Jerry Yang, Yahoo’s co-founder, former CEO, and long-term board member, has stepped down. He leaves the company during a period of protracted turmoil following the departure of CEO Carol Bartz and strained relations with the company’s very important (and lucrative) Asian wing.

Sudden decision

Though Jerry Yang has been under significant pressure for sometime with many calling for his departure, Kara Swisher of AllThingsD reports that the eventual decision to leave was both a sudden one and Yang’s own. She writes the departure ‘was so sudden, in fact, that Yahoo’s key execs — including its communications arm — had only a few minutes heads up to what is arguably one of the more momentous events in the history of the Silicon Valley Internet giant.’

The dotcom survivor

Under Yang’s tenure at the company, Yahoo went from being one of the few 1990s startup to survive the dotcom bubble bursting, to becoming of the biggest media properties in the world. Even though he created exceptional wealth for himself and Yahoo’s investors, the hardships for Yahoo – and by extension Yang – can be traced back to several key events over the past decade. Once Google – a company Yahoo nearly purchased – eclipsed it as the pre-eminent search giant, Yahoo’s stature, while still massive, began to decline and would never ascend again.

Yang’s Microsoft moment

In 2005, during Yang’s tenure as CEO, Yahoo made the now frequently criticised decision to reject Microsoft’s unsolicited bid to takeover the company for $44.6 billion. For perspective on the magnitude of that decision, the media conglomerate’s market cap as at the time of writing sits at $19.14 billion.

Since then, Yahoo has struggled to compete, losing leadership and executives along the way, making a lesser agreement with Microsoft and falling further and further behind as new mega internet properties like Facebook rose to compete with titans like Google, Microsoft and Apple.

On many accounts, the only thing that kept Yahoo financially attractive to investors was its stake in Alibaba, a mega Asian internet property. That relationship, too, has come under strain in recent months, piling even further pressure on co-founder Jerry Yang.

Better days ahead?

Swisher concludes her piece on how Yang came to leave, writing: ‘With a new CEO in place and the possible chance that its Asian problems were moving in the right direction, it had to have sunk in for Yang that it had finally become time to make peace with the present by abandoning his future at Yahoo.’ That seems a fair appraisal of what may have happened here.

Nevertheless Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang remains one of the most important Internet pioneers of all time, and it will be interesting to see how the company charts its path without his legacy weighing on Yahoo anymore.

Speaking to reporters during a roundtable meeting, Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha revealed that his company would release fewer handsets in 2012 when compared to its release schedule from years prior.

Better concentration of marketing dollars

Jha lamented too many homogenous products in similar price ranges eroding the return a company can make in the smartphone space. He said (via AllThingsD) that there were: “A lot of products that are roughly the same doesn’t drive the market to a new place.” Motorola itself is partly responsible for this, releasing multiple Droid devices in a short period during the tail end of 2011. He insists that it would be better to invest heavily in fewer products.

Competition forced this

Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha also insists that he came to this decision independent of what other smartphone manufacturers – Android and otherwise – will do. He said ‘We’re doing what we think is the right thing.’

Becoming Google like in its thinking

Jha also revealed that Motorola would pursue fewer product ideas, and instead throw its weight behind the ideas and concepts that were sticking. The strategy is very reminiscent of what Google is in the process of doing, with the company’s numerous side projects falling to the wayside for big deal initiatives. This should not come as a surprise, of course, because Motorola Mobility is in the process of being acquired by Google, so whatever the company can do now to align with its parent company’s strategy is prudent.

Sanjay Jha was quick to emphasise that this did not mean that the company would stop looking at new product solutions, or product categories. He said they still had an eye to the future. Yet, with warnings that their Q4 earnings are going to be softer than expected, suffice to say Motorola Mobility – and Google, by extension – don’t want to gamble and experiment for gambling and experimentation’s sake.

