IT Newsletter - October 11 to October 15, 2010

19 Oct 2010 , 04:29 PM

Top Stories 
 
Infosys Q2 net profit up 17% QoQ
Infosys Technologies Ltd. reported a consolidated net profit of Rs. 17.37bn for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 as against Rs. 14.88bn in the previous quarter. This implies a growth of 16.8% over the April to June quarter. Consolidated net sales for the reporting quarter have come in at Rs. 69.47bn versus Rs. 61.98bn in the preceding quarter, showing a sequential improvement of 12.1%. The Earnings Per Share (EPs) for Q2 FY11 stood at Rs. 30.41 as against Rs. 26.06 in the April to June quarter. The Operating Profit Margin (OPM) was at 30.2%.
 
In US Dollar terms, the company’s Q2 revenue were up 10.2% at US$1496mn versus US$1,358mn in the previous quarter. The net profit stood at US$374mn compared to US$326mn in the last quarter, representing a sequential growth of 14.7%. Basic EPS stood at 65 cents in Q2 FY11 as against 57 cents in Q1 FY11.
 
“Though the economic environment continues to be challenging, we have leveraged our client relationships, solutions and investments to grow faster in this quarter,” said S. Gopalakrishnan, CEO and Managing Director. “There are significant drivers for investment in Information Technology since any transformation program to build tomorrow’s enterprises’ requires these investments to be made. We are partnering with our clients on these initiatives.”
 
Infosys Technologies Business activities
 
Infosys Technologies Business Outlook
 
Infosys Tech declares interim and special dividend
 
Cognizant strengthens strategic relationship with Invensys 
Invensys Operations Management, a global provider of technology systems, software solutions and consulting services to the manufacturing and infrastructure operations industries, has announced that it has strengthened its strategic relationship with Cognizant, a leading provider of consulting, technology and business process outsourcing services.
 
The new go-to-market agreement will accelerate the delivery of Invensys Operations Management’s InFusion Enterprise Control System-based solutions for customers in the manufacturing and process industries.
 
Under the terms of the agreement, Invensys will market and deliver its applications and solutions while Cognizant will provide global consulting, implementation, integration and support services. These services will be complemented by Cognizant’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) and business decision-making solutions, particularly for large-scale, global enterprise-wide projects that involve multiple plants.
 
Cognizant enters into agreement with 3M
 
In Focus
 
Worldwide PC shipments up 7.6% in Q3 2010: Gartner
Worldwide PC shipments surpassed 88.3 million units in the third quarter of 2010, a 7.6% increase from the third quarter of 2009, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. These third quarter results were below Gartner’s earlier market outlook. Gartner had expected third quarter PC shipments to grow 12.7%.
 
“The major growth inhibitor in the third quarter of 2010 was softness in consumer PC demand in the U.S. and Western Europe. The third quarter historically is a strong consumer quarter, led by back-to-school sales,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “Consumer mobile PC demand, driven by low-priced notebooks, including mini-notebooks, slowed after very strong growth the past two years.”
 
“Media tablet hype around devices such as the iPad has also affected consumer notebook growth by delaying some PC purchases, especially in the U.S. consumer market. Media tablets don’t replace primary PCs, but they affect PC purchases in many ways,” Kitagawa said. “At this stage, hype around media tablets has led consumers and the channels to take a ‘wait and see’ approach to buying a new device.”
 
Infosys Technologies Business Outlook
 
Siemens clarifies on fraudulent illegal offering of jobs
Siemens Ltd. clarified that it is a merit based employer and does not charge any security deposit or fees from experienced professionals and/or during campus recruitments before/during the hiring process. Please be warned that such an activity is contrary to company policy. Siemens will not accept any liability for any such fraudulent or unauthorized activities, or for the consequences of any action taken on the basis of emails.
 
Siemens is a highly compliance oriented organization and any offers/ benefits/ content/ instructions presented in such emails impersonating Siemens do not represent those of the company.
 
Earlier, it had been observed that there have been several instances of individuals/recruitment agencies indulging in the illegal practice of offering jobs in Siemens Ltd. and/or its group companies, in exchange of money, on behalf of the company.
 
