Mobile Data Shores up China Mobile

China Mobile reported a 6.51% year-on-year increase in operating revenues in the second quarter to 169.85 billion Chinese yuan (27.61 billion US dollars). Although voice revenue in the first half of 2014 declined 5.3% and messaging revenue 13.2%, wireless data traffic revenue rose 51.8% and now represents 24.2% of revenue from telecommunications services. 

China Mobile said it now has 410,000 4G base stations, covering more than 300 cities and serving 13.94 million customers. customers reached 13.94 million  It aims to increase the number of 4G base stations to 500,000 by the end of the year and the number of 4G customers to 50 million. source: China Mobile presentation

Deutsche Telekom Slows Down Again

Deutsche Telekom reported a 0.6% year-on-year increase in revenue in the second quarter on an organic basis to 15.11 billion euros. In Germany, revenue fell 1.8% to 5.46 billion euros, but in the U.S., revenue rose 14.6% to 7.23 billion US dollars. The telco claimed to be gaining share over archival Vodafone in the German mobile market, while T-Mobile USA's aggressive pricing helped it add another 1.4 million connections in the quarter. source: Deutsche Telekom presentation

No Dolce Vita for VimpelCom

Multinational telco VimpelCom reported a 5% organic year-on-year decline in service revenue in the second quarter to 4.9 billion US dollars, despite a 5.2 million increase in mobile customers to almost 221 million. In both  Russia and Ukraine, service revenue fell 4% year-on-year, while the Italian unit, Wind, saw a 10% decline. VimpelCom reiterated its targets of a low-to-mid single digit decline in revenue for 2014, while committing 21% of revenues on capex.

CEO Jo Lunder said: “As previously indicated, we expect 2014 to be a challenging year for our group. The results for the second quarter were impacted by a weaker operational performance in some markets, but also by the macro-economic situation in Russia and Ukraine. In Italy we continue to outperform competitors in a weak market. We are seeing improved financial performance in Kazakhstan and Bangladesh, with year-on-year service revenue growing by 8% in both markets. The improvements are due both to the investments we are making in our networks and to our focus on delivering the best customer experience."

source: VimpelCom presentation

Samsung Sees Sharp Fall in Mobile Sales

Samsung Electronics reported a 21% year-on-year decline in sales in its IT and mobile division in the second quarter to 27.51 trillion Korean won (26.58 billion US dollars).

Samsung said it saw lower smartphone and tablet shipments due to a "higher inventory level; and increased costs related to ramp-up sales of S5 and inventory reduction." The Korean electronics giant added that mid to low-end smartphone shipments were down due to weak demand in the EU and lower 3G demand coupled with intensified price competition in China. In the tablets market, Samsung said its shipments were down due to weak overall demand, including lower demand for replacements. source: Samsung presentation