AT&T picks up Centennial Communications for $944 million

For those who stick to one coast or the other, you may have never even heard of Centennial Communications. Not to worry, though, as AT&T just made said company entirely more relevant. Shortly before heading out of the office on Friday, AT&T decided it fitting to acquire Centennial for a few bucks shy of a billion, or $944 million for those seeking precision. The transaction will beef up AT&T's coverage for customers in rural areas of the Midwest and Southeast United States, not to mention in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. As always, the acquisition must first pass regulatory approval, the approval of Centennial's stockholders and "other customary closing conditions" before the little guy's 1.1 million subscribers officially make the shift, but we certainly don't expect that to be an issue.
[Via: The New York Times ] [Tag: acquire, acquisition, ATT, business, Centennial, Centennial communications, CentennialCommunications, deal, industry ]

Samsung steals Motorola's claim to fame, takes number one spot in US phone sales

No matter how dire Motorola's situation may be, it's still been able to cling to one last title keeping it firmly entrenched in the ranks of the world's mobile manufacturing elite: US phone sales. For years, Motorola has ridden the RAZR gravy train to success on its home turf more than any other, keeping more globally relevant rivals like Nokia and LG at bay. No longer, though -- Samsung has finally dethroned Moto, upping its share of the US market to 22.4 percent from 16.2 percent a year ago. That leaves Motorola in number two with 21.1 percent, a shocking fall from 32.7 percent in 2007. LG's knocking on the door at 20.5 percent, so unless the boys and girls in Chicago can get their Android-supportin' butts in gear on the double, we could see a drop to number three within a quarter or two.
[Via: Engadget ] [Tag: motorola, samsung, us ]

Intel pounds another nail in UWB's coffin

It's starting to look pretty tough for UWB -- WiQuest totally shut down yesterday, and now Intel's decided to abandon its UWB dev efforts. The company says that it'll be easier and cheaper to buy off-the-shelf UWB chips instead of continuing its own five-year-old engineering efforts, but those shelves aren't exactly overflowing, and the lack of enthusiasm for this tech in the marketplace suggests this trickle of bad news could turn into a flood -- we'll see how things shake out.
[Via: Phonescoop ] [Tag: intel, ultra wideband, UltraWideband, uwb, wireless usb, WirelessUsb, wusb ]

Analyst says Palm burning through cash like it's going out of style

Stock downgrades are nothing new for the boys and girls at Palm, but analyst Tavis McCourt of Morgan Keegan (which certainly sounds like an important and all-knowing firm) has painted a particularly bleak picture of the company's books today -- so grim, in fact, that it set off a 20 percent drop in the company's market cap. Apparently the big concern is Palm's cash burn rate, which has left a cash reserve of just under a quarter billion dollars through a series of delays and setbacks that have been partially offset by moderate successes like the Centro. McCourt figures that'll be down to a mere $75 million by the time Palm OS 2 launches, and that's assuming they don't run into any more slips in the schedule. He notes that Bono can always just flip 'em a few more mil out of his Joshua Tree earnings, but it'll end up diluting existing shareholders' stakes, hence the massive drop in value today. No pressure, Palm.
[Via: Engadget ] [Tag: cash, money, palm, stock ]

Circuit City announces store closure plans, full list of locations revealed

Yesterday news broke that Circuit City would announce the imminent closure of 155 retail locations, and this morning the company confirmed the news. Detailing its next plan of action in a lengthy press release, the electronics-maker blames "waning consumer confidence and a significantly weakened retail environment" (amongst other things) for the closings, and says that it's considering "all available options and alternatives for the business." In the short-term, this means that we'll see store closings in 55 markets from coast to coast, and the retailer will axe 17 percent of its workforce. The company also plans to begin store closing sales this Wednesday, November 5th, so they're clearly not wasting any time with the process. We've got more info in the read links below, as well as a full list of the closing stores -- if you're an employee, we hope your number isn't on there.

[Via: Engadget ] [Tag: circuit city, CircuitCity, economy, store closing, store closings, StoreClosing, StoreClosings ]

Nokia announces layoffs with flowery language

Hiding behind a press release titled "Nokia continues its change and renews some of its activities," the woodsmen of Espoo are swinging a corporate axe of woe. In total, the mobile phone giant plans to cut something on the order of about 600 jobs in its Sales and Marketing, R&D, and global operations. Nothing compared to the cuts at Motorola but certainly unwelcome news for those affected.
[Via: Engadget ] [Tag: layoff, layoffs, nokia ]

Panasonic and Sanyo change status to "it's complicated"

You know you've heard it from two lovebirds in junior high: "we're not going out, we're just talking." In a completely bizarre way, that's about the best way we can sum up what's apparently going on between Panasonic and Sanyo Electric. According to an unnamed company official "familiar with the negotiations," Panny is already in talks with Goldman Sachs, Daiwa Securities SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking about snapping up a "controlling stake in its smaller rival." Reportedly, these "talks" are at the so-called preliminary stage, and dialog regarding dollars and cents (and yen, probably) has yet to officially occur. Still, the insider asserts that a formal acquisition proposal will be submitted soon, potentially enabling Panasonic to quickly grab a "world-class" (wait, really?) battery operation and give it a leg-up in the exploding solar energy market. Stay tuned for more -- you know the unpredictable always happens on Saturday nights.
[Via: Bloomberg ] [Tag: acquisition, business, buy, buyout, industry, japan, merge, merger, panasonic, sanyo, sanyo electric, SanyoElectric ]