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每日观察:关注EA财报及Android硬件标准化水平(5.8)

发布时间:2013-05-08 10:48:47 Tags:,,

1)据venturebeat报道,前苹果创意总监及战略顾问Ken Segall最近表示,iPhone也应该效仿iPod Touch,推出多种色系的产品。

他指出目前大众观念认为“三星才是真正的创新者”,“iPhone已经落后”,虽然这种大众观念未必反映实际情况,但却对苹果股票、苹果名誉等带来现实影响。

ipod-touch(from venturebeat)

ipod-touch(from venturebeat)

2)EA最近发布2013财年第四季度财报显示,公司在该时期基于非GAAP的净收益为10.4亿美元,同比上年增长6.4%(当时基于非GAAP的净收益为9.77亿美元)。

但EA并未公布本季度非GAAP净亏损,仅预计这一数据在1.88亿美元左右。

EA digital revenue by type(from EA)

EA digital revenue by type(from EA)

EA digital revenue by platform(from EA)

EA digital revenue by platform(from EA)

整个2013财年基于非GAAP数字业务收益为17亿美元;第四季度基于非GAAP的数字收益为6.18亿美元,超过去年同期时的4.25亿美元,其中来自移动、掌机平台的收益将近1.04亿美元。

该时期EA基于非GAAP的移动业务(包括智能手机和平板电脑)收益同比上季度(9900万美元)增长6.1%,达到1.04亿美元,同比上年增长21%。该时期EA整体移动业务(包括掌机平台)收益为1.18亿美元,同比上季度的1.47亿美元下降19%。

3)据venturebeat报道,Kabam日前在德国成立了柏林工作室,并计划为新工作室招聘50多名成员。

总部位于美国旧金山的Kabam有近半数收益来自海外市场,预计2013年收益将突破2.7亿美元(2012年为1.8亿美元)。

Kabam-logo(from cn.corporate.kabam.com)

Kabam-logo(from cn.corporate.kabam.com)

Kabam此前在卢森堡已有工作室,而柏林工作室则将处理在线运营及客服支持等业务。Kabam目前有600名成员,已获得谷歌、华纳兄弟、MGM、SK Telecom、英特尔、Canaan Partners、红点投资以及Pinnacle Ventures投资。

4)据Techcrunch报道,亚洲应用开发商Animoca(游戏邦注:问世两年已发布300多款应用,下载量突破1.5亿次,主要开发Android应用)最近表示,当前的Android软件质量测试已明显比一年之前更容易。

android-connected-fragmentation(from animoca.com)

android-connected-fragmentation(from animoca.com)

Animoca去年测试的应用使用了400种Android设备,但由于Android设备的标准化发展,这一数量现在已经降至原来的四分之一。

Animoca母公司Outblaze首席执行官Yat Siu表示,2012年公司所使用的测试设备多为低端手机,但现在的新设备发展速度更快,性能也更加优良。据其所称,韩国和日本拥有大规模的Android用户,因此这两个地区也是Animoca最大的市场。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

1)It’s time for the ‘iPod-ization of iPhone,’ former Apple creative director says

John Koetsier

iPod Shuffle is available in blue, green, yellow, salmon, purple, silver, and charcoal. The Nano is available in multiple colors too, and so is iPod touch.

It’s time for iPhone to “get the family treatment,” former Apple creative director and strategy consultant Ken Segall says.

The former Apple employee writes that public perception is now that “Samsung is now the real innovator,” and that “iPhone has fallen behind.” While, he says, perception is not equivalent to reality, it has actual impact … such as Apple’s stock price, and such as Apple’s reputation.

Fortunately, he’s not suggesting an innovation quick-fix with the application of some paint and lipstick.

But he is saying that, as iPod’s biggest years came after the iconic “MP3 player” bifurcated again and again into multiple models and, yes, multiple colors, iPhone’s biggest years are ahead of it too. If Apple learns the lesson of the past.

That means iPhone mini, a cheaper but not cheap iPhone, iPhone 5S, a new iPhone in multiple colors, and iPhone maxi, a bigger iPhone to compete with the mounting fablet fascination, especially in Asia.

Segall’s not saying he has access to any privileged insider information, although it’s not unlike Apple to quietly leak information to trusted sources. But what he’s saying makes sense:

The smartphone audience has grown exponentially in recent years. The simple reality is that different people have different needs. Creating a family of devices would widen iPhone’s appeal
as it squelches the perception that Apple is somehow losing touch.(source:venturebeat

2)EA reports $1.04B net revenue in Q4 2013, generates $104M from mobile

Scott Reyburn

Gaming giant Electronic Arts today reported $1.04 billion in non-generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) net revenue for its fourth fiscal quarter of 2013, up 6.4 percent year-over -year from 977 million in non-GAAP net revenue from Q4 2012.

Sales of $1.04 billion were within the company’s guidance of $1.025 billion to $1.125 billion. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) were $0.55, which was slightly below its guidance of $0.57 to $0.72, while non-GAAP loss per share was $($0.17).

EA didn’t report a non-GAAP net loss in this quarter, but expects a non-GAAP net loss of $188 million and a non-GAAP loss per share of $0.62 for Q1 2014. Non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $169 million, up from $56 million from the same quarter a year ago. Non-GAAP digital revenue for the 2013 fiscal year totaled $1.7 billion.

Overall, the company’s non-GAAP digital revenue for Q4 2013 amounted to $618 million, up from $425 million in Q4 2012. Revenue from mobile, including handhelds, contributed approximately $104 million to this total.

“We remained focused on this segment due to the significant growth in the smartphone and tablet market,” says Blake Jorgensen, chief financial officer of EA, in today’s earnings call.

