Watching BlackBerry over the past few years has been like watching a train wreck in slow motion. The company, whose name was once synonymous with smartphones, has stumbled from one disaster to another. This week, things got a lot worse. BlackBerry
Browsing: Duncan McLeod
Naspers is within a whisker of smashing through R1 000/share for the first time and reaching a market capitalisation of R400bn thanks to an 80%-plus surge in its share price in the past 12 months. The growth in its value in recent years has been nothing short of
The smartphone market could be reaching another tipping point. Several developments in recent weeks point to potentially big shifts in the fortunes of the major players. Let’s start with Apple, which on Tuesday took the wraps off not one but two new iPhones, a top-end model, the 5s, and, perhaps more significantly, a
South Africa’s hard-working new communications minister, Yunus Carrim, is tackling the challenges in his portfolio with such gusto that he appears to have taken many industry players by surprise. I had the opportunity twice this past week to watch Carrim in action
Investors cheered Steve Ballmer’s decision to step down as CEO of Microsoft. The share price leapt higher by more than 7% on the day of the announcement that he would leave within the next 12 months, once a successor had been identified. Most critics said that, at best
Talk of consolidation in the telecommunications industry is rife, with speculation growing that a number of operators are either in play or may soon be. But how might a flurry of mergers and acquisitions play out? At the centre of current speculation is Neotel. Licensed
The price war in South Africa’s mobile industry is starting to take its toll, evidenced this week by the declining subscriber numbers at MTN, which conceded that it had been too slow in cutting its rates to match its rivals. But behind the scenes a much more interesting battle is brewing
New communications minister Yunus Carrim is set to face his first big test. How he responds will set the tone for his tenure and define his approach to Telkom and to competition in the sector. A decision by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) this week to publish
For the longest time, little much has really happened in South Africa’s broadcasting sector. But big changes are now looming. Barely a week seems to go by now without significant new developments in broadcasting. In recent weeks alone, there’s been news of plans to launch South Africa’s first comprehensive trial of digital
Don’t look now, but something profound is happening at Telkom. The new management team, led by group CEO Sipho Maseko and board chairman Jabu Mabuza, appears to be actively trying to change (well-founded) perceptions that the company is a litigious and rapacious