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Ingram Micro & Dell Warn Of IT Meltdown

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This morning two of the worlds biggest computer vendors, Dell and Ingram Micro, are warning that demand for IT products was weakening, which in turn would hurt both corporate and consumer spending.


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“It sounds like things are really starting to slip everywhere. Both consumer and corporate end-demand are slowing. The question is how long it lasts,” said Cross Research analyst Shannon Cross to the UK’s Guardian newspaper.

And Dell said it seeing a further softening in global end-user demand, with that demand “not rebounding in September as it normally did”.

As for Ingram Micro, the world’s biggest computer products distributor, it has cut its third-quarter profit and revenue outlook, saying economic softness in July and August was continuing into September and “pressuring operating margins”, according to the Guardian report.

In Australia, according to one local IT vendor, the effects of a slowdown have been felt for some time now, regardless of what else is happening on Wall Street.

Steve Rust, the MD of Panasonic noted that, “due to the continually rising interest rates, corporate IT spend has been down for a while”.

 

“We have already seen the impact on both the consumer and SME market from this, however, whether the events from New York will have a further impact on IT spending is hard to tell. We will just have to wait and see”, noted Rust.

However in an interesting side note, Rust pointed out that companies such Panasonic that sell consumer items such as TV’s may well be buffered from the full effect of an IT meltdown since there is a “high demand for Flat Panels TV’s in this country, along with other AV products, especially leading up to Christmas”, which he notes” which may nullify the downward sales figures somewhat.

But not all IT vendors are putting such a positive spin on events. For example, storage vendor Seagate has also sounded the warning bells by noting that, “poor visibility about where the economy was heading was causing people to pull back spending plans”.

And adding to the IT industry’s woes was analysts firm Forrester Research, which forecast that tech spending in the US will grow at 6.1 per cent, down from its previous forecast estimate of 9.4 per cent.

New Online Sales Collaboration Tool

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Premiere Global Services has launched SalesMeet, a sales management tool bringing mobile teams together online to maximise every sales opportunity.

Designed specifically for sales environments, SalesMeet gives sales executives control over their own interactive online meeting environment. Automated tools such as SMS and voice messaging notifications invite and remind dispersed sales teams of critical briefings. Participation and interaction can be managed via a web console to see who is present, control discussion through host leader controls and invite colleagues on the fly.

Natalie Forsyth, Director of Marketing and Channels, Asia Pacific, Premiere Global Services said, “SalesMeet provides sales leaders with a flexible and effective way to communicate with their sales teams while still allowing them to be truly mobile.”

“Updating teams on the latest revenue forecasts, pipeline status and customer-facing issues all at the same time, is crucial for sales leaders developing an efficient and more profitable sales organisation.”

“Businesses can also record, play back and obtain transcripts of meetings, improving the effectiveness of processed information, as well as keeping staff who are unable to attend the meeting properly informed.”

“SalesMeet incorporates all the features that a sales professional needs in order to be able to react to closing customers faster. Not only does that mean less time travelling, but lower costs and increased customer satisfaction,” she said.

Palm Adds Two New Handhelds

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An introductory Palm handheld device targeting the “paper-planner” market will debut at $179 – the cheapest Palm with a colour screen.


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The Palm Z22 organiser is one of two new products announced today. Weighing just under 100 grams and about the same size as a deck of playing cards, the Palm Z22 organiser is based on the Zire handheld, which sold more than 1 million units in its first seven months on the market.

Paul Blinkhorn, vice president for Palm Asia Pacific said: “With its highly desirable design and sleek form-factor, the Palm Z22 is perfect for first-time users who can now throw away their paper planners, replacing scratched-out pages and dozens of sticky notes, and for the style conscious to keep their lives and information organised in a single device and yet be an avenue for expressing their individual style and taste.”

Also today, Palm announced a Wi-Fi Palm TX handheld priced at $499 (estimated street price). The TX has Bluetooth as well and a large, high-res 320×480 colour screen.


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Targeted at a more professional market including students, or for the home networking enthusiast, the TX has more document support that the Z22, with DataViz Documents To Go users can view, edit and create Word and Excel compatible files, and view and edit PowerPoint files.

“The Palm TX handheld speaks directly to what our customers want – fast, integrated wireless access, a large colour screen and 128MB of memory – all in a sleek and professional form factor,” said Blinkhorm. “This is the wireless device customers have been waiting for. There is no other handheld on the market today with the same capabilities at the same affordable price.”

The 128MB (approximately 100MB user available) of non-volatile flash memory protects users’ documents and information, even if the device is not charged and the power runs down.

Powered by a 312MHz processor, the device has enough power for digital music and video applications. In fact the device comes bundled with Pocket Tunes for playing music files or Podcasts.