Comet Group, the second largest retailer of electronics in the UK, has been sued by Microsoft Corp for allegedly selling counterfeit copies of Windows Vista and XP discs.

Mass piracy?

On its website Microsoft alleges that the retailer had created more than 94,000 sets of Windows Vista and XP recovery CDs, which it then sold to customers who were purchasing PCs and laptops that had Windows loaded, reports Reuters.

Reuters reports that: ‘Comet is owned by French retail conglomerate Kesa Electricals but is in the process of being sold to private equity group OpCapita. A Kesa spokesman told Reuters that Comet was providing the disks as a service to its customers.’ Reuters says that the spokesperson explained that consumers who were purchasing PCs or laptops were able to create their own recovery CDs, and many of them did not, leading to them facing problems when their PCs failed. Comet Group was, presumably, helping them circumvent this problem.

Just providing a service

The spokesperson further explained that Microsoft itself used to provide the recovery discs, but stopped doing so in 2007. Moreover, the group believes it was acting in the best interest of its customers, saying that it ‘has a good sense of its claim and will defend its position vigorously’.

Investors, however, don’t seem impressed, with Kesa shares dropping some 5 percent during trading on Wednesday. The whole case screams of absurd, though. One would think that Comet Group would explore all of its legal options before just burning and retailing software created by Microsoft without Microsoft seeing a single piece of that revenue. This is especially so given how vigorously Microsoft protects its properties. Just ask Google and its partners.

It will be interesting watching whether a court even gives the Comet Group an opportunity to defend itself, or if this will be thrown out as soon as it comes under legal review. Strange, strange case.

Charlie Kindel, a former Windows Phone GM, wrote a post explaining the reasons he believed were behind Windows Phone 7’s continued struggles in sales even though – according to him – it was a superior platform to Google’s mobile OS. He says it all comes down to control – and that is what has limited WP7’s sales potential to date.

Kindel’s reasoning

Kindel explains that there are four primary sides of the mobile market – the users, the OS providers, the device manufacturers and the mobile carriers. He explains that they all own and control different parts of the market, while in conflict in other parts. He explains that where Google gives the device manufacturer and the carrier control – leading to more Android devices being made and carrier retail sales people punting Android phones – Microsoft restricts this control, meaning manufacturers and carriers support it less. In turn users do not have the devices marketed to them by the carriers, hence Microsoft’s week sales position.

What this means

Charlie Kindel explains that this means that Windows Phone 7 is able to provide a superior end user experience, though it comes with a price. ‘This is why, despite being a superior PRODUCT to Android, Windows Phone has not sold as well.  Spending marketing dollars on advertising Android devices is and easy decision for the carriers. Pushing RSPs to push Android is easy,’ he writes.

In the long run, he believes this model – putting users first – could trump over Google’s ‘do what you will approach’, which he says has resulted in the platform becoming extremely fragmented.

A comeback unlikely?

Tech writer turned venture capitalist MG Siegler says that, even if WP7 is marginally better than Android or iOS, it’s not enough, especially given how late to market it is. ‘Two to three years in the hole, the only way Windows Phone can win the market now is to make a product that is leaps and bounds better than what’s out there. They need something that’s an iPhone-in-2007 type product. The product they have, while good, isn’t that,’ Siegler writes.

The Windows Phone 7 sales problem has been on my mind for some time now. The mobile OS platform is, in my view, at least on par with Google’s Android, if not superior. What’s for certain is Android OS isn’t manifold better warranting the major sales gap between the two platforms. So what then is Microsoft to do to mitigate their current sales problem?

Kindel does a good job outlining how, in simple terms, the mobile devices market is structured. His argument for Windows Phone 7 sales issues is well articulated, but the proactive steps the WP7 team need to take to kick start sales outside of throwing money at the problem and waiting is not explained at all.

Research in Motion’s market cap has dropped to just $6.8 billion, which is less than what Microsoft paid for Skype when it purchased the VoIP company for $8.5 billion this year. As the pressure mounts upon the company, the CEOs have cut their salaries to almost nothing.

