Sale

Netflix to Raise $105 Million Through Sale of 3.5 Million Shares

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 28, 2006 - 9:07am.

Los Gatos, Calif. - Online DVD rental service Netflix announced on Friday plans to sell 3.5 million shares of its stock, priced at $30 each. The transaction is expected to close on May 3. The company said it will use the approximately $105 million in proceeds for general corporate purposes. Earlier this week, Los Gatos, Calif.-based Netflix reported that it now counts 4.87 million subscribers, and also raised its year-end subscriber target from 5.9 million to 6.3 million.

FTC Sting Finds Decrease in Sales of M-Rated Games to Minors

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 30, 2006 - 9:28am.

Washington - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday released results of a nationwide undercover operation using children ages 13-16, that found retailers are not selling as many "M" for Mature-rated video games to minors. Overall, 42% of the secret shoppers were able to purchase M-rated games between October 2005 and January 2006, down from 69% in 2003, and 85% in 2000. Enforcement of game ratings was higher among national retailers, where only 35% of secret shoppers were able to purchase an M-rated game, compared with 63% at local and regional game shops. Another aspect of the survey found that 50% of cashiers reportedly asked the child's age, up from just 12% in 2000; along those lines, 44% of retailers were found to have provided information about ratings or ratings enforcement, compared with 24% in 2004 and 15% in 2000. Later this year, the FTC plans to conduct similar operations to determine whether minors are able to purchase R-rated movie tickets and DVDs, and explicit content-labeled music recordings. "The FTC's results very clearly indicate that the nation's leading retailers of games have steadily improved and are quickly approaching the compliance rates of the Gold Standard, movie theatre owners," said Hal Halpin, president of the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association. Separately, the FTC announced that it plans to find out if parental participation in video game purchases and awareness of video game ratings has changed since a survey it conducted in 2000.

Report: Online Music Sales to Offset Physical Sales Decline in Europe

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 29, 2006 - 10:00am.

Amsterdam - Sales of physical music formats (CD, DVD) in Europe are projected to fall 30% over the next five years, but online music sales will grow to represent a third of the overall market and make up for this loss, according to a report from market research firm Forrester. While total European music sales are forecasted to grow from $11.41 billion in 2006 to just $13.21 billion in 2011, online sales in the region will skyrocket from $335.2 million this year to $4.7 billion during the same period, Forrester said.

Digital Music Sales Improve Quarterly Profit at Warner Music Group

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 15, 2006 - 9:45am.

New York - Major record label Warner Music Group credited digital music sales for helping to nearly double its quarterly profit to $69 million, up from $36 million a year earlier. The company reported digital music revenue of $69 million for the first quarter of 2006, up 30% from the fourth quarter of 2005. Warner said 70% of its digital music sales were made in the U.S., adding that sales were split evenly between full-track downloads and ringtones.

Report: Revenue from TV Phone Sales to Pass $30 Billion by 2010

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 13, 2006 - 11:33am.

Boston - Revenue from sales of cell phones capable of receiving mobile TV is expected to grow from $5 billion in 2006 to over $30 billion by 2010, according to a report from Boston-based market research firm Strategy Analytics. "Japan and Korea dominate market volumes today, accounting for over 80 percent of TV phones sold in 2006. However, Western Europe and North America, as well as China, will be the hot spots for global volume growth over the next few years," said Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston. "We expect Western Europe to ramp up to over 1 million units sold this year, with North America and China coming online in 2007. The share of TV phone volume held by Japan and Korea will drop precipitously to under 50 percent by 2008, and under one third by 2010." The firm predicts that TV phones based on the DVB-H standard will grow from 19% of the market this year to 40% by 2010, citing the support of Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Siemens. One popular feature on TV phones expected to grow is "TV-Out," which lets users send mobile TV content to a home TV, set-top box or digital video recorder; Strategy Analytics forecasts that 40% of all TV phones in 2010 will support this feature, up from less than 10% this year.

WSJ: Apple in Talks to License Music Videos for Sale on iTunes

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 18, 2005 - 9:43am.

New York -- Apple Computer has been in negotiations with major record labels, with an eye towards licensing their music video libraries for sale through its iTunes Store, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The talks hint that Apple could be gearing up to launch a version of its iPod that also plays video; the company has added a color screen and digital picture viewing with its recent iPod Photo players.

Shares of CNET Soar on Rumors of Possible Sale

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 6, 2005 - 4:51am.

San Francisco -- Shares of San Francisco-based CNET Networks closed up more than 10% last Thursday following reports that the technology-focused media company is shopping for a buyer. The New York Post reported that CNET has "had discussions" with Viacom and Barry Diller's InterActiveCorp, among others, and that investment banks are vying for the deal. AOL and Sunnyvale-based Yahoo are also rumored to be considering making a bid. "What makes CNET attractive is its huge amount of traffic," one source familiar with the matter told the Post. "These media companies think they can turn it into the next Google or Ask Jeeves." According to the sources, no deal is imminent.

tags: CNET | Sale | Rumors | Shares |

U.K. Game Developer Argonaut Games Goes Up for Sale, CEO Resigns

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 26, 2004 - 5:15am.

London -- U.K.-based video game publisher Argonaut Games, which developed titles based on "Harry Potter" for Electronic Arts and last week laid off about 100 employees and shut its studio in Sheffield, has announced that it is now seeking a buyer for the company. Argonaut also said that CEO Jeremy San and board member Aaron San have both resigned. The company's three subsidiaries -- Argonaut Software Limited, Just Add Monsters Limited and Morpheme Limited -- were placed on sale by administrators on Friday. "Administrators are confident that an early sale can be finalized. An early sale is always desirable in this sector to minimize any disruption to ongoing games development, to the staff and to the customers," David Rubin & Partners said in a statement. Fellow U.K. game developer Eidos, known for its "Tomb Raider" franchise, has also put itself up for sale in recent weeks.

tags: Sale | U.K. Game Developer | Argonaut Games | CEO Resigns |

Struggling U.K. Game Developer Eidos Considers Sale of Company

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 17, 2004 - 9:31am.

London -- Embattled U.K.-based video game publisher Eidos announced on Thursday that it has commenced a review of strategic alternatives available to the company, including a possible outright sale. The company pointed to a recent unexpected softness in the U.S. games market that is affecting current sales of its "Hitman Contracts" title, and announced it would postpone the release of "ShellShock: Nam '67" until September, to bypass the traditionally slower summer sales months. Eidos also cited "the continuing need to invest more heavily in research and development ahead of the next hardware cycle," and said that it is "becoming increasingly reliant on the performance of key titles," such as "Hitman" and "ShellShock." The company is best known for its successful "Tomb Raider" game franchise.

tags: Eidos | Sale | U.K. Game Developer |