Microsoft leads tech-ad spending in the first quarter with Windows 8 push

 Windows 8 Professional $200.00 Windows 8 isn't for everyone. If you're mostly a desktop PC user comfortable with Windows 7, upgrading to Windows 8 is probably not worthwhile. If you're a mobile user who needs easy access to the...

Tech advertising jumped 30 percent from a year ago during the first quarter, led by Microsoft, which pushed out Intuit to promote its latest operating system, called Windows...something or other.

In all, ad spending by tech companies totaled  $723 million, up 30 percent from a year ago. The jump was especially noteworthy because ad spending actually declined across all other sectors, Nielsen said.
For the last five years, Intuit has led all tech companies in advertising during the first quarter, as it promotes its TurboTax and Quicken software as the tax preparation season ramps up.

But this year, with Microsoft’s aggressive promotion of its Surface tablet, Windows 8, and Windows Phone, Redmond's ad spending jumped by 200 percent compared to the same period in 2012, when it was winding down Windows 7.

“Technology has become so widely available that it pervades every aspect of life to some degree,” said Randall Beard, global head of advertiser solutions for Nielsen, in a statement. “But with increased accessibility comes increased competition, and companies are investing hefty sums into creating buzz around their biggest products in order to secure a share of this sizable market.”

Other top advertisers included Apple, Google, and Amazon, Nielsen said. Its study included “hardware and software products including but not limited to cameras and photographic supplies, computers, handheld music players, stereo systems, and others.”

Whatever your feelings about Microsoft’s products, its advertising has arguably dramatically improved over the past quarter, with its Surface ads ditching the all-singing, all-dancing, all-clacking “Movement” premiere, replacing it with one that emphasized productivity.

Back in May, Wes Miller, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, said that the second ad marked a sea change. “It is significant, because it is the first ad that really shows what Surface can do that the iPad cannot,” Miller said. “Rather than ‘dancing around’ the Surface, I like that this ad actually tries to clarify the unique features of the device.”

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Windows Phone ads have skewered both the Android market as well as iOS fanatics, both with ads that attack Siri and the iPad as well as my personal favoreite, embedded below.
Has Microsoft’s advertising affected your view on the company and its products? Or is it the same old stodgy Microsoft? Let us know in the comments below. 

BlackBerry sold 6.8 million smartphones but lost $84 million last quarter

BlackBerry shipped 6.8 million smartphones and recorded a $84 million loss during the three months to June 1, as it struggles to turn around its fortunes.

 

The first quarter of BlackBerry’s fiscal year served as a referendum on how consumers and business users have received the new BlackBerry 10 smartphones. The company’s quarterly earnings, released Friday, noted that 2.7 million phones running the new OS were sold, a figure that disappointed analysts.

 

Shipments of 7.7 million phones would have been an “OK” result, according to IDC research director Francisco Jeronimo. The soft sales lead analysts to question the future of BlackBerry 10 and the company during a conference call on the results.

 

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins offered various themes on the same reply as a defense: “BlackBerry 10 is still in the early stages on its transition. In fact, we are only five months in to what is the launch of an entirely new mobile computing platform,” he said.

 

The BlackBerry Z10 is now available in 147 countries, while the QWERTY-equipped Q10 is on sale in 96 countries, with 50 being added during BlackBerry’s fiscal second quarter. The cheaper Q5, which also has a physical keyboard, premiered in Dubai last week. It will be distributed more widely during the second quarter, according to Heins. More products are on the way, but the company will not have more than six new devices in the market at any time, he said.

 

Marina Koytcheva, an analyst at CCS Insight, isn’t surprised by BlackBerry’s continued struggles, but agreed with Heins’ assessment.

 

“It remains too early to tell whether the new BlackBerry 10 platform can emerge as a credible alternative to Android or iOS with shipments of the long-awaited Q10 device and recently announced Q5 only just starting in many markets. We need to wait a couple more quarters before writing off BlackBerry’s chances,” she said via email.

 

The company may be working on new products, but a BlackBerry 10 upgrade for its PlayBook tablet is not one of them.

 

“Our teams have spent a great deal of time and energy looking at solutions that could move the BlackBerry 10 experience to PlayBook. But unfortunately I am not satisfied with the level of performance and user experience, and I made the difficult decision to stop these efforts,” Heins said.

 

BlackBerry reported revenue of $3.1 billion, up 9 percent from the same period a year earlier. Net loss from continuing operations for the quarter was $84 million, compared to a net loss of $510 million a year earlier.

 

BlackBerry’s OSes had a 2.9 percent market share during the first three months of the calendar year, compared to 6.4 percent during the same period in 2012. To grow sales, BlackBerry has to do a couple of things.

 

“It needs strong campaigns to drive awareness of the new platform and user experience; new devices at lower price points, and to refocus on the enterprise segment where they still have a chance. The consumer segment is lost and the only chance is on the enterprise segment, particularly the large enterprises,” Jeronimo said.

 

The smartphone market remains highly competitive, making it difficult to estimate units, revenue and levels of profitability, according to BlackBerry.

 

 

Stocks: Ending the quarter on a high note

Click chart for more market data.

U.S. stock futures were mixed ahead of the open. Fed officials have been in damage control mode lately trying to quell fears that the central bank might soon end or scale back its bond massive bond buying program that has been a big driver of the bull market.

Yet in trying to allay investor fears, Fed governor Jeremy Stein might have inadvertently spooked investors. He said the Fed could consider tapering bond buying in September. But Stein also said investors were overreacting.

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke kicked off tumult in the stock, bond, and gold markets last week, when he said the central bank could start tapering later this year, if the economy continues to improve.

Related: Fed officials in damage control mode

The mere mention of tapering has sent bond investors scrambling for the exits. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note hit 2.65% earlier this week -- its highest level since August 2011 and well above the 1.6% in early May.

Gold prices got slammed as well. Prices are down 13% so far this month.

While June has been negative for investors, stocks are on track to end the quarter up 3%. Year-to-date, stocks are up 12% to 15%.

U.S. stocks rallied for a third day Thursday, as investors shook off concerns about waning central bank stimulus.

Related: Fear & Greed Index nudges up to fear

Embattled mobile company Blackberry (BBRY) reported first-quarter results Friday that fell short of analysts' forecasts. Shares fell 16% in premarket trading.

Nike (NKE, Fortune 500) shares edged lower in premarket trading, easing from strong after-hours gains following a strong earnings report. Shares of outsourcing and consulting firm Accenture (ACN) were lower after the firm cut expectations for its year-end results.

Shares of Pfizer (PFE, Fortune 500) edged higher in premarket trading after the drug maker announced late Thursday that it would increased its share buyback program by $10 billion.

European markets advanced in morning trading, while Asian markets ended in positive territory.

The benchmark Nikkei boomed on positive economic data out of Japan, adding 3.5%. The Shanghai Composite increased 1.5% and the Hang Seng closed 1.8% higher.