The Web may be buzzing with stories about whether computer maker Dell should or shouldn’t get into the cell phone market, but the company itself  has tried to stay out of the public discussion. 
Michael Dell said on Friday that reports of Dell’s cell phone ambitions were “best described as a rumor” when chased by reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 

The analysts had this to say about the computer maker doing battle with rivals such as Apple in the cut throad phone market as well as in computers. 

 Some were encouraging:

“This strategy makes a lot of sense. Smartphones are a big opportunity and in a way they’re canibalizing notebook and netbook sales to a degree,” said Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu. “It’s probably minor today but could become bigger over time as smartphones get more powerful. It’s better to go embrace the threat than doing nothing.”

He added, “They’re used to competition. It’s not easy. But against Apple and Research In Motion it’s going to be particularly difficult … What it boils down to is price and a decent brand name. Dell has a decent brand name.” he said.  “The risk is that its tough to differentiate. Apple and Rim in particular are very tough competition. Not even the Nokias, the Motorolas, LGs and Samsungs have figured out how to compete with them yet.” 

Others were skeptical Dell could succeed:   

“It’s doubtful that Dell ends up being anything more than noise in this market. it will probably end up being one of their forays that doesn’t amount to much,” said Collins Stewart analyst Ashok Kumar. “Its highly unlikely they’ll get sponsorship from the major carriers. Its going to be a me too product … what is it they’re going to bring to the table? The only factor they can differentiate is on price.”

Reporting by Emma Thomasson and Nichola Groom in Davos

(Photo: Reuters)

Hours after it issued its second warning in three weeks, forecast shrinking cell phone sales for 2009 and promised to reduce expenses, Nokia held an investor meeting in Brooklyn, New York. Most analyst meetings take place in Manhattan, and Chief Financial Officer Rick Simonson told the audience on Thursday that he’d been asked why the company chose the Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge.  Brooklynites are very accommodating, Simonson said — adding that Nokia saved money by moving the meeting from the heaving center that never sleeps.  Simonson didn’t give a figure, but JPMorgan said in a note that Nokia saved as much as $500,000 by simply making Wall Streeters cross to the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge.  It’s hardly enough to counter a 5 percent cut in cell phone sales volume next year and probably not even a fraction of the cost of putting Nokia’s latest multi-media phone, the N-97 on the market, but it is a good start. Maybe other conference organizations will take its cue, and this reporter will have a shorter commute more often.

(Photo:Reuters)

Here’s Google and T-Mobile’s image of their long-awaited T-Mobile G1 phone. And here are some of our own pictures hot off of the presses.

The new phone, available late in October, comes in three colors (white, black and brown), features advanced search tools, a full web browser, simple access to Google applications including Google Maps, Gmail, and YouTube, and access to Android Market, where users can get games, music, and also shop.

So, are you itching to pick one up? Would you trade in your iPhone or other mobile handset for a G1?

What in the world has gotten into Motorola? For more than a year, Wall Street has lamented its fate. Just this week, industry forecasters predicted the handset maker would have nothing to show for the second quarter other than a hefty net loss and a drop to fourth place in the global phone market after losing share to LG Electronics.

So imagine the surprise when Motorola emerged with a small profit, sold nearly 2 million more phones than analysts had expected, and held on to its No. 3 ranking? Company shares jumped 13 percent as it also outlined an expected profit from continuing operations for the full year.

Motorola executives lost no momentum in describing ambitious plans to analysts either, saying they expected to launch 50 new devices this year, many more of them equipped for high-speed wireless networks. They are also looking more closely at the best ways to split the company, with a final separation due in the third quarter next year.

Investors will wonder whether this feisty show means Motorola is back in the game after failing to show the market any cool new phones for many quarters since the Razr was last a status symbol.

“It still has a mountain to climb,” CCS Insight analyst Geoff Blaber said.

(Reuters)

Keep an eye on:

* Nokia cut prices of many of its phones by as much as 10 percent in late July, according to industry sources. (Reuters)

* CBS cuts full-year profit forecast, plans to sell 50 radio stations. (Reuters)

* Sports agency IMG strikes exclusive 20-year deal with China’s national broadcaster. (WSJ)

* Google mulls venture capital arm (WSJ)

(Photo of model performing at the Motorola Fashion Rock Night Show at a Berlin club/Reuters)

(Here’s an updated chronology. This first posted June 9)  

2007

January 9 - Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs unveils iPhone in the tech industry’s most anticipated new product introduction of the decade.

June 29 - Apple and U.S. carrier partner AT&T Inc start selling iPhone as technology enthusiasts form long lines outside Apple stores.

July 25 - After big build-up, first weekend sales figures reports disappoint investors. Apple and AT&T sold 270,000 iPhones in first 30 hours; but customers only activate 146,000 of the devices due to initial AT&T service problems.

Sept 5 - Apple cuts price on iPhone with eight gigabytes of storage to $399 from $599. Discontinues sales of four-gigabyte version. Also introduces iPod Touch, an iPhone without the phone, with Wi-Fi connections.

Sept 7 - Apple offers $100 rebate to appease customers angered over iPhone price cut.

