retail

AT&T Mobility slashed prices last week on its two BlackBerry Pearl models to $100, down from $150 for the red model and $200 on the regular model. Research In Motion Ltd. credited its strong earnings last quarter to the popularity …

RadioShack Corp. appears to have pulled out of its tailspin, reporting a five-fold increase in net income in the first quarter.The retail chain said it netted $42.5 million in the recent quarter, up dramatically from a net income of $8.4 …

Nokia Corp.’s clamshell-style N75 device, announced last September, has finally arrived at AT&T Mobility’s online store for $200 with a two-year contract-at least it was briefly last week, before the carrier removed the offer, due to the product not arriving …

The mobile payment space continued to gain steam as Nokia Corp. and 10 network operators joined an effort by the GSM Association to allow consumers to pay with their phones at retail outlets.European and Asian network operators KPN, O2, Orange, …

Sprint Nextel Corp. is upstaging with the Upstage.Perhaps taking advantage of a lull in pricing changes by its larger rivals, Sprint Nextel this week slashed its price on the latest and greatest from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.; the Upstage music …

AT&T Inc.’s wireless division, Cingular Wireless, posted mixed first quarter results with customer growth coming in below expectations but churn and average revenue per user exceeding forecasts.The country’s largest wireless carrier said it added just shy of 1.2 million customers …

Big-box retail is second only to the network operators’ own branded retail stores as the channel of choice among American consumers. Big-box retailers as a distribution channel are rapidly rising in importance among carriers as well. This evolution reflects the …

Build it and they will come. Typically, this old saw is trotted out to underscore the odds that, in fact, “they” won’t come when you build “it,” whether it’s a baseball diamond in a corn field or a “multimedia computing …

Cyphermint Inc. announced a deal to provide mobile payment services for Texas-based financial services provider Fidelity Express.The Marlborough, Mass.-based startup said registered Fidelity Express customers will be able to initiate payments from their cellphones or schedule mobile alerts allowing them …

Alltel Corp., the nation’s fifth-largest carrier, discounted two smartphones over the past week, dropping prices on the Palm Inc. Treo 650 to $150 (from $200) and the UTStarcom PPC6700 to $200 (from $250). T-Mobile USA Inc., fourth-largest in the nation, …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our Monday feature, Analyst Angle. We’ve collected a group of the industry’s leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Compete’s Miro …

LAS VEGAS-New technologies and trends are trickling down to impact the businesses of rural carriers, bringing with them a host of new opportunities and challenges. The common theme among sessions at the Rural Cellular Assocation annual convention in Las Vegas …

T-Mobile USA Inc. announced a new addition to its lineup of Sidekick phones, the Sidekick iD, which is a slimmed-down version of the innovative device that will sell for $100 with a contract.“The T-Mobile Sidekick has always been about freedom …

LAS VEGAS-When businesses invest in social and environmental responsibility, they reap benefits, according to Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Holdings Inc.-and the crowd at the Rural Cellular Association’s annual convention here reaped sweets in the form of …

Verizon Wireless has discontinued sales of its kid-focused Migo phone, by LG Electronics Co. Ltd., while Cingular has dropped its youth-targeted Firefly device at its retail stores, as the nation’s top two carriers apparently continue to figure out the potentially …

The U.S. ringtone market will dip 8 percent this year as the novelty fades and users learn to create their own mobile music clips, according to Broadcast Music Inc.BMI predicted that ringtones will generate $550 million in retail sales in …

U.S. Cellular Corp. has taken its push-to-talk retail offering out of commission and limited the sale of walkie-talkie phones and service only to business channels. Retail stores and call centers will still support business PTT customers, according to the carrier, …

This year, worldwide replacement handset sales will rise to more than double the number of first-time purchases, according to a forecast by market research firm iSuppli Corp. And that has implications for the higher-end of the handset market and vendors …

EMI Group has become the first major music label to offer digital music tracks without anti-piracy software. The move has some claiming digital rights management (DRM) software is slipping precariously close to its demise, while others are holding out to …

Editor’s Note: In this monthly feature, RCR Wireless News talks to retail managers across the country to get a first-hand view of what’s hot in wireless.Retail store manager Mark Jones manages an Alltel store in the carrier’s hometown of Little …

Trip Hawkins is at it again.The CEO of Digital Chocolate is proselytizing, pushing what he calls “Mobile Games 2.0”-an effort to create next-generation titles that incorporate familiar themes like community, user-generated content and viral marketing. And in the process, he’s …

Money was the root of all interest at the recent CTIA Wireless conference, with various announcements from companies that want to play in the mobile payments and banking space, and a great deal of buzz about the potential opportunities for …

Mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. raised prices on its two handsets-the Drift and the Heat, both from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.-to $225 (from $175) and to $150 (from $100), respectively. The price hikes coincide with the end of a …

In the last days of March, which coincided with the end of the first quarter, both Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless lowered prices on two key smartphones in their respective portfolios. Is it “March Madness”-perhaps an attempt to juice subscriber …

ORLANDO, Fla.-The mantra of profitability remains the guiding principle at Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P., even as it invests in development efforts in the United States and moves ahead in emerging markets. “Without profit, you’re nothing,” said Miles Flint, president …