The company reported a strong showing from mobile titles that contributed to its growth in mobile, including The Simpsons: Tapped Out and Real Racing 3. The Simpsons: Tapped Out generated nearly $10 million in digital net revenue in March, totaling almost $50 million since launching in August 2012. The title also reached 13 million installs for Android and peaked at 5.4 million daily active users (DAU) across both iOS and Android. Real Racing 3 generated more than 30 million downloads, and has averaged more than 2.5 million daily active users DAU since releasing in March.

EA continued its company shift from social to mobile after it recently shut down three more social titles, including Sim City Social, The Sims Social and Pet Society. EA’s earnings report
for this quarter shows that four mobile games and one social games are in development, with other titles to be announced. Jorgensen said in the earnings call that EA plans to launch 15 titles on mobile platforms in the fiscal year of 2014. As for what’s in the pipeline for mobile, EA president of labels Frank Gibeau, says PopCap will release Plants vs. Zombies 2 and new title from the Bejeweled team, new mobile titles from EA Sports and more features for The Simpsons: Tapped Out and Real Racing 3.

“We are placing greater emphasis on mobile and less on social games,” Jorgensen says.

Electronic Arts non-GAAP mobile revenues from smartphones and tablets were up 6.1 percent quarter-over-quarter from $99 million to $104 million for Q4 2013, and up 21 percent year-over-year.

The Redwood City, Calif.-headquartered corporation’s total mobile revenues including handhelds was $118 million, up from $100 million at the same time last year, and down 19 percent
quarter-over-quarter from $147 million.(source:insidemobileapps

3)Free-to-play game publisher Kabam opens European operations office in Berlin

Dean Takahashi

Expanding into Europe, free-to-play game publisher Kabam is opening a new office in Berlin today.

San Francisco-based Kabam, which is rapidly becoming one of the largest social and mobile game companies, plans to hire 50 multilingual employees at its new operations office. Kabam generates almost half of its revenue overseas. That revenue is expected to exceed $270 million in 2013, up from $180 million in 2012.

The company is making hardcore games on mobile and social platforms, from the iPhone to Facebook. Its big titles include Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North, The Hobbit: Kingdoms of
Middle Earth, Dragons of Atlantis, and The Godfather: Five Families.

Kabam already has an office in Luxembourg, and the Berlin office will start with a temporary office at boulevard Unter den Linden. It will expand to a permanent location in the coming weeks. The Berlin office will handle live operations and customer support.

“Kabam likes Berlin’s vibrant, international energy,” said Kevin Chou, the company’s chief executive. “Berlin is as good as Silicon Valley, with tech-savvy, creative, multilingual professionals; a big gaming scene; and leading media. Kabam is excited to make a big commitment in Berlin.”

Later this month, Kabam will launch Fast & Furious 6: The Game, its first free-to-play racing title. Kabam has 600 employees, and it has raised a large amount of funding from Google, Warner

Brothers, MGM, SK Telecom, Intel, Canaan Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and Pinnacle Ventures.(source:venturebeat

4)Developing For Android Is Much Easier Now, Animoca Claims

Victoria Ho

Software quality assurance testing on Android devices is far easier than it was just a year ago, at least according to one of Asia’s largest mobile app developers, Animoca.

The Hong Kong company has produced over 300 apps since it started two years ago, and just shot past 150 million downloads collectively. It produces mainly Android apps.

Last year, Animoca’s testing process for its apps covered a whopping 400 Android devices. Today, this number has been slashed to just a quarter of that, largely because of standardization in the Android handset industry.

According to Yat Siu, CEO of Animoca’s parent company Outblaze, most phones have become standardized on Samsung’s base hardware, thanks to the Korean manufacturer’s cornering of the component market.

Besides making its own branded devices, Samsung provides parts for a huge array of other devices. In 2012, Samsung was the world’s biggest manufacturer of NAND Flash (31 percent), DRAM (38 percent), and display components (25 percent).

The evolution of Android’s platform over the years has also made it a lot more flexible for app developers on the software side of things, with fewer variants of Jelly Bean than

Gingerbread, he added. Together with hardware standardization, this has really eased the amount of testing that Animoca has to do today.

“Japan is the outlier in all of this—they have the strangest phones, and each one is a little different from the other. The rest of the world is mainly quite similar, based on Samsung hardware,” said Yat.

Phones are also getting better. He said that the 400 testing devices from 2012 were mainly made up of low-end handsets. “You have to cater to low-end devices because otherwise, you cancel out your biggest audience. But all the new hardware is pretty kickass, and more and more devices are getting very capable,” he said.

Animoca employs about 100 people working just on its apps, and has operations in Korea, the Philippines, the US and China. Its strategy is to flood the market with apps hitting different niche markets, rather than try to create a “Supercell-style or Angry Birds blockbuster” hit, said Yat.

Some of its titles, Star Girl and Pretty Pet Salon have pretty much reached hit status, but the company is focused on churning out a higher volume of app varieties, in the hopes of casting a wider net for loyal fans. “Those become paying audiences,” he said.

While Star Girl is enjoying millions of downloads, it’s still a niche app. “It targets girls, you share clothes and virtually flirt with guys. It’s not a Candy Crush,” said Yat.

The company has grown about four times in the past 12 months, although he wouldn’t say how much revenue it brings in now. “Frankly, we grew because Android grew as well,” he said, referring to Android’s growing market share. “That’s why Korea and Japan are big markets for us, because they are strong Android bases,” he said.

Animoca produces iOS versions of some of its games, but remains focused on Android, where ARPU is “very comparable” to iOS. Users in Japan and Korea tend to spend most on apps, said Yat.(source:techcrunch


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