Sept 10 - One millionth iPhone sold 74 days after launch.

Sept 24 - Apple warns users against unlocking iPhones to work with network carriers other than Apple’s exclusive U.S. partner, AT&T.

Nov 9 - Apple introduces iPhone in Europe through exclusive deals in Britain with 02, in Germany with T-Mobile, and in France with Orange.

Dec 3 - Apple sued for patent infringement related to iPhone’s visual voicemail feature by Klausner Technologies Inc.

Dec 31 - Apple sold 3.7 million iPhones in its first six months on sale.

2008

Feb 5 - Apple introduces 16-gigabyte iPhone for $499.

March 6 - Apple says its plans to enable corporate e-mail on iPhones, pitting it against business e-mail market leader Research in Motion and its Blackberry line of devices.  Apple offers tools for independent developers to build iPhone software.

March 31 - Apple has sold 5.4 million iPhone units to date. Apple ranks as world’s third largest maker of smartphones, with 5.3 percent versus mobile phone giant Nokia’s 45.2 percent and Blackberry-maker Research in Motion’s 13.4 percent, market researcher Gartner Inc says.

April 23 - Apple CFO reaffirms the company’s original mid-2007 goal of selling 10 million iPhone units by the end of 2008. 

April/May - Apple stores run out of iPhones. Apple announces plans with carriers in South Asia to sell iPhones in Australia, India, the Philippines and Singapore.

June 9 - Apple unveils 3G iPhone, with faster Web links than its predecessor and the ability to support third-party applications such as games and email. The eight-gigabyte 3G iPhone is priced at $199, while the 16-gigabyte phone is priced at $299. 

July 11 - iPhone 3G goes on sale in 22 countries. Fans around Asia queue for two days before the phone’s launch. Websites are swamped with early orders. 

Reuters iPhone 3G coverage
Sources: (Reuters, Apple Inc, SeekingAlpha.com, Gartner Inc)
(Photos: Reuters, Apple Inc, Scoble: Brian Solis/Flickr.com)

Who’s going to run Yahoo?

There are myriad answers to that question, but AllThingsD suggests that Ross Levinsohn, the former head of News Corp’s Fox Interactive Media Group, and partner, former AOL Chief Jon Miller, are heavily mentioned as the kind who might get a crack at it.

Miller’s an interesting choice and one wonders if joining the company would push Yahoo closer to an AOL deal. Miller wasn’t immediately reachable on Monday night.

Meanwhile there’s no guarantee that Jerry Yang, who is still in charge, is going anywhere. In fact, on Monday, Yahoo itself worked to rally shareholder support in the face of a proxy battle with Carl Icahn, saying the his plan for the company’s future was “ill-defined”, and questioned whether Microsoft was ever serious about a full-scale merger.

Yahoo annual shareholder meeting in Silicon Valley on Aug. 1 — where Icahn is running a slate of directors to replace Yahoo’s board and remove Yang — promises fireworks.

(Reuters)

Keep an eye on:

* Microsoft plans to cut the price of its best-selling Xbox 360 Pro model by $50, to $299 in the next few weeks. (Reuters )

* Nokia signed a deal with Warner Music Group to make Warner titles available through its “Comes With Music” service and Nokia music store. (Reuters )

* The sequel to last year’s best-selling predecessor “Rock Band” will be released for the Xbox in September, months ahead of key rival “Guitar Hero.” (Reuters )

(Photo: Reuters)

While all eyes are on Steve Jobs’s presentation at Apple’s developers conference, rivals to the iPhone want you to know that they are not afraid to shout during a hurricane — in hopes that someone hears their thunder.

At least that’s what we suppose is the reason Samsung and Nokia both have news today, about one year after the original iPhone was introduced.

While Apple’s CEO was unveiling a new “more affordable” iPhone with 3G network support and integrated GPS support, Korea’s Samsung launched a new touchscreen smartphone called Omnia that aims to make Internet browsing easy. It has a wide screen for viewing video as well as music capabilities and a 5 megapixel camera, and runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile software.

Also, Nokia is set to start selling top-of-the-range N96 multimedia device, and expects Apple’s new iPhone to boosting sales of multimedia handsets in general.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile will sell the new iPhone exclusively in Germany and the Netherlands, according to Reuters sources.

(Photo: Reuters)

With all the interest in Yahoo Inc these days, we took the opportunity to ask Nokia CFO Rick Simonson at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit if the world’s largest mobile phone maker would be interested in buying Yahoo. He laughed and joked that of all the questions we could have asked him, this was one he didn’t see coming. Then he goes on to say:

We’ve not been involved obviously in Yahoo. We’re focused on closing the acquisition with Navteq …

We’re not out in the desert trying to invent a search algorithm that’s better than Google or Yahoo’s for instance. They’ve got some scale there we don’t have.

As it is, Nokia doesn’t see returns from its investment in Internet services until about 2010. But at least it’s only earmarking hundreds of millions of euros a year on the project — far short of the last price tag of $47.5 billion that Microsoft last offered for all of Yahoo.

(Photo: Reuters)