 

There is an expansion card slot for MultiMediaCard, SD and SDIO formats and isacapable of SD Cards up to 2GB.

www.palm.com/au

 

Mobile Advertising Set To Explode In Australia

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At present, the mobile advertising market in Australia is very much in its infancy with total revenues reaching just $2.5 million in 2007.


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However, according to one study, this figure is set to grow more than 300 per cent in 2008 to about $10 million and be sustained into next year driven by the growing consumer take-up of 3G data services coupled with attractive campaign pricing to entice advertisers.

 The Australia Next-Generation Mobile Advertising Market 2007-2011 study from Frost & Sullivan found that sustained growth of mobile advertising into 2009 will depend on a continued reduction in mobile operator data charges, the development of sophisticated mobile advertising offerings from more organisations, and enhanced technological capabilities and integration across the mobile advertising value chain.

 At the same time, continued uncertainty about the mobile advertising medium among advertisers is still restraining its popularity.  The study found that mobile advertising spend currently is mainly driven by the media and entertainment, and banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) industries which together contributed more than 50 per cent of revenues in 2007. 

Currently, the bulk of mobile advertising spend is based on campaign trials in partnership with mobile carriers and content publishers. 

 

This is concentrated in display (banners and video) accounting for 91 per cent of total revenues. And concurrently, search advertising on mobile phones remains very low, with most consumer activity still concentrated in the free-to-access, on-deck directories within carrier portals, said Frost & Sullivan. 

Early leaders in the mobile advertising space, including Vodafone, Hutchison 3, Sensis MediaSmart, ninemsn and Fairfax Digital have now reached a stage where they can offer marketers a proven next-generation mobile proposition. Vodafone for its part had some 40 per cent of the market share in 2007.

In addition, the number of 3G handset subscribers is expected to mushroom with the corresponding adoption of mobile data services. 

Frost & Sullivan estimates there are now more than six million 3G handset subscribers in Australia and this will grow rapidly over the next two years as operators phase out their non-3G handset offerings. 

Furthermore, Apple’s iPhone is also expected to have very strong impact in the usage of mobile data services.

 Finally, the study found that early success by advertisers deploying mobile advertising in their marketing mix, particularly with SMS/MMS broadcast and response campaigns, is driving further take-up and experimentation.

5GB Drive for CF Slot

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In the US Sony has release a 5GB drive that connects via a Compact Flash Type II slot. The Compactvault is designed for photo enthusiasts and so-called “prosumers”.

The Compactvault is only about 4cm square but can hold up to 1,600 JPEG images (at 3MB each) or 200 minutes of MPEG4 video. The new drive also features high transfer speeds of up to 12MB/sec.

“The Compactvault drive signifies a marked advancement in hard disk media for digital cameras, with its increased storage capacity and very reasonable cost,” Mike Lucas, Sony Director of Consumer Media and Data said.

Shipping will begin in the US later this month with a suggested retail price of US$199.99. The Compactvault drive will be available online at SonyStyle.com.


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Record Third-Quarter Sales For Motorola

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Motorola has copped its share of flack recently, now its showed up its critics posting a 26 per cent increase in sales for the third quarter.

Reaching a record of US$9.42 billion in revenues, up from US$7.50 billion a year ago the mobile phone company increased its global market share since 3rd Quarter 2004 by 5.5 per cent to claim 19 per cent of the market.

The result pushed Motorola’s net profit up by a factor of three – US$1.75bn compared to US$479m a year earlier.

“We are very excited about our record third-quarter results and overall performance year-to-date,” said Ed Zander, chairman and CEO. “Excluding reorganization charges, all four of Motorola’s businesses grew profitably during the quarter – a testament to the hard-working and dedicated talent across the global Motorola organization. We are especially pleased with the record results achieved by our Mobile Devices business for unit shipments, sales and profits. Motorola continues to deliver compelling products and solutions to our customers who embrace our vision of seamless mobility.”

In the handset area, sales were up 41 per cent for the year. The company shipped 38.7 million handsets. In the carrier segment sales were US$1.6 billion, up 7 per cent compared with the year-ago quarter. In the Connected Home Solutions Segment sales were up 28 percent year-on-year as the company shipped its 40 millionth set-top box.

Dell Wants World Domination

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So now its clear to all those PC vendors out there that think that a 10 or 20 per cent of global market share will suffice – Dell wants to be number 1 in the world PC market and they are going to use every weapon in their arsenal to achieve it.


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In an interview only moments ago, an upbeat Steve Felice, Dell regional president for Asia-Pacific & Japan, said as much when he noted that: “our business expectations have exceeded all sectors for all products in all countries”, adding that “the path to Dell being No. 1 worldwide is a lot clearer now”.

