You are here:
Celebrate our 150th anniversary with fantastic savings on a joint magazine and IC Advantage subscription.
I-mate's shares fell 18 per cent after it said that new handsets will launch later than planned, and that it will book exceptional charges of $6m (£2.9m) to $10m relating to the cancellation of its lower-end "Urban" range, bringing outsourced support services back in-house, and writing down historical stock.
Advertising
I-mate chief executive Jim Morrison says that the "Urban" range was ditched, at a cost of up to $3m, because it couldn't meet i-mate's new quality standards. The same stringent testing process has delayed two of the four "Ultimate" phones due out before Christmas. "When you have an Ultimate device, it has to be an ultimate device," says Mr Morrison. "It can't just have the name, it actually has to do it."
He cites "near-perfect" handover between wireless networks and faster response times as the resulting improvements to the business-focused devices, but says that the costs of the delays in lost potential sales are "hard to measure".
Neither Mr Morrison, nor the trading statement, offered any news on partnerships with mobile operators. Even Nokia, which re-merged its Enterprise division with the rest of its phone business less than two years after separating them, has found it difficult to sell devices directly to businesses. Corporate buyers still seem to prefer dealing with operators, who subsidise handsets and bundle them with call and service plans.
House broker Cazenove says i-mate's sales look slightly ahead of expectations, but still expects losses per share of 9c.
We advised selling these shares when they were 271p, and we're scarcely any more enthusiastic about them now. They rallied after the last results but are now back at year lows, and given renewed uncertainty about i-mate's ability to execute, still look high enough at 43p.
Free access to financial data, charts, portfolio tools and more - registration is quick, secure and free!
Profit from IC share tips; discover the benefits of IC Advantage and sign up for a free trial.
© The Financial Times Limited 2010. All rights reserved. "Investors Chronicle", "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of The Financial Times Limited. No part of these web pages may be reproduced or transmitted to or stored in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the editor.
Warning: Do remember, particularly if you are new to stock market investment that the prices of shares and other investments can fall sharply. You may not get back the money you originally invested. The material here is for general information only and is not intended to be relied upon for individual investment decisions. Take independent advice before making such decisions. This site is aimed at UK residents only. To read more please see our Important Warning
v6.2.10.5 running on www.investorschronicle.co.uk
