Digital Services Lift Telefónica

Telefónica reported revenues of 10.8 billion euros for the first quarter, up 3.4% on an organic basis, driven by 11.3% growth at Telefónica Hispanoamérica and 2.1% growth at Telefónica España. Excluding the impact of regulation, revenues would have increased by 4.4% organic year-on-year, Telefónica said.

The Madrid-based group reported a 19% year-on-year increase in digital services revenue to 1.06 billion euros in the quarter, fuelled by its expanding pay TV business. source: Telefónica presentation

Facebook Continues Rapid Growth

Facebook reported a 52% year-on-year increase in revenues to 5.38 billion US dollars in the first quarter, as the number of daily active users climbed 16% year-on-year to reach 1.09 billion in March 2016. The social network said that mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 82% of advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2016, up from 73% in the first quarter of 2015. source: Facebook statement

Apple Goes Into Reverse

Source: Statista

Apple reported a 13% year-on-year decline in revenue for the quarter ending March 26th to 50.6 billion US dollars, as iPhone revenue fell 18% to 32.9 billion dollars. The decline in Apple's top line was the first since 2003.

Apple forecast its revenue in the current quarter will be between 41 billion and 43 billion dollars. That would represent a year-on-year decline of between 13% and 17% on the 49.6 billion dollars in the same quarter last year.

Apple's services revenue was the only real bright spot with service revenue rising 20% to almost 6 billion dollars. “Our team executed extremely well in the face of strong macroeconomic headwinds,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are very happy with the continued strong growth in revenue from services, thanks to the incredible strength of the Apple ecosystem and our growing base of over one billion active devices.”

Apple also announced an increase of 50 billion dollars to its program to return capital to shareholders. Under the expanded program, Apple plans to spend a cumulative total of 250 billion dollars of cash by the end of March 2018. source: Apple statement

AT&T's Wireless Business Under Pressure

AT&T reported a 1.3% fall in total wireless revenues to 18 billion US dollars in the first quarter, due to decreases in equipment revenue. Wireless service revenues of 14.8 billion dollars were flat year-on-year reflecting continued growth of smartphones and tablets. Total revenues leapt 24% to 40.5 billion dollars primarily due to the acquisition of DIRECTV.  source: AT&T statement

Orange Continues Edging Upwards

Orange reported a 0.6% increase in revenues for the first quarter to 10 billion euros, following a rise of 0.1% in the 4th quarter of 2015 and 0.5% in the 3rd quarter (on a comparable basis). The growth was fuelled by a stronger performance in Spain, Belgium and in the enterprise division.

Stéphane Richard, CEO of the Orange Group, said: "In Europe, we doubled the number of our 4G customers in just one year, reaching 20 million. We also reaffirmed our status as the leading fibre operator in Europe where we more than doubled the number of fibre customers to in excess of 2.2 million, principally driven by France and Spain with the successful integration of Jazztel. During the quarter, we also continued the development of our operations in Africa by becoming an operator in Liberia, consolidating our presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and investing in Africa Internet Group, the e-commerce leader on the continent.

"Very recently, we laid the foundations for our future mobile banking services by signing an agreement that will allow us to take a stake of 65% in Groupama Banque, which will become Orange Bank." source: Orange presentation

Google Sees Big Leap in Paid Clicks

Alphabet, the company formerly known as Google, reported a 23% year-on-year increase in revenues to 20.26 billion US dollars for the first quarter on a constant currency basis. That's down one percentage point on the previous quarter.

The aggregate cost per click (the average unit price Google's customers pay for advertising) was down 9% year-on-year, but flat quarter-on-quarter. Paid clicks on Google's web sites leapt 38% year-on-year. source: Google statement

Verizon Sees Sales Stumble

Verizon reported a 1.5% year-on-year decline in revenues on a like-for-like basis in the first quarter - a dramatic turnaround from the growth reported in recent years. Including the contribution of AOL, which was not part of Verizon a year ago, total operating revenues rose 0.6% to 32.2 billion US dollars. Verizon said AOL had its highest first-quarter revenues in the past five years.

Verizon's wireless revenues fell 1.5% to 22 billion dollars, "as more customers continued to choose unsubsidised device payment plans," the telco said.

“Verizon’s strong first-quarter results demonstrate our capacity to compete effectively, while executing on our plan of continued network leadership and seeding new growth markets in mobile video and the Internet of Things,” said CEO Lowell McAdam. Verizon added that IoT (Internet of Things) revenues grew 25% year-on-year to approximately 195 million dollars in  the first quarter. source: Verizon statement

Verizon's push into entertainment is analysed in my new report for STL Partners: Can Telcos Entertain You?

Netflix Forecasts Slight Acceleration

Global video-on-demand service Netflix forecast it will generate revenues of 1.96 billion US dollars from streaming in the current quarter, which would amount to a year-on-year increase of 33%. In the first quarter, revenues rose 29.5% to 1.81 billion dollars. In the second quarter, Netflix expects to add 2.5 million members with 0.5 million in the US and 2.0 million internationally (versus prior year 2.4 million).

Netflix said: "Performance in the [first] quarter benefited from the launch of several series, including Making a Murderer (a late December debut), Fuller House (February), House of Cards Season 4 (March) and Daredevil Season 2 (March), complemented by a diverse mix of new films, documentaries, series and kids shows available globally." source: Netflix statement

My new report on how BT, Telefonica and Verizon are trying to compete with Netflix, YouTube, Facebook and other global entertainment platforms is available here.

Huawei Rides High on 4G Network and Smartphone Sales

Leading telecoms equipment maker Huawei said its revenue rose 37% in 2015 to 395 billion Chinese yuan (60.8 billion US dollars).

The company said its Carrier business group generated 232.3 billion yuan (35.8 billion dollars), up 21%, fuelled by widespread rollout of 4G networks. The Enterprise business group reported 27.6 billion yuan in annual revenue, an increase of 44% driven by "rapid growth in the public safety, finance, transportation, and energy sectors."

Finally, the Consumer business group reported revenue of 129.1 billion yuan (19.9 billion dollars), up 73%. Huawei said: "This increase was a direct result of increased demand for high-quality products that deliver a premium user experience, as well as Huawei's growing influence as a consumer brand."

In 2015, Huawei invested 15% of its annual revenue – 59.6 billion yuan (9.2 billion dollars) – in research and development. source: Huawei statement