Vodafone gives speed boost to mobile users
By Rene Millman [28-11-2001]
Vodafone is rolling out an internet access service over GPRS on its network this weekend in an attempt to breathe life into the battered mobile data services market.
The launch this Saturday of its Mobile Internet Access service will see Vodafone subscribers given free software to connect their PCs and laptops to their GPRS mobile phones.
Vodafone plans to make a version of the software available to Palm and PocketPC users early next year.
The service will offer connection to the internet at around 28Mbps to 32Mbps; not as fast as land line dial up speeds but fast enough for most applications.
Despite being touted as an 'always-on' service, GPRS has suffered from the Wap backlash and uptake of the technology has been sluggish. It is currently estimated that there are less than 50,000 GPRS users in the UK.
John Fletcher, senior consultant at telecoms researcher Analysys, believes that the Vodafone software has the ability to kick start the stumbling market.
"You will find that, within businesses where mobile data is already being used, you will see not only an increase in usage by existing users, but a proliferation of mobile data among other employees who were previously not willing to tolerate lower dial-up speeds," he said.
Fletcher explained that the increase in data speeds would also attract businesses to mobile data for the first time. More specifically it may attract new users within businesses to mobile data.
Vodafone and Orange have the right idea, he said, in going for a nationwide offering, in contrast with mmo2 (formerly BT Cellnet) which is confining its coverage to certain urban areas.
vnunet.com
Mobile phone stocks under pressure
Analysts query Nokia outlook, rivals hit
By Emily Church, CBS.MarketWatch.com 2:39:00 PM GMT Nov 28, 2001
LONDON (CBS.MW) - Shares of mobile phone makers in Europe were under pressure for a second day on Wednesday, after market leader Nokia lowered its latest estimate for industry-wide unit sales by 10 million units to 380 million this year.
Nokia detailed its expectations for sales and margins at an analyst meeting in New York on Tuesday, yet its outlook for a revival of double-digit market volume growth next year drew some skepticism.
The Finnish company [SE:000053994, News, Chart, Research] , which has about a 35 percent market share, missed its own targets a couple of times this year. Nokia has now cut its projection for industry-wide sales by some 24 percent to 380 million units sold during 2001.
"We hesitate to follow Nokia's forecasts at this point, given that we believe wireless operators will continue to scrutinize capital spending in 2002 and the mobile shipment market will remain weak as mobile data services should not take off until late 2002," Merrill Lynch analyst Adnaan Ahmad told clients Wednesday.
The handset maker didn't reaffirm earlier targets for revenue growth of 25-35 percent in 2003 and made no comments on 2004, which dampened sentiment in the New York meeting, Morgan Stanley told clients Wednesday.
Nokia [US:NOK, News, Chart, Research] was down 2.6 percent; rival Ericsson [US:ERICY, News, Chart, Research] [SE:000010865, News, Chart, Research] was down 1.7 percent and Siemens [US:SI, News, Chart, Research] [DE:723610, News, Chart, Research] was down 3.6 percent in afternoon trade. Tech shares were lower largely across the board after a bearish consumer confidence report from the U.S. on Tuesday knocked Nasdaq shares. See full European markets coverage
In the U.S. shares of rival Motorola [US:MOT, News, Chart, Research] was off 23 cents at $17.28 in opening trade.
Color screen hopes
Other observers, particularly those with strong expectations that mobile phone users will buy the newer models with color screens and advanced image, voice and text messaging functions, said they were encouraged by Nokia's outlook for 2002.
The handset outlook relies to some extent on Nokia maintaining its significant advantage in margins and in design. They'll hold as long as the handsets aren't commoditising, a consistent theme at the presentation, Morgan Stanley's Angela Dean said.
"Nokia denies that there are parallels with the PC industry where value from hardware is low and value is created in totally separate software and application layers," she said.
"We are less confident than Nokia that, together with some competitive pressure, average selling prices will be as benign as forecast," she added. Nokia has said it expects average selling prices flat in 2002 and rising in 2003.
Nokia announced plans to release 20 new phones into the market next year.
"We believe that the arrival of color screens could contribute to some significant replacement momentum," Lehman Brothers analyst Tim Luke said.
However, he noted that the uncertainty of the timing of data services has led to increased uncertainty in the handset market. He's further expecting lower capital spending by European carriers to pressure Nokia's infrastructure business.
Nokia predicted 15 percent sales growth with continuing good profitability for 2002, and said it expects 420-440 million mobile handsets would be sold globally in 2002. See full story on Nokia's outlook for the fourth quarter and next year
The analysts are forecasting around 14 percent revenue growth for next year, with Merrill at the lower end, targeting 6 percent growth.
Goldman Sachs and Lehman Wednesday slightly lifted their per share earnings estimates for Nokia for 2002 after the company's new targets, with Lehman going to 71 cents from 67 cents a share for the year and Goldman going to 78 euro cents from 73 euro cents
Emily Church is London bureau chief of CBS.MarketWatch.com.
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Nokia shares off 6% on outlook for handsets
HELSINKI, Finland -- (AP) -- Nokia Corp. said Tuesday that it expects a 15 percent increase in overall sales next year, with growth climbing to between 25 percent and 35 percent by the fourth quarter of 2002 at the latest.
Shares of the world's largest cell phone maker fell 6 percent, however, as analysts were disappointed about the company's forecasts for handset sales.
The Finnish company said the market for wireless-network infrastructure will be ``flat to slightly positive'' in 2002, but its potential customer base will grow as advanced technology networks are built and some U.S. operators deploy GSM -- or global system for mobile telecommunication -- the standard that is dominant in Europe.
Nokia cut its estimate for 2001 mobile phone industry sales to 380 million from 390 million, while predicting that the industry will sell between 420 million and 440 million handsets in 2002.
Nokia, along with rival Europe-based handset manufacturers Ericsson and Siemens, is poised for a sales boost in the United States as carriers AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless adopt the GSM standard, said Dylan Brooks, a telecom analyst with Jupiter Media Metrix.
But a recent consumer survey Jupiter conducted shows that American cell phone buyers are becoming more sensitive to prices, Brooks said.
``That makes it difficult to keep up the same sort of revenue expectations,'' Brooks said.
U.S. shares of Nokia fell $1.52 to close at $23.72 in heavy trading.
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