Archives

Report: Global Music Sales Fell 7.3% in Value During 2003

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 7, 2004 - 7:02am.
Brussels -- Global music sales fell by 7.3% in value during 2003, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported on Wednesday, citing both physical and digital piracy and increased competition from other forms of entertainment for the industry's fourth year-over-year decline. The global music market for 2003 generated $32 billion with total unit sales of 2.7 billion, including music video; the U.S. saw a decline of 12% in the first half of 2003 countered by an increase in the second half that cut the decline to 6% by year's end. The only top markets to experience growth were Australia (5.9%) and the U.K. (0.1%). The IFPI also noted that U.S.-based services sold 19.2 million song downloads in the second half of 2003, and that online CD sales increased from 3.4% to 5% in volume in the U.S., and in the U.K. from 5.6% to 6.6% of total units.
tags: Deal | Global Music | Value |

Sony Exec Reveals Redesigned PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 Details

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 7, 2004 - 7:00am.
London -- While speaking with the official PlayStation website, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves revealed that Sony intends to display a remodeled PlayStation 2 at this year's E3 Expo, and said the company is likely to release two versions of its upcoming PlayStation 3. One version of the new console would function more as a multimedia server that plays games, while the other would be a regular game console. Reeves also said Sony is exploring digital distribution of games, which could be enabled if broadband adoption and speeds increase sufficiently by the time of the console's planned release in 2006.
tags: Sony | PlayStation 2 | PlayStation 3 |

Action Director John Woo Buys Film Rights for Nintendo's "Metroid"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 7, 2004 - 6:58am.
Los Angeles -- Action film director John Woo ("Paycheck," "Mission Impossible II") and his production company Tiger Hill Entertainment announced that they have licensed the rights to create a feature-length film based on Nintendo's classic "Metroid" game franchise, Reuters reported. Originally launched in 1986 for the NES console, "Metroid" features a female heroine in a space suit doing battle against space creatures, and is one of the most popular game franchises in Nintendo's history. "We're obviously going to do the film as a bit of an origin story for Samus, the main character," Tiger Hill president Brad Foxhoven told Reuters. Woo will produce and possibly direct the film, which Tiger Hill said could be released for Christmas 2005.
tags: John Woo | Film Rights | Nintendo's | Metroid |

Honda Expects to Double Sales of XM-Equipped Vehicles in 2005

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 7, 2004 - 6:56am.
Washington, DC -- XM Satellite Radio, the D.C.-based provider of satellite radio services, said on Wednesday that automaker American Honda will increase the number of models with XM radios as standard equipment for the 2005 model year. As a result, Honda said that it expects to double its sales of XM-equipped vehicles, from 200,000 to 400,000. All of the cars will be sold with a free three-month trial subscription. "XM is proving to be a very popular feature that our customers want to see offered on a broader range of models," said Tom Elliott, the executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co. XM on Wednesday also unveiled a new satellite data information service, in partnership with NAVTEQ, a provider of digital map data for vehicle navigation systems. The service, known as XM NavTraffic, will allow a vehicle's on-board navigation system to display current traffic information for a driver's chosen route. The system will debut this fall as part of Acura's communication system.
tags: Honda | Sales | XM-Equipped Vehicles |

Sirius Satellite Radio Expands Distribution with Chrysler Group

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 7, 2004 - 6:55am.
New York -- Sirius Satellite Radio, a provider of satellite-delivered digital radio programming, announced on Wednesday that the Chrysler Group will offer its satellite radio receivers on 2005 model Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles. In the second half of 2004, factory installations of Sirius will expand across 11 vehicle lines for the 2005 model year. New York-based Sirius said it expects 500,000 new subscribers to result from the partnership within the first two years.
tags: Radio | Sirius | Satellite | Chrysler |

Mobile Entertainment Firm Mobileway Raises $23 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 7, 2004 - 6:53am.
San Mateo, Calif. -- In a deal that will allow it to expand into new territories, such as China, Mobileway, a provider of mobile messaging, marketing and entertainment services, said on Wednesday that it has landed $23 million in its fourth round of funding. New investor Institutional Venture Partners and previous investors 3i, CDP, Intel, Investcorp, Mayfield, Nexit Ventures and Visa participated in the round, which the company also plans to use to dramatically increase its market penetration in the U.S. and launch a range of new applications. Since its inception four years ago, Mobileway now has raised a total of more than $77 million. The company currently supplies more than 450 brands with mobile marketing and entertainment services, and carries wireless messaging traffic on behalf of more than mobile carrier networks.
tags: Mobile | Entertainment | Firms | Mobileway |

U.S. Shareholders File Class Action Suit Again Nokia

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 7, 2004 - 6:51am.
Helsinki -- The largest mobile-phone maker in the world, has been sued by U.S.-based law firm Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, which filed a class-action suit against Nokia for "material misrepresentations" when the Finnish mobile group predicted an increase in first-quarter sales -- only to announce later that revenues fell. According to a statement released, the suit, which includes Nokia CEO Jorma Ollila and CFO Rick Simonson, claims that Nokia issued "a series of material misrepresentations to the market between Jan. 8, 2004, and April 6, 2004". Nokia revealed on Tuesday that its first-quarter sales had unexpectedly dropped by 2% after having previously predicted sales would grow by at least 3% and as much as 7%. The news sent its shares crashing by nearly 17% in late Tuesday afternoon trading. Nokia said on Wednesday that the class-action suit against it for securities fraud was without merit and that it would defend itself vigorously.
tags: Nokia | U.S. | Laws |