CEOs take a knock

Research In Motion’s co-CEOs, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, cut their salaries to just $1 per year during the company’s most recent earnings call. Even with that cut, the press around RIM’s leaders ranges from scepticism to downright cynicism. Reporting on the salary cut, CNet’s Larry Dignan writes: ‘Nevertheless, RIM carries on with its current management. Co-CEOs James Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis are taking $1 in salary a year. This token gesture inspires instant cynicism. The two may only be worth $1 a year at this point. You get what you pay for.’

Investors making suggestions

Activist investors Jaguar Financial, who for the last few months have been calling for a shakeup at Research In Motion, have also weighed in, recommending that the company ditch its handset business entirely and rather monetize its high-margin services business. ‘Jaguar believes that the road map to value restoration lies in a sale of RIM whether as a whole or in separate parts,’ Reuters reports.

The problem with this thinking, of course, is Research In Motion’s entire service business is built atop sales of its BlackBerry handsets – in many ways they are one and the same – the one exists to augment the other.

Now what?

The fact that Microsoft paid more for Skype than Research In Motion is currently valued at is very symbolic. 2011 has been a torrid year for the Canadian smartphone company, and if 2012 gets off to a similar start, the long-term viability of Research In Motion will be called into question.

Carrier IQ, a service that has been at the centre of a spiraling mobile devices security scandal, is either in trouble with the FBI or is in bed with the FBI. The Federal Bureau of Investigations has denied a Freedom of Information Act request made by MuckRock, requesting info on materials about Carrier IQ.

The request and the denial

In his FOIA request, MuckRock specifically asks for: ‘manuals, documents or other written guidance used to access or analyze data gathered by programs developed or deployed by Carrier IQ.’ In responding directly to him, David Hardy, who is the FBI’s section chief, denied MuckRock.

In his statement, Hardy writes: ‘I have determined that the records responsive to your request are law enforcement records; that there is a pending prospective law enforcement proceeding relevant to these records; and that release of the information contained in these responsive records could reasonably be expected to interfere with the enforcement proceedings.’

What does that mean?

Hardy’s statement is ambiguous. From that passage alone it is difficult to tell if Carrier IQ is under investigation, or if the FBI is using Carrier IQ as a tool/partner for investigative purposes. From a privacy perspective, the former is a relief, but the latter is extremely worrying.

Why this is such a big deal

While the Carrier IQ mobile privacy scandal is still unfolding, the storm was kicked up after a security expert had discovered that the software was deployed on millions of smartphones around the world. While there have been conflicting reports on what has transpired, it is possible that the software acts as a keylogger, which basically tracks every key you type on your mobile phone. Passwords, pins, places you visit, people you message, all of that, is out in the open. Though the case against Carrier IQ and its tracking software is still pending, the fact that the FBI is involved has raised the stakes significantly.

When Apple introduced the iPhone 4S, with its artificial intelligence voice assistant service Siri, tech writers and consumers were gushing over the feature. Now, more than a month into the life of Apple’s new smartphone and its artificial intelligence system, some critics are not so hot for the service anymore.

In a post titled ‘Siri is Apple’s broken promise’, Gizmodo writer Mat Honan expresses his disappointment. He believes Apple misrepresents Siri’s ability, particularly in its commercials. ‘What those Apple ads fail to report – at all – is that Siri is very much a half-baked product. Siri is officially in beta. Go to Siri’s homepage on Apple.com, and you’ll even notice a little beta tag by the name,’ Honan writes. A secondary problem Honan notes is that ‘Siri requires a network connection to work. Lose your connection and you lose your assistant.’

He concludes his piece, saying: ‘And for me, once the novelty wore off, what I found was that Siri is not so intelligent after all– it’s simply another voice program that will obey very specific commands.’