Furthermore, Felice says that the recent move into retail with retailers like Officeworks is all part and parcel of the company’s world domination strategy.

The move into getting retail space said Felice, “is a critical part of this strategy and is complimentary to our business”.
Far from being a back down of its online channel, Felice says there is a “symbiotic relationship” between the two channels.
Moreover he noted that, “what you are really seeing is that Dell wants all types of business, and at $US 60 billion in sales, we have to make sure that we access all types of customers”.

Felice also pointed out that this strategy by the world’s No. 3 PC maker was rather deliberate: “we have evidence that shows that whenever we set up a retail channel, our online business also increases”, he notes, adding that we invest in both because “not all customers want to buy online and even those that do, the retail channel allows them to customize their purchase easier”.
When it came to institutional buyers, says Felice “we have always had feet on the street”, he noted.

And in terms of the move to mobile computing and laptops, Felice said that even though this was a clear trend, Dell, the company that posted a $US16 billion sales figure this morning, still attributes “half its sales to desktop PCs”.

Sharp Compact LCD Cuts Crisp Picture

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Sharp has introduced two new TV WXGA LCD models; the 32-inch LC-32D33X and the 37-inch LC-37D33X, which are designed to complement smaller rooms and home office situations.


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Featuring a WXGA (1366 X 768) LCD panel, both models offer high picture quality as a result of the dynamic contrast ratio of 7,500:1.
 
The picture is matched by clear, surround style sound that is produced from SRS TruSurround XT and the inbuilt digital amplifier. 
Connection to other media is streamlined and straightforward with standard features including AQUOS Link for one touch control of AQUOS Blu-ray Player and AQUOS Audio.
Terminals include 2 x HDMI, D-sub 15pin for PC and analogue RGB, 2 x component, 2 x AV, headphone and monitor out.
 
Other features include an inbuilt digital tuner and Teletext as well as energy saving advanced Optical Picture Control.
 
Both models will be available from leading electrical retailers from June 2008 with the 32-inch LC-32D33X retailing for $1,499 RRP and the 37-inch LC-37D33X for $1,799 RRP.
 

Dell Buys Alienware: Unconfirmed

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Dell needs a new lease on life and may just have found it with this well-matched union.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Dell has acquired gaming PC maker Alienware according to a Cnet Blog. News began circulating more than a week ago and while neither company will confirm the sale well placed rumours indicate the deal is done.

For Dell the Acquisition would add some much need design and cool enhancements while the high-performance Alienware would get access to Dells legendary industrial design and world-class support.

Alienware, not your typical Dell box.

Will Alienware dump AMD, or will AMD get an entry into Dell using Alienware as the backdoor? Dell has two problems, it is approaching stagnancy in its main markets, and while its XPS line is doing well, the company needs a design and image boost to gain acceptance in the image conscious gaming market. Buying Alienware would be the quickest way to do that.

One major implication for the computing industry is how Dell will handle Alienware’s use of AMD processors. Rumours have persisted that Dell will finally succumb to market pressure and bring on a line of AMD desktops which would end its long-held Intel only policy.

Alienware only recently entered the Australian market, but is the volume leader in the US gaming market and the purchase price would be pocket change for the cashed Dell.

Charlie Demerjian writes for The Inquirer

Sell Also

Blog Readers Slacking Off

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US Blog readers waste more than half a million work years goofing off reading blogs in 2005 according to research by Advertising Age.

About 25 per cent of the US workforce, or about 35 million workers spend an average of 3.5 hours, or 9 per cent of the work week engaged with them, according to Advertising Age’s analysis.

It totals up to the equivalent of 2.3 million jobs spent reading non-work blogs. While some would argue that reading industry-based blogs the relevance of these blogs is questionable. The 551,000 years is based on a 24-hour day, while the 2.3 million work year estimate is based on a typical nearly 40-hour work week.

The amount of time spent reading blogs also seems to be in addition rather than at the expense of regular news sites and other Web surfing habits according to research.

Jonathan Gibs, senior research manager at Nielsen/NetRatings, said “Since for the most part blog readers tend to be the most engaged readers of online content,” he said, “they do not appear, at least for now, to be sacrificing time from their favourite news sites. Instead, it looks like blog usage is in addition to existing online behaviour.”

With estimates that 25 per cent of blog visits are directly connect to the job. The remaining 4.8 billion US work hours will be spent reading blogs not related to work.

Though the Adveretising Age admits that with no hard empirical evidence of blog use, these numbers are a little rubbery but they also came to the following conclusions.

Work time spent reading and posting to blogs this year will consume 2.2 percent of US labour force hours. While work time spent at blogs unrelated to work will eat up 1.65 per cent of total US labour force hours.