Good morning folks,
Here are the top stories on this Wednesday morning.
Enjoy!
Joshua
- Netflix announced yesterday it intends to raise $400 in debt, using $225 million of that to refinance some existing notes with the remainder for “general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures, investments, working capital and potential acquisitions and strategic transactions.” In the quarterly shareholder letter, CEO Reed Hastings hinted that the money would be used for additional reserves, but also to fund future original TV shows. Netflix has a slate of five original series announced with House of Cards set to premiere this Friday. (link)
- RUMOR: Sources inside Google are suggesting that they are developing a subscription-based model for YouTube publishers that want to charge viewers a monthly fee for watching their content. Users will likely also have a pay-per-view model along with that. Of course these are rumors for now, but its possible we could hear more at the Google I/O conference in May. (link)
- Phillips announced yesterday that the company is getting out of the Consumer Electronics business to focus on medical equipment and lighting. The company sold its CE business to Japanese manufacturer Funai Electric for $201 million. Phillips has had a CE division for more than 80 years, but has struggled to generate profits in the division. Phillips CEO Frans van Houten said during the announcement that “since we have online entertainment, people do not buy Blu-ray and DVD players anymore.” (link)
- Apple added a new 128 GB iPad to its current lineup of tablets. The device is part of the current fourth generation offerings, but just comes with a larger capacity. The model starts at $799 for a WiFi only version or $929 for a WiFi + Cellular version. (link)
- Amazon posted its Q4 quarterly report with revenues of $21.27 billion, up 22% YOY from last year’s Q4 revenue of $17.43 billion. Interestingly though, the company only profited $97 million out of all that revenue. One of the biggest contributors to the revenue stream was due to Kindle sales and ebook sales. CEO Jeff Bezos said that after five years, eBooks are now a multi-billion dollar category for the company and growing at a rate of 70% annually. (link)
- The Ponemon Institute released its annual survey on consumer trust of how companies protect privacy and neither Apple or Google made the top 20 list. Apple has fallen from a high of 8th place three years ago to 14th last year and now it’s out of the top 20. Google has always been on that edge, holding 19th place last year, but with the recent troubles in consumer privacy in the US and EU, it’s not much of a surprise to see them dropped from the list. So who is the most trusted? American Express. Followed by Hewlett Packard, Amazon, IBM and the US Postal Service. Disney was the only studio to make the list, coming in at #16. (link)
- Today is the day that BlackBerry unveils the BlackBerry 10 platform to the world. We’ll have all the details in tomorrow’s report, but a recent poll by YouGov found that 47% of Americans find “at least one of BlackBerry’s new features appealing, with only around 13% suggesting they will consider buying a new BlackBerry 10 device. Considering… (link)
- Recent filings with the FCC suggest Apple is working on a new model of Apple TV, but other than making the device even smaller and switching to the new low-power dual-band 40nm Broadcom chip that is present in newer devices like the iPhone 5, it’s unclear what changes might be coming. (link)
- With Apple’s announcement of a new iPad, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint have all confirmed they will be carrying the new device. AT&T is even offering $100 off tablets purchased with a 2-year data plan through February 14th. (link)
- The US Dept. of Justice has asked the Federal Communications Commission to defer the planned merger of Sprint and Japanese carrier Softbank as it reviews the proposal for “any national security, law enforcement, and public safety issues” that have not yet been evaluated. Upon hearing the news, Dish Network is “holding off” on their legal filings with the FCC on the merger. (link1) (link2)
- Finally, Rovio is teasing the next installment of its Angry Birds: Star Wars series “Escape from Hoth”. The company posted an image of the Millenium Falcon with the slingshot on top as it drifts through a tunnel. Click the link after to get a look. (link)
