Tag Archives: Investment & Company Information

Meta may return to China with the release of a new budget VR headset

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Meta hasn't been in China since Facebook was blocked way back in 2009, but that may be about to change. The company is reportedly planning to release an all-new, lower-priced version of its virtual reality headset in the nation via an exclusive deal with video game giant Tencent, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Sales are tentatively set to begin in late 2024, but some details must still be finalized. 

The new headset would be more powerful than the Quest 2, but use lower-quality optics than the Quest 3, according to the report. The more budget-oriented headset may also be sold in other regions. Meta would reportedly take a larger share of headset sales, while Tencent pull in more of the content and service revenue, "like software subscriptions and game sales."

The deal would open up a huge market for Meta's VR division, which has been hemorrhaging money and could certainly use the boost. However, it's not clear whether Tencent would require government approval to sell the devices. Gaming is a popular VR activity, but China's strict rules have already had a significant impact on Tencent, the world's largest video game company. 

China may not be a panacea for Meta's weak VR division, either. TikTok owner ByteDance is China's virtual reality leader with its Pico headset, but is struggling with sales in China just as Meta is elsewhere. And Tencent itself was reportedly on the brink of disbanding its own VR division, but supposedly built it back up once the Meta deal seemed inevitable. Headset sales across the globe fell nearly 45 percent this quarter compared to the same period last year. 

If the deal goes through, Meta would regain a foothold in China after 14 years with no direct presence there. The company has a 50 percent worldwide share of the VR market, with Sony's PlayStation VR2 and Pico's VR headset in second and third place. Apple is about to enter the market with its $3,500 Vision Pro headset, but isn't likely to have a serious presence until it releases a cheaper version down the road. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-may-return-to-china-with-the-release-of-a-new-budget-vr-headset-090522700.html?src=rss

Meta may return to China with the release of a new budget VR headset

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Meta hasn't been in China since Facebook was blocked way back in 2009, but that may be about to change. The company is reportedly planning to release an all-new, lower-priced version of its virtual reality headset in the nation via an exclusive deal with video game giant Tencent, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Sales are tentatively set to begin in late 2024, but some details must still be finalized. 

The new headset would be more powerful than the Quest 2, but use lower-quality optics than the Quest 3, according to the report. The more budget-oriented headset may also be sold in other regions. Meta would reportedly take a larger share of headset sales, while Tencent pull in more of the content and service revenue, "like software subscriptions and game sales."

The deal would open up a huge market for Meta's VR division, which has been hemorrhaging money and could certainly use the boost. However, it's not clear whether Tencent would require government approval to sell the devices. Gaming is a popular VR activity, but China's strict rules have already had a significant impact on Tencent, the world's largest video game company. 

China may not be a panacea for Meta's weak VR division, either. TikTok owner ByteDance is China's virtual reality leader with its Pico headset, but is struggling with sales in China just as Meta is elsewhere. And Tencent itself was reportedly on the brink of disbanding its own VR division, but supposedly built it back up once the Meta deal seemed inevitable. Headset sales across the globe fell nearly 45 percent this quarter compared to the same period last year. 

If the deal goes through, Meta would regain a foothold in China after 14 years with no direct presence there. The company has a 50 percent worldwide share of the VR market, with Sony's PlayStation VR2 and Pico's VR headset in second and third place. Apple is about to enter the market with its $3,500 Vision Pro headset, but isn't likely to have a serious presence until it releases a cheaper version down the road. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-may-return-to-china-with-the-release-of-a-new-budget-vr-headset-090522700.html?src=rss

Sony has now sold over 46.6 million PS5 consoles

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Sony has had a blockbuster quarter when it comes to PlayStation 5 sales. The company has sold 4.9 million PS5 units in its second financial quarter ending on September 30, bringing the total number of consoles sold to 46.6 million. It didn't quite reach last year's holiday figures, but it still moved 1.6 million units more than the same period in 2022. To note, Sony couldn't keep up with the demand for the console for quite some time due to the supply chain issues that plagued the tech industry, but it was finally able to ramp up production last year after the shortages had eased up. By July 2023, it announced that it had already sold more than 40 million PS5 consoles since the model came out in November 2020. 

To be able to reach its sales target of shipping 25 million PS5 units for this financial year, however, Sony will have to sell 16.8 million more units. That's a massive figure, considering it only sold 19.1 million PS5 consoles for the whole financial year of 2022. But according to Reuters, Sony President Hiroki Totoki is confident that the goal is something the company "can attain very easily." The company is likely expecting a boost in sales when its smaller PS5 models come out this month, just in time for people's holiday shopping sprees. 

In addition to its hardware sales, Sony has also reported that it sold 67.6 million games in the second quarter, though only 4.7 million are first-party titles. It will most likely post much higher first-party sales in the next quarter, though, seeing as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 sold 5 million units within its first 11 days, eclipsing the performance of its prequel that sold 9 million copies in 80 days. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-has-now-sold-over-466-million-ps5-consoles-102604943.html?src=rss

WeWork files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

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There has been another twist in the WeWork saga as the office space rental company has filed for bankruptcy protection. Following reports last week that the company was expected to file for Chapter 11 protection, WeWork's shares were halted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday. According to The New York Times, it described its bankruptcy filing as a "comprehensive reorganization" of its business. "As part of today’s filing, WeWork is requesting the ability to reject the leases of certain locations, which are largely nonoperational, and all affected members have received advanced notice," the company told the publication in a statement. 

A number of factors played into WeWork's fall, including trying to grow too fast in its early days. The company has attempted to cut costs in recent years (including by closing several co-working spaces in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns) while its revenue has grown. 

