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San Antonio — The Progressive Retailers Organization was at the Westin La Cantera Hill Coun
Miami— Almost everything’s coming up roses for no-contract cellular MVNO TracFone Wireless, owner America Movil reported.
America Movil of Mexico City is Latin America’s largest cellphone carrier. It also operates landline phone and broadband networks and pay-TV service. TracFone sells service under the Telcel America, Straight Talk, Simple Mobile, NET 10 and Safe Link Wireless brands.
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Mountain View, Calif. – Google-owned Motorola Mobile saw its first-quarter sales shrink 54 percent to $1.02 billion compared to the year-ago period and its operating losses grow 124 percent to $271 million, Google’s financial reports show.
The GAAP financial information is based on Google’s report of Motorola’s first-quarter mobile-phone performance and a year-ago financial report on the mobile business issued by Motorola before it was purchased by Google in May 2012.
Espoo, Finland – Nokia sold fewer cellphones in North America in the first quarter compared to the year-ago period, but their dollar volume rose as the company shifted more sales to smartphones from feature phones.
Global consolidated operating profit fell back into the red in the quarter following a fourth-quarter operating profit that had reversed a string of six consecutive quarterly losses.
Bedminster, N.J. – Verizon Wireless activated 1.9 percent fewer new retail subscribers in the first quarter compared to the year-ago period but nonetheless boosted total wireless operating revenues by 6.8 percent to $19.5 billion and wireless operating income by 23 percent to $6.42 billion.
Wireless operating income margin hit a record high of 32.9 percent, up from the year-ago 28.6 percent and the fourth quarter’s 24 percent, when sales of heavily subsidized smartphones are at their peak. Margins in 2012’s other two quarters were 30.8 percent and 31.8 percent.
Dallas – A broad rollout of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone starts this month and runs through the summer, putting the device in the hands of seven carriers and seven national retailers at prices ranging from $149 to $249 with two-year contract.
Englewood, Colo. — Dish Network has proposed a $25.5 billion merger with Sprint Nextel, exceeding the bid by Japan’s Softbank to buy the cellular carrier.
Satellite-TV provider Dish hasn’t formally withdrawn its offer to purchase cellular carrier Clearwire, which is majority-owned by Sprint but not controlled by Sprint. Dish said its offer for Sprint is not contingent on Sprint succeeding in its current bid to purchase the remaining Clearwire shares that it doesn’t own.
Waterloo, Canada –BlackBerry denied an analyst’s report that its flagship BlackBerry Z10 smartphone is suffered high retail return rates and called for an investigation by U.S. and Canadian authorities.
“Return rate statistics show that we are at or below our forecasts and right in line with the industry," said BlackBerry president/CEO Thorsten Heins. “To suggest otherwise is either a gross misreading of the data or a willful manipulation. Such a conclusion is absolutely without basis, and BlackBerry will not leave it unchallenged.”
New York – Two major MetroPCS shareholders reversed position and announced support for the proposed merger of T-Mobile and MetroPCS after T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom revised the merger’s terms.
New York — The question of who will own the wireless carrier Clearwire has become more difficult to answer.
Sprint Nextel’s plans to buy carrier Clearwire is under fire from Clearwire’s largest minority shareholder, which launched a proxy fight opposing the takeover.
Sprint, which is Clearwire’s majority shareholder, wants to take over Clearwire to gain control over its spectrum to help Sprint build out its 4G LTE network. Dish Network, which is building its own terrestrial cellular network, has also put in a bid for Clearwire.
Richardson, Texas – Samsung Telecommunications America declined to say whether it plans a U.S. launch of two Galaxy Mega phablets that will roll out in Europe and Russia in May.
The two Android 4.2 devices combine traditional smartphone capabilities, including circuit-switched voice calls, with tablet-size screens.
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