his phone near Dindigul district on Saturday.

According to police, T Vijayakumar (16), a student of CSI boys school near Town Hall in the city, has been missing since Friday. He had left home in Ramanathapuram to attend early morning tuition class at around 6 am. He was last seen on Bharati Nagar fourth street where his father Thiagarajan, a construction labourer left him on Friday morning.

“His father accompanied him till the fourth street. His tuition centre is on the fifth street in the same locality. It now seems he did not attend tuitions and went somewhere else,” said Meenakshi Thiagarajan, his mother.

The parents claim that they saw a new mobile handset with Vijayakumar on Thursday evening and scolded him when he could not explain properly from where he got the phone. “We now realise that he was stealing money from our house and also using our ATM card without our knowledge. But it is okay we just want him to return,” Meenakshi added.

The parents have lodged a missing complaint with the city police on Friday evening. “We are trying to locate the boy. We are also talking to the parents’ family friends and relatives, in and around Coimbatore,” said S Gomathi, inspector, Puliyakulam police station.

From timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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Japan Quake May Spur ‘Panic Buying’ of Chips, IHS ISuppli Says

Mar 18th

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Japan Quake May Spur ‘Panic Buying’ of Chips, IHS ISuppli Says March 17, 2011, 10:13 PM EDT

By Mark Lee

(See EXT2 for coverage of Japan’s earthquake.)

March 18 (Bloomberg) — Electronics makers are rushing to secure supplies of semiconductors and components after last week’s earthquake in Japan forced companies including Toshiba Corp. and Sony Corp. to shut plants, a research company said.

“Many electronic original equipment manufacturers worldwide could be engaging in panic buying of semiconductors and electronic components,” IHS iSuppli said today in an e- mailed report. Some distributors have reported “a surge in orders” from customers that are anticipating supply disruptions, the company said.

The magnitude-9 earthquake, Japan’s strongest on record, and ensuing tsunami that struck on March 11 damaged plants and disrupted power supply, causing companies including Toshiba, Sony and Fujitsu Ltd. to halt production of components used in mobile phones and personal computers.

Japan is the leading maker of silicon, the main material in chip manufacturing, and has 130 semiconductor-fabrication production lines in 53 locations, according to IHS iSuppli. Suppliers that have halted production are unlikely to resume until the risk of more earthquakes recedes, the company said.

Apple Inc. may face logistical difficulties and supply shortages for components in its iPad 2 tablet, as five parts of the device are made in Japan and could be affected by the disaster, IHS iSuppli said yesterday.

–Editors: Chua Kong Ho, Terje Langeland

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lee in Hong Kong at wlee37@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net

From www.businessweek.com

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Handset upgrades keep consumers buying

Jan 31st

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The global mobile phone market grew 17.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 as consumers ditched their old phones and opted for one of the many new affordable smartphones appearing in the market.

“Mobile phone users are eager to swap out older devices for ones that handle data as well as voice, which is driving growth and replacement cycles,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker.

Device shipments rose to 401.4 million units in 2010′s fourth quarter, up from 2009′s fourth quarter figures of around 340.5 million shipments.

In the western world there is a strong consumer movement towards smartphones, but in emerging markets low-cost feature phone makers such as China’s ZTE are seeing their piece of the pie expand.

ZTE leapfrogged over handset makers such as Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Research in Motion (RIM) to claim the number 4 position worldwide for the first time during the quarter – but analysts with IDC are not sure how long the company will retain its current position.

“Change-up among the number four and five vendors could be a regular occurrence this year,” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team in a report released January 27.

“Motorola, Research In Motion, and Sony Ericsson, all vendors with a tight focus on the fast-growing smartphone market who had ranked among the top five worldwide vendors during 2010 are well within striking distance to move back into the top five list.”

Consumers in the market for a new mobile phone will continue to be seduced by the extra features found on smartphones in the years to come says IDC. This trend will boost smartphone submarket shipments by 43.7 percent year over year in 2011.

In the Asia-Pacific region low-cost feature phones and high-end smartphones flew off the shelves. Smartphones were exceedingly popular in Korea, accounting for two-thirds of phones shipped during the fourth quarter of 2010.

The iPhone 4 HTC Desire, Nokia N8, Samsung Galaxy S and BlackBerry 8520 were Western Europe’s top-selling handsets.

Apple and RIM lead the mobile phone market in the United States while smartphones from Nokia RIM, Samsung and Huawei helped boost the current social networking and messaging trends in Latin America.

Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors and their global market share in 4Q10

1. Nokia – 30.8%
2. Samsung – 20.1%
3. LG Electronics – 7.6%
4. ZTE – 4.2%
5. Apple – 4.0%
Others – 33.2%

From www.independent.co.uk

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GE buying Lineage Power in $520 million deal

Jan 16th

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GE buying Lineage Power in $520 million deal

NEW YORK (AP) — General Electric Co. announced Thursday it will buy privately held Lineage Power Holdings Inc. in a deal worth $520 million to tap into the growth in data centers, electronic devices and telecommunications.

Lineage Power produces equipment that converts electric power back and forth from alternating current, or AC, to direct current or DC.

This kind of equipment is used both inside personal electronic devices like mobile phones and also to covert electricity from the grid or from generators to power computers inside data centers, telecommunication antennae and other electric industrial equipment.

GE said Thursday the market for power conversion equipment is $20 billion and growing fast.

This is the latest in a string of acquisitions by GE designed to expand the company’s energy business. In October GE said it planned to buy Dresser Inc., a company that makes small natural gas–fired turbines, for $3 billion. In December GE offered to buy Wellstream Holdings PLC, which makes pipes and other equipment for deep–water oil production, for $1.3 billion.

Lineage Power is based in Plano, Texas. The company’s 2010 revenue was approximately $450 million. It has almost 2,300 employees and manufacturing operations in China, Mexico and India.

GE, based in Fairfield, Conn., is buying Lineage Power from The Gores Group LLC, a private equity firm based in Los Angeles.

The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter.

GE shares rose 5 cents to $18.72 in morning trading.

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From topnews360.tmcnet.com

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Carrier Beats Features In Mobile Buying Decisions

Sep 1st

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Slideshow: Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Revealed(click for larger image and for full photo gallery) More than half of Americans with mobile devices do not know the month and year that their mobile phone contract expires, according to a recent study commissioned by Best Buy Mobile, the mobile retail unit of electronics retailer Best Buy.

The survey examined consumers’ knowledge and shopping habits pertaining to mobile plans, devices, technologies, and accessories. Although 23% of respondents said they purchased a mobile phone based on the device itself, the majority of respondents (67%) said their main criterion was the carrier. The type of operating system the device uses was a factor for one in 10 respondents, Best Buy Mobile said, but specific platform preferences were not given.

“When it comes to mobile solutions available today, many consumers are not armed with the right information to truly get the most out of their mobile phone,” said Shawn Score, president of Best Buy Mobile, in a statement. “We know that there are customers out there using mobile phones that are four and five years old when they could be using a smartphone.”

While content interests differ, another big factor in choosing a mobile device included multimedia capabilities such as music, video, and camera, listed by 45% of respondents. Some 32% said they look for GPS navigation functionality; 29% said their mobile device replaces a landline phone; 26% said they want to be able to navigate social networking sites; and 26% want to be Wi-Fi enabled.

The survey also revealed that 15% of respondents want to make purchases from their mobile devices, 15% want the ability to download a movie, and 14% want to use their phone to play games.

The findings were based on approximately 1,000 interviews conducted in May 2010 almost evenly divided among female and male adults, the retailer said.

Best Buy recently launched a consumer education plan called the Upgrade Checker campaign to help mobile users determine whether they are eligible for a mobile phone upgrade by inputting information, including their device phone number, zip code, and carrier.

Web 2.0 Expo New York highlights the important debates and the challenges faced by the industry’s key players, and helps you pick the winning platforms for growth in a Web-fueled world. It happens Sept. 27-30. Find out more and register.

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Consumers Think Greener About Buying and Recycling Mobile Phones

Aug 31st

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[August 31, 2010]

Consumers Think Greener About Buying and Recycling Mobile Phones

Aug 31, 2010 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) — Mobile users are becoming more eco-conscious, recycling more and more phones, buying “greener” phones and selling old models, research has shown.

Recently, mobile network provider O2 launched a rating system for phone manufacturers based on their environmental footprints, with the awareness that customers are growing more concerned with sustainability. Nearly all major companies participated in O2′s 63-question survey, with the exception of Apple, which declined to comment as to why they opted out, only pointing out that their environmental reports can be found online.

Apple’s refusal was rather alarming to communications experts, but not surprising. Apple has had to adjust their practices in the past, when they came under scrutiny for using brominated flame retardants and PVC in the manufacturing of their products.

