Tag Archives: request

Europe About To Formally Open A New Front In Its War On Google

The European Union raced ahead with its antitrust probe against Google’s Android mobile-phone operating system, a sign that it’s poised to send out a formal complaint within days. EU regulators have given Google’s critics deadlines as short as 24 hours to remove business secrets from evidence that could be used in the case — a step seen as a sure sign that a statement of objections is on its way, according to two people, who asked not to be named because the process is private. Alphabet, Microsoft Join Amazon As Market Leaders; Breakout Soon? Alphabet ( GOOGL ) unit Google is one of the most high-profile targets for EU Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. The EU’s speeding up of the Android probe follows the same pattern as last year’s escalation of a separate case targeting the company’s comparison shopping-search service. Google received antitrust objections just weeks after rivals got similar EU requests to declassify documents. Google’s advertising business and tax arrangements are also being reviewed by the EU. “In some markets Android has become very very big and we have had people coming to us with concerns,” Vestager told CNBC last week. The probe is “a high priority because these are fast-moving markets.” Two Google spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The European Commission declined to comment because the investigation is ongoing. EU officials still need to meet with Google for so-called state of play talks — where companies are usually informed of regulators’ concerns before formal objections are sent. More than five years after the EU opened the search probe, it’s still weighing whether to fine Google or order it to change its business practices. In previous antitrust cases, the EU has forced Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Intel ( INTC ) to pay billions of euros in fines. The Android software for mobile phones has been in the EU’s sights since 2013 after it got a complaint from an industry group backed by Microsoft and Nokia ( NOK ). The EU opened a formal probe last year, examining Google’s agreements with smartphone and tablet manufacturers that make devices sold with Google apps already installed. The EU has been concerned in the past by Google’s bundling of apps such as Maps, YouTube and Chrome software with Android, questioning whether the practice harms independent developers of competing apps. The EU is also looking at whether Mountain View, California-based Google has stopped manufacturers developing and marketing their own versions of Android.

Hard Drive Crash: Seagate Dives On Guidance, Western Digital Too

Seagate Technology ( STX ) stock plunged Thursday after the company released preliminary earnings late the previous day that were below its earlier guidance due to weak demand for its disk drives in servers and personal computers. Seagate stock crashed 20.1% to 27.11 in the stock market today , the lowest since late January. The news also hit Western Digital ( WDC ), which fell 6.65% to 41.82. Seagate and Western Digital are the two largest providers of disk drives. IBD’s Take: How healthy are shares of Seagate and Western Digital, and how do they stack up vs. rivals? Find out at IBD Stock Checkup Seagate expects to report revenue of about $2.6 billion, below previous guidance of $2.7 billion, for its fiscal third quarter. That would be a 21% decline year over year and the fifth straight quarterly decline. Seagate expects to report a non-GAAP gross profit margin of 23% vs. its previous guidance of 25.6%. Seagate attributed the shortfall to lower demand for disk drives in the business sector, as well as weaker demand for disk drives among China-based PC makers and the company’s decision not to aggressively participate in the low-capacity notebook market, among other reasons. Seagate will report its full earnings before the market open April 29. The company expects to report disk drive unit shipments of about 39 million, representing approximately 40% market share. Western Digital is scheduled to report its fiscal-third-quarter earnings April 28 after the market close.

Apple Supplier Taiwan Semiconductor: Demand For $500 Phones Dying

Apple ( AAPL ) supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ( TSM ) issued flat Q2 guidance early Thursday, noting demand for $500 smartphones is dwindling as China and emerging markets embrace cheaper devices. But on the brighter side, the chipmaker says it will reuse 95% of its chip-manufacturing tools as it transitions to 7-nanometer chips from 10-nm in 2017 through 2019. Growing 4G and 5G opportunities will drive the adoption, TSM’s co-CEO Mark Liu told analysts on the conference call. That’s not good news for chip-gear makers, though. The reuse rate will likely lead equipment makers to a year or two “in the desert between major technology nodes,” Semiconductors Advisors President Robert Maire wrote in a research report. Taiwan Semiconductor stock fell 3.4% to 25.29 on the stock market today . IBD’s 39-company Semiconductor Electronic-Manufacturing industry group was down 0.7%. Apple shares rose 6 cents to 112.10. IBD’s Take: How healthy is Taiwan Semiconductor’s stock, and how does it stack up vs. rivals? Find out at IBD Stock Checkup For its Q1 ended March 16, Taiwan Semiconductor reported $6.14 billion in sales and 38 cents earnings per American Depositary Receipt ex items, down a respective 13% and 18% on a year-over-year basis. Sales beat TSM’s updated guidance for $6.06 billion to $6.11 billion (based on an exchange rate of $1 to 33.18 New Taiwan dollars), and met the consensus model of seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Current-quarter sales guidance for $6.64 billion to $6.74 billion (at $1 to NT$32.37) lagged expectations for $7.01 billion and would be flat year over year, but up 8%-9% sequentially. The consensus sees 39 cents per ADR ex items. For the year, Taiwan Semiconductor guided to 5%-10% growth, but it cut its smartphone growth expectations to 7% from 8%. It sees its PC, tablet and consumer electronics revenue falling 6%, 9% and 5%, respectively, in 2016. Semiconductors will grow 1%, Liu said. China and emerging markets prefer lower-tier smartphones, as demand for high-end smartphones slips. In January, high-end smartphone maker Apple guided to $50 billion to $53 billion in March-quarter sales, which would be down 11% year over year at the midpoint and mark its first such decline. Industry tracker Gartner says smartphone sales will grow 7% in 2016 to 1.9 billion units. It would be the industry’s first year of single-digit growth, and Liu noted the decline in his remarks. “We see (the) over-$500 phone is reducing, but (the) $400 phone is increasing quickly,” he said.