Domestic News
 
Mastek posts net loss of Rs134mn
Mastek posted a net loss of Rs. 134mn for the quarter ended September 31, against the net profit of Rs. 264mn in the same period last year. According to reports, the decline was led by foreign exchange. Read more
 
Mastek stock down on disappointing Q2 FY11 results
 
Mahindra Satyam ADRs trading Over-the-Counter effective from today
 
We have leveraged investments to grow faster in Q2: S. Gopalakrishnan
 
Sparsh BPO seeks shareholders approval for delisting
 
Patni stock up 3% on opening new delivery centre in China
 
CORE inks pact with Gujarat Knowledge Society
 
KPIT Cummins completes merger of In2Soft
 
Zensar Technologies launches Sixth Global delivery center in China
 
Integra India enters into distribution agreement with INTEGRA Biosciences
 
Financial Tech Solutions assessed for ‘IOSCO Principles for derivatives trading
 
Datamatics Global Services appoints Dilip Sahu as VP- India Sales
 
Educomp Solutions signs agreement with CDEL
 
Moser Baer signs a MoU with IIT Kanpur
 
Subex plans to raise Rs300mn to Rs400mn
 
Patni Computer opens new ITO delivery centre in China
 
ThinkSoft selects HP to offer new software
 
Indian Consumer fixed services market revenue to reach Rs 247bn In 2010: Gartner
 
Nirmal Datacomm opens Singapore office
 
International News
 
Worldwide media tablet sales to reach 19.5 mn in 2010: Gartner
Driven by sales of the iPad, worldwide media tablet sales to end users are forecast to reach 19.5 mn units in 2010, according to Gartner, Inc. Media tablets are poised for strong growth with worldwide end user sales projected to total 54.8 mn units in 2011, up 181 percent from 2010, and surpass 208 million units in 2014.Gartner analysts said the impact of media tablets on other devices will vary among segments. Read more
 
Microsoft unleashes Windows Phone 7
Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7, its new operating system for mobile phones, in its bid to make a mark in the mobile handset market which is dominated by competitors, such as Apple, Research in Motion and phones that run on Google’s Android OS platform. Windows Phone 7 will see the first devices launch on October 21 from major manufacturers including HTC, Samsung and LG. Windows Phone 7 handsets offer apps, games and integration with Microsoft services such as Xbox, Zune and Office.
 
Each includes a fast Snapdragon processor and uses Live Tiles on the home screen – constantly updated squares delivering real-time information from social networks, the web, email and your calendar. All phones will be capable of playing games, and given the integration with Xbox LIVE, there will be a wealth of mobile arcade action to be unlocked. HTC is launching five Windows Phone 7 handsets, the HD7 along with the Surround, Mozart, Trophy and Pro. Samsung will launch Omnia 7 and LG , its Optimus 7 device.
 
TPG Capital in talks to acquire Seagate Technology: report
 
ON Semiconductor to demonstrate latest product innovations
 
QlikTech announces availability of QlikView 10
 
IBM unveils Power7 & storage migration offer for HP
 
Sony to form alliance with HID Global
 
McAfee integrates into single management platform
 
Kingston announces ShopDeco contest for Its channel partners
 
SonicMaster Technology coming soon to Mainstream ASUS Notebooks
 
WideOrbit announces intent to acquire VCI Solutions
 
Fortinet announces four new virtual appliances
 
Asia Pacific PC market forecast to grow 20.4% in 2010 : Gartner
 
EMC shares jump on Oracle buyout rumor: report
 
Verizon to sell Wi-Fi version of the iPad: report
 
AOL, private-equity firms may bid for Yahoo: report
 
Google Q3 net income at US$2.17 bn
 
Microsoft, Facebook unveil search tie-up: report
 
Xerox may be takeover acquisition target: report
 
Intel Q3 revenue up 18%
 
New Products
 
Unistal unveils new versions of Protegent data security products
 
Gigabyte launches motherboards with Xpress 2, DualBIOS and Solid Capacitor
 
Symantec Corp launches public beta of Norton 360 version 5.0
 
Kingston launches 32GB microSDHC card
 
BenQ launches new generation interactive projector MP780 ST