While it is highly unlikely that their declining to answer O2′s survey will hinder sales in a meaningful way, and it is of course possible to recycle mobile phones (http://www.compareandrecycle.co.uk/mobile-phones) made by Apple, such as the iPhone, it has still raised a red flag that’s hard to ignore, especially as more than 11.5 percent of consumers say that sustainability has a “strong influence” when buying a new model, according to O2′s research.

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Of the phones that participated in the O2 recycling (http://www.compareandrecycle.co.uk/o2-recycle) survey, the Sony Ericsson Elm came in first with a 4.3 out a 5.0 rating, followed by the Nokia 1800, Nokia 6700, Nokia C7, Samsung GT-S8500, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini pro and Sony Ericsson Zylo, which all scored 4.0 ratings.

While these ratings are sure to impact buying decisions, mobile phone users are already acting greener when it comes to the disposal of their old, unwanted phones. With the launch of sites like Compare and Recycle, recycling mobile phones (http://www.compareandrecycle.co.uk) and other unused electronics has become easy, convenient and even lucrative. Customers can choose from a list of recyclers on the site to find the best price for their models and to ensure that the phone and its parts will be disposed of properly.

As sustainability grows to be a bigger concern for consumers, companies like O2 and Compare and Recycle will surely continue to cater to the best interest of the customer as well as the environment.

Find out more about recycling old mobiles at Compare and Recycle.

### Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/recycle/mobile/prweb4436424.htm.

PRWeb.com

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Intel buying chipmaker’s wireless unit

Aug 30th

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Intel Corp is buying the wireless communications unit of Germany’s Infineon Technologies AG for $US1.4 billion ($A1.55 billion) in cash, the second deal in as many weeks that allows the chipmaker to expand beyond the struggling personal computer market.

Intel has tried with limited success to get its chips into cell phones. It is hoping to change that by buying Infineon’s wireless business, which makes chips for smart phones such as Apple Inc’s iPhone.

It’s a problem Intel is urgently trying to fix because the smart phone market is too lucrative for Intel to remain a bit player.

Intel’s chips are criticised as being too power-hungry for today’s smart phones. The Infineon deal would give Intel technical know-how to make chips for small devices that don’t drain batteries as quickly. That expertise is particularly needed for chips built around the low-power ARM architecture, which is widely used in cell phones.

The deal, which still requires regulatory approval, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011.

On August 19, Intel announced plans to buy security software maker McAfee Inc for $US7.68 billion ($A8.52 billion) in what would be the biggest acquisition in Intel’s 42-year history once it gains the expected approvals. As mobile phones become increasingly enticing targets for hackers, security companies have been developing ways to protect those devices. With McAfee, Intel would be able to bake security into its mobile chips – including those from Infineon.

Both deals signal a shift away from Intel’s traditional market of providing chips to power personal computers. The PC market is on shaky ground again after a robust comeback led by businesses making computer purchases they had resisted during the recession.

With its main business under pressure, Intel lowered its revenue expectation last week for the current quarter. Two major computer makers, Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc, also raised red flags recently about what is normally a robust season for sales.

Besides smart phones, Intel can use Infineon’s technology in laptops, netbooks and tablets such as Apple’s iPad. Analysts believe the iPad’s success is chipping away at the normally strong back-to-school season for PCs.

Intel, which is based in Santa Clara, California, is no stranger to acquisition binges that take the company far afield of its core business – making the microprocessors that act as the “brains” of 80 per cent of the world’s PCs.

Those forays, however, haven’t always been fruitful.

Intel’s last stab at cracking the wireless market ended in embarrassment in 2006 when the company sold for just $US600 million ($A665.78 million) a number of communications businesses it bought during a multibillion-dollar spending spree during the dot-com heyday.

That sale was an acknowledgment by Intel that it needed to focus on its core business, as a smaller rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, was stealing market share for chips in PCs.

That track record prompted analyst Craig Berger with FBR Capital Markets to warn that “we feel like we’ve seen this movie before”. He said he remains sceptical of Intel’s ability to execute outside of its core market.

Shares of Intel fell 32 cents, or 1.7 per cent, to $18.05 in morning trading Monday.

Infineon said that shedding the wireless business would allow it to focus on its core automotive, industrial and chip card and security divisions.

The wireless unit had revenue of $US1.17 billion ($A1.3 billion) (917 million) in the last fiscal year, which ended last September – about one-third of Infineon’s total revenue.

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