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WSJ: Google execs worried by Samsung’s success with Android

Jordan Kahn

Samsung-Galaxy-S3While Google might be happy with the mobile ad revenue Samsung brings in shipping roughly 40 percent of the devices running Android, The Wall Street Journal said Google execs worry behind closed doors that Samsung could use its dominance to renegotiate its cut of revenue from mobile ads and search:

Google executives worry that Samsung has become so big—the South Korean company sells about 40% of the gadgets that use Google’s Android software—that it could flex its muscle to renegotiate their arrangement and eat into Google’s lucrative mobile-ad business, people familiar with the matter said.

Citing its usual “people familiar with the matter,” WSJ claimed executives at Google are betting on companies like HTC and HP to release compelling Android devices that compete with Samsung. According to the report, Android chief Andy Rubin discussed the situation at a recent event for Google executives. He described Motorola as “a kind of insurance policy against a manufacturer such as Samsung gaining too much power over Android.” Read more

Some Google services reportedly blocked in China

Jordan Kahn

Many reports are coming in that Chinese users are having trouble accessing a number of Google’s web products. There is no word on the exact cause of the service disruptions, but The Wall Street Journal noted Google’s Transpareny Report website shows “a precipitous drop in traffic in China starting more than eight hours ago,” although the site doesn’t list the services as completely inaccessible in the country. Google provided a statement to WSJ confirming the interruptions do not appear to be on its end:

“We’ve checked and there’s nothing wrong on our end,” a Google spokeswoman said in a prepared statement.

The Washington Post reported “Users with special VPN (virtual private network) services,” which many Chinese users take advantage of to access banned sites like Facebook, are still able to access Google’s services.  Read more

Google reports Q3 revenue of $14.1B, $2.18B net

Jordan Kahn

It looks like Google’s Q3 earnings have been released early with The Wall Street Journal reporting Google posted revenue of $14.1 billion and a net of $2.18 billion. A summary of the company’s earnings report from a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing is below. In the report, we see Motorola accounted for 18 percent of consolidated revenues. It brought in $2.58 billion, while reporting a $527 million operating loss. Of that $527 million operating loss, $505 million comes from Motorola’s mobile segment and $22 million from its home business. Google reported cash, cash equivalents, and short-term marketable securities at $45.7 billion as of Sept. 30 and operating income of $3.26 billion.

As highlighted in the screenshot above, Google is down almost 10 percent following the news. Google made a statement on what happened with the early filing (via Business Insider):

“Earlier this morning RR Donnelley, the financial printer, informed us that they had filed our draft 8K earnings statement without authorization. We have ceased trading on NASDAQ while we work to finalize the document. Once it’s finalized we will release our earnings, resume trading on NASDAQ and hold our earnings call as normal at 1:30 PM PT.”

Google is scheduled to announce earnings later today at 4:30 p.m. EST.

Q3 Financial Summary
Google Inc. reported consolidated revenues of $14.10 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2012, an increase of 45% compared to the third quarter of 2011. Google Inc. reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting traffic acquisition costs (TAC). In the third quarter of 2012, TAC totaled $2.77 billion, or 26% of advertising revenues.
Operating income, operating margin, net income, and earnings per share (EPS) are reported on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. The non-GAAP measures, as well as free cash flow, an alternative non-GAAP measure of liquidity, are described below and are reconciled to the corresponding GAAP measures at the end of this release.

Photos of ‘Sony Nexus X’ smartphone surface as LG readies Nexus launch

Jordan Kahn

LG might not be the only manufacturer to release a device sporting the pure Google experience and Nexus branding. Today, we get shots of a yet-to-be-announced Sony smartphone, posted by XperiaBlog (via The Verge), that looks to carry-on the design aesthetic of the company’s Xperia Ion hardware. Unfortunately, there are not any details to go along with the photos. However, we can see “Google” and Sony branding on the back of the device. According to XperiaBlog, the device in the image is called the “Sony Nexus X”. Oddly, there is no visible Xperia branding.

They could very well be fakes; but with LG, this would only make two of the five OEMs that The Wall Street Journal said would release Nexus devices with Jelly Bean. Others likely to join the Nexus device launch party include past Nexus makers Samsung and HTC. Unfortunately, there is a good chance the images above could just be a new Sony/Xperia device with a more stock Android experience. We will wait for a little bit more information before filing this as confirmation of a Nexus phone from Sony.

Google invests in state lobbying to make markets for driverless cars of the future (Video)

Author profile

The Wall Street Journal just published a lengthy report detailing how Google convinced Nevada state assemblywoman Marilyn Dondero Loop, as well as other states’ transportation committees, to introduce legislation that would help legalize its driverless cars for streets.

“This will save taxpayers countless millions of dollars and revolutionize driving as we know it. No more being distracted, no more accidents, and not another DUI attorney again.”

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company persuaded lawmakers, according to The Wall Street Journal, with “demonstrations and rides in its exotic cars,” and it subsequently earned “legislative wins” in Nevada, California, and Florida. There are even bills pending before legislators in Hawaii, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and the District of Columbia:

In the process, the Mountain View, Calif., company is building its credentials as an astute political operator. Google has been “pretty savvy” at navigating state capitols, said Frank Douma, a transportation-policy author and associate director at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. With its self-driving cars, Google “knew what they were doing by moving forward in Nevada” before approaching bigger states, he said. “If you blow it in the first state, you’ve really got problems.”

Success at legalizing self-driving car technology has broader implications for Google. Skills learned from lobbying state lawmakers could aid other endeavors that will require local policy-making, including the potential expansion of its Google Fiber Internet and TV service into markets dominated by cable companies.

Google spent roughly $9 million during the first and second quarters of 2012 lobbying in Washington and coaxing lawmakers and U.S. Department of Transportation officials, but Google did not disclose how much went toward lobbying state officials.

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Reminder: VP debate with Joe Biden and Paul Ryan to live stream on YouTube at 9 p.m. EST

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The only 2012 U.S. Vice Presidential election debate, with nominees Vice President Joe Biden and Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan, will live stream tonight on YouTube’s Politics Channel.

The YouTube Politics Channel often swaps its feature video on the main page, as 9to5Google previously reported, but today’s prominent live feed is from partners ABC News and Yahoo News (above). ABC News just finished airing preview debate coverage with predictions, insights, and commentary by leading analysts, but the network will go live again this evening to cover the debate at 9 p.m. EST. The debate is scheduled to conclude at 10:30 p.m. EST.

The video below, now spotlighted on the channel’s main page, is “The Choice 2012″ by PBS’ Frontline. Additional preview coverage between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. contains live streams by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Al Jazeera.

A screenshot of the schedule is also below, or just check out the YouTube Politics channel now.

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