Mixed results from global players

The international ICT market was dominated last week by the quarterly results from some of the largest global players.

At home, the announcement that the MTN/Reliance merger talks had been called off was top news.

* Positive trading updates from Blue Label Telecom and Datatec.
* The establishment of Blue Label Mexico in collaboration with Nadhari SA de CV, a Mexican company with expertise in the strategic and operational development of products and services in developing markets.
* MTN announced its talks with Reliance Communications had been called off.
* Mark Hiller was appointed as MD of Lexmark SA.
* The resignation of Branislav Zivkovic, MD of Lexmark SA.
* IBM appointed Biodata as distributor of its Internet Security Systems products. TomTom named Rectron as its exclusive distributor for the region.

* Good year-end figures from Mcel (Mozambique Cellular) with revenue up 325% and profit up 12%.
* A consortium, led by ex-MTN Nigeria executives, is bidding for a stake in Nitel, Nigeria's national operator.
* The successful listing of Starcomms, the fourth largest telecommunications company in Nigeria, on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. This is the first operator to be listed in that country.

Worldwide PC shipments were up 15.3% in Q208 compared to last year, with Dell closing the gap on HP and Acer also showing market share growth.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

* Google acquired ZAO Begun, a Russian online advertisement company.
* Microsoft bought Zoomix, an Israeli-based data quality software developer.
* Open Text's $5 million acquisition of eMotion, part of Corbis, a visual media provider. This is the second acquisition by Open Text in as many weeks and expands its digital media capabilities, with the unit becoming part of Open Text's Artesia Digital Media Group.
* Xerox subsidiary, Global Imaging Systems, acquired Precision Copier Service, a technology supplier.
* Excellent quarterly profit from Etisalat, the largest Arab telecommunications company by market value.
* Very good quarterly figures from Google and Satyam Computer Services (revenue and profit both up over 40%).
* Good quarterly numbers from IBM, Microsoft (annual revenue now over $60 billion) and Wipro (India).
* Satisfactory quarterly results from eBay, Intel (but profit up 25%) and Tata Consultancy Services (but revenue up 24%).
* Mediocre quarterly results from Nokia (profit down about 60%), Philips Electronics (profit down 54% but revenue up 6%) and Seagate Technology (profit down over 70%).
* Mixed quarterly figures from ASML (revenue up but profit down).
* Very poor quarterly numbers from Sony Ericsson, with profit down 97% and revenue also down.
* Quarterly losses from AMD (revenue barely up) and Spansion (ex-AMD/Fujitsu joint venture).
* Dirk Meyer was appointed CEO of AMD, following a major top reshuffle at the loss-making chip company.
* The resignation of Hector Ruiz as CEO of AMD (stays on as executive chairman).

* The 'winner' of the assets of PCCW, the Hong Kong fixed-line telecommunications group. Contenders include Macquarie Bank (Australia), MBK Partners, a Korean-based private equity group and other private equity companies.
* The investment by SK Telecom in Sprint Nextel, the third largest mobile network operator, joining others such as Deutsche Telkom which have also expressed interest.

* According to IDC, worldwide PC shipments were up 15.3% in Q208 compared to last year, with Dell closing the gap on HP and Acer also showing market share growth. The top five - HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba - took over 57% of the total market.

* JSE All share index: Down 0.3%
* Nasdaq: Up 2%
* Top SA share movements: AdaptIT (+13.3%), Beget Holdings (+33.3%), Dialogue Group (-10%), Digicore (+16%), FoneWorx (+12.3%), GijimaAst (-14.1%), Ideco (-14.9%), Ifca Technologies (+54.5%), TCS (-11.1%) and Zaptronix (-10%)

Fortune Small Business magazine recently published its 2008 listing of America's 100 Fasting Growing Small Public Companies. It includes many ICT companies, with Vasco Data Security, a security authentication company, at number five; Interactive Intelligence, a provider of unified IP business communications solutions, at 10; and Ultimate Software, a provider of HR and payroll solutions, at 19.