17 10 / 2011
UPDATE 2-Sony near buying Ericsson out of phone venture-WSJ
* Deal would be positive for both companies - analysts
(Adds details in paragraphs 2, 8-11, byline) By Tarmo Virki, European Technology Correspondent Oct 6 (Reuters) - Sony Corp (6758.T) is nearing a deal to
buy Telefon AB LM Ericsson’s (ERICb.ST) stake in their 50:50
smartphone joint venture, The Wall Street Journal reported on
Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Sony and Ericsson have been talking for weeks about the
future of the venture because the companies’ 10-year-old pact
is up for renewal this month, two industry sources told
Reuters. The Wall Street Journal said the talks were ongoing and
could break apart at any time. Ericsson and Sony declined to comment on the reported
talks. “We have a long-term commitment to our joint ventures,”
said an Ericsson spokesman. Many analysts say Japan’s Sony needs to assert control over
Sony Ericsson if the venture is to recoup market share in the
cut-throat world of smartphones. [ID:nLDE74N0FB] The joint venture, formed in 2001, thrived after its
breakthrough with Walkman music phones and Cybershot
cameraphones, both of which leveraged Sony’s brands. But it lost out to bigger rivals Nokia (NOK1V.HE) and
Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) at the cheaper end of the
market, and was late to react to Apple’s (AAPL.O) entrance into
the high-end of the market. It has refocused its business to make smartphones using
Google’s (GOOG.O) Android platform, but it has dropped to No. 9
in global cellphone rankings from No. 4 just a few years ago. It is making some progress and turned a net profit of 90
million euros last year after booking a loss of 836 million in
2009. But it reported another loss for the April-June quarter. The venture is due to report its September quarter results
on Oct 14. DIVORCE GOOD FOR BOTH PARTNERS? “A buyout would make a lot of sense for Ericsson as I
believe their share in the joint venture is worth to them
between zero and minus 1 billion euros,” said Bernstein analyst
Pierre Ferragu. “Whatever price they agree on, it would be a positive for
Ericsson,” he said. Shares in Sweden’s Ericsson gained on the report and closed
6 percent higher at 69.20 crowns on Thursday. A full takeover of the venture would boost Sony’s overall
offering, which includes content, gaming devices, consumer
electronics and even tablet computers. But the company still
lacks its own smartphones. “The buyout allows Sony to move development in-house and
better integrate other products like gaming into newer phones,”
said Steven Nathasingh from U.S. technology research firm Vaxa
Inc. Last month at the IFA trade fair in Berlin, Sony Ericsson’s
phones were presented inside the Sony hall, mixed with Sony’s
TV sets and new tablets. [ID:nN1E77U0KO]
17 10 / 2011
Playing Pachelbels Cannon at my funeral?
Blog Guy, not to bring up a depressing topic, but have you made plans for what will be done with your body when you die?
Iâm arranging that now, thanks to several readers who sent me info about a company called Holy Smoke. They put your cremated ashes into shotgun shells or rifle cartridges, so your friends can shoot you off. Even in death, you can be helping to kill some poor creature.
Their Website says, âWe offer a way to honor your deceased loved one by giving or sharing with him or her one more round of clay targets, one last bird hunt, or one last stalk hunt.â
Okay, youâre just making that crap up, Blog Guy.
No, Iâm not. Whether you were a big shot or your life was just a flash in the pan, you can go out this wayâ¦
I see, now youâre just doing it for the cheap puns. I mean, this is one very goofy plan!
I do realize some people will recoil at the thought.
Stop it! How many people do you think will really use this service, anyway?
Thatâs hard to gauge.
Iâm warning you, Blog Guy! So youâre sold on this idea?
Well, I did hit a brief snag, since I donât know many people with guns, much less anybody who hunts. My survivors were going to have to find some gun nuts â excuse me, I mean sportsmen â to blast me off. But then I had a brilliant solution.
I canât wait to hear about it.
When I go, the Holy Smoke people are stuffing me into a Looney Tunes Acme Rocket, and shipping me to an appropriate cartoon character.
Wow. Fare thee well, Blog Guy, and Th-th-th-tha-tha-thatâs all, folks!
Join the Oddly Enough blog network
Follow this blog on Twitter at rbasler
Top: Around 60 shooters in traditional Bavarian clothes fire off salutes during a last day ceremony at Munichâs Oktoberfest October 3, 2011.
Left: Indiaâs Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore unloads spent shells during the menâs double trap shooting final at the Asian Games in Doha, December 5, 2006.
Right: Screen grab from Holy Smoke Website
Bottom left: Looney Tunes screen grab
More stuff from Oddly Enough
