Gadgets, Quarterly Earnings | featured news

If Apple Inc's weaker-than-expected quarterly result is anything to go by, the global smartphone industry is a lot more vulnerable to economic shocks these days than during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

RadioShack Corp. said today that it’s eliminating its dividend to shareholders as it reported a second quarter loss. The Fort Worth-based consumer electronics retailer reported a net loss of $21 million, or 21 cents a share, compared with a profit of $24.9 million, or 24 cents a share a year ago. Total sales increased 1.2 percent from a year ago and same-store sales were flat.

On Tuesday, Apple is set to report financial results for the second quarter. Analysts are expecting net income of $9.8 billion. But whatever figure Apple reports won't reflect its true profit, because the company hides some of it with an unusual tax maneuver.

Research in Motion unexpectedly announced on Thursday that a new line of phones that it still hopes will revive its BlackBerry brand will be delayed until next year... Research in Motion, the company behind BlackBerry phones, also reported at $518 million loss for the first quarter.

The evidence continues to mount that the mobile phone business is evolving into a two-horse race. It’s Apple, Samsung, and a host of desperate hangers on. In the first quarter, according to Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt, Apple accounted for about 80% of all profits in the mobile phone business, with Samsung accounting for the rest. The two companies combined, he figures, had 74% of mobile handset industry revenues.

Moody's ratings agency downgraded Nokia's debt grade to near junk status on Monday, citing a sharp decline in first-quarter cellphone sales that led to a 35 percent fall in revenue.

Blackberry manufacturer Research in Motion reports a quarterly loss, due in part to falling revenues on the back of weak smartphone shipments... The firm also suggested it would refocus on the corporate market rather than on individual consumers.

Best Buy Co reported weaker-than-expected sales for the key holiday quarter, prompting the world's largest electronics chain to close 50 U.S. stores and cut 400 jobs in corporate and support areas.

Barnes & Noble Inc posted a lower holiday-quarter profit as investments to keep its Nook e-reader competitive with Amazon.com Inc's Kindle continued to hurt its results.

In the third quarter of 2011, Samsung was the king of the smartphone world, with one report showing the domination of the manufacturer overtaking Apple's global reign.