However, WeWork has been toiling in a real estate market that has felt the pinch of inflation and the rising costs of borrowing money. It has also been contending with another pandemic-accelerated change as millions more people are opting to work remotely instead of going to their company's offices. In its most recent earnings report in August, WeWork said it had "substantial doubt" about its ability to remain operational.

WeWork first attempted to go public in 2019, though it withdrew plans for an initial public offering after investors expressed concerns over profitability and corporate governance. Its S-1 filing showed losses of over $900 million for the first half of 2019 and indicated that WeWork was on the hook for over $47 billion worth of lease payments — WeWork takes out long-term leases on office space and rents it to workers and companies on a short-term basis.

That fiasco led to Softbank, which at one point led an investment round into WeWork when it had a valuation of $47 billion, taking control of the company. Softbank pushed out co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann with an exit package that was said to be worth $445 million.

The business eventually went public in 2021 after it merged with a special-purpose acquisition company. WeWork shares cost more than $400 two years ago, but by Monday the price had dropped to under $1.

WeWork has made more attempts to steady the ship. In September, the company completed a reverse stock split. It said this was conducted to help it continue to comply with the $1 minimum share closing price required to stay listed on the NYSE.

Later that month, WeWork said it would try to renegotiate the vast majority of its leases. At the time, CEO David Tolley pointed out that the company's lease liabilities amounted to over two-thirds of its operating income in the second quarter of this year.

On October 31, WeWork said it would withhold some interest payments — even though it had the cash to make them — in an attempt to improve its balance sheet. The company then entered a 30-day grace period before an event of default.

Meanwhile, Neumann has a new real estate venture, this time focused on residential rentals. It emerged last year that he had bought more than 3,000 apartments in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta and Nashville. Flow, the company that will manage those properties, has reportedly received an investment of $350 million from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wework-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-protection-030708470.html?src=rss

Apple’s revenue declines again despite record iPhone and services sales

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Apple's latest quarterly earnings report paints a picture of software wins amid something of a hardware slump. In a statement announcing the financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter, the company called out a new all-time high for revenue from its services division. It also highlighted iPhone revenue as having set a September quarter record. However, this marks the fourth consecutive quarter of overall revenue decline, with its earnings of $89.5 billion representing a 1 percent drop year over year. This also means the record-breaking performances of the iPhone and Services divisions did little to offset weakness elsewhere. 

The lackluster performance is somewhat understandable, though. The company just had a launch event for its new M3 chips, MacBooks and an iMac this week, none of which can be bought yet. And though the new iPhone 15 lineup and Apple Watches were introduced in September, sales of those devices likely did not account for much of this fiscal quarter’s results. We're also anticipating a November release for new iPads this year, which could further fuel hardware revenue. 

Correspondingly, the Mac, iPad and wearables divisions were down this quarter, with the first two taking noticeable hits. Though Apple drummed up significant interest with the Vision Pro headset earlier this year, that device is far from ready to be sold to the public and is unlikely to hit the market until 2024 at the earliest. With holiday shopping about to ramp up, as well as more product releases on the horizon, it’s much more likely that the company’s hardware products will have a greater impact on its bottom line next quarter.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-revenue-declines-again-despite-iphone-and-services-strength-211938910.html?src=rss

Samsung credits strong smartphone and mobile display sales for income growth

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Samsung has been reporting steep profit declines and record-breaking losses over the past quarters, and while it has yet to go back to its previous numbers, it sounds optimistic for the future in its latest earnings report. The company credited the strong sales of its mobile flagship devices and its premium displays for doing better the past three months than the previous quarters. Samsung also said that its Device Solutions (DS) division, which includes its memory and foundry businesses, has narrowed its losses. It even expects demand for memory chips to recover gradually with the rise in popularity of artificial intelligence. 

The company has posted a consolidated revenue of KRW 67.40 trillion ($49.9 billion) for the third quarter of 2023, which shows a respectable 12 percent increase from the previous quarter's. It reported KRW 2.43 trillion ($1.80 billion) in profit, as well, and while that's a third of what it earned in the same period of 2022 — KRW 10.85 trillion or $7.6 billion — that figure still much better than the $527 million profit it reported for the second quarter. 

For its mobile and network business, in particular, it reported KRW 30 trillion ($22.17 billion) in consolidated revenue, as well as KRW 3.30 trillion ($2.44 billion) in operating profit. There was a higher demand in the third quarter compared to the second, Samsung said, thanks to the global smartphone market showing signs of recovery. If you'll recall, the company mostly blamed its drop in revenue for the second quarter to a decline in smartphone shipments. For this period, it says the Galaxy S23 series has maintained "solid sales momentum," while its foldables, tablets and wearables recorded strong sales. It expects smartphones sales to grow next quarter due to the holiday season and for the market to bounce back next year "as consumer sentiment stabilizes in anticipation of a global economic recovery."

Another segment that did well in the third quarter is Samsung's mobile panel business, which "reported a significant increase in earnings on the back of new flagship model releases by major customers." As Bloomberg notes, those new flagship model releases could include Apple's iPhone 15. Samsung intends to continue focusing on OLED panels for its mobile display business and plans to establish a supply chain catering to the augmented and virtual reality market. 

Finally, the company's semiconductor division posted KRW 3.75 trillion ($2.77 billion) in operating losses for the quarter, which is slightly better than its KRW 4.36 trillion ($3.23 billion) losses in the previous one. Samsung expects the demand for PCs and mobile devices to improve next period, and it's anticipating strong server demand from cloud service providers thanks to generative AI applications. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-credits-strong-smartphone-and-mobile-display-sales-for-income-growth-053947279.html?src=rss