Apple watcher agrees

Apple watcher John Gruber agrees with Honan in part, saying: ‘the whole thing still isn’t up to Apple’s usual level of fit and finish, not by a long shot.’ He explains that he is still happy the Apple iPhone 4S has Siri built in, and that the reason Apple shipped it incomplete is to improve on it based on usage feedback. Nevertheless, Gruber concludes his piece echoing some of Honan’s sentiment, saying: ‘But there’s no denying that it’s damn weird for the flagship new feature in Apple’s flagship new product to be so rough around the edges.’

Thoughts

I use Apple’s voice assistant for very few functions. The functions I use it for, I enjoy using it for, but it is not my first call for all solutions it has been built for. It may not be all that which Apple’s commercials represent, but the early promise of what could come cannot be ignored.

Deutsche Bank has lent its voice to the growing chorus of industry voices that have predicted how well the Nokia Lumia line of Windows Phone 7 handsets have performed. The firm predicts that the Finnish mobile phones giant will sell 2 million Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets in Q4 2011, roundly beating analyst expectations in the process.

Differing opinions

Deutsche Bank’s estimates for Nokia’s sales trajectory are in stark contrasts with those of Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette, who just last week issued a note to investors, saying Nokia Lumia sales had gotten off to a slow a start. ‘We had expected that the company could ship as many as 2 million units into the six targeted markets for the holidays; however, we now believe that those shipments are likely to be less than 1 million for the quarter,’ he wrote at the time. In fact, he estimated that the company would only sell 500,000 phones – a mere 25 percent of the initial estimates.

If anything, contrasting Deutsche Bank’s expectation that Nokia Windows Phone 7 sales would meet estimates with Pacific Crest’s conservative outlook shows the pitfalls of being too reliant on analysts for sales outlooks.

So much hangs in the balance

The Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets have huge bearings on Nokia’s future, Microsoft’s future, and the overall makeup of the smartphone industry. If the handset clicks with consumers, Nokia, who for over a decade led the mobile phones industry almost unchallenged, have a chance of returning some glory to the beleaguered firm. For Microsoft, whose WP7 mobile OS has had sputtering sales, the Nokia Lumia phones could be just the momentum the company needs to put its handsets in the hands of customers who currently ignore it in favour of iOS and Android.

The Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets that are under pressure to save both Nokia’s handset business and Microsoft’s mobile OS platform have gotten off to a slow start, if a recent report by an analyst is anything to go by. Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette has slashed his estimations of how many of the handsets could sell by 75 per cent.

A quarter of what was initially expected

In a note to clients, Faucette writes that [via Forbes]: ‘We believe that shipments of Nokia’s new Windows Phone 7 products have been lower than we had previously anticipated.’ He continued, saying: ‘We had expected that the company could ship as many as 2 million units into the six targeted markets for the holidays; however, we now believe that those shipments are likely to be less than 1 million for the quarter.’

Faucette believes that Nokia’s handsets could sell as few as 500,000 units, a mere 25 per cent of the total initially predicted.

Some perspective

On one level, the poor performance predicted by Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette could be seen as cause for concern for Nokia, and on another level, it could be nothing. Remember, the two million units figure was his estimate, and not Nokia’s. What’s more the Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets are new to market and represent a comeback for the Finnish mobile phones giant – and something of an ‘arrival’ for Microsoft’s WP7 mobile OS – and so slow sales in the early going aren’t necessarily a bad thing.

Nevertheless, you can bet that both Microsoft and Nokia are keeping a nervous eye on Nokia Windows Phone 7 sales. Both companies need this to come off, and the longer it takes to gain momentum, the more anxious both parties will be, justified or unjustified.

On the heels of plenty of press, the Amazon Kindle Fire tablet PC is poised to become the second-biggest tablet PC before the year’s end. This is according to a survey conducted by ChangeWave, who also found that year-on-year tablet PC demand more than tripled, and that demand for Apple’s iPad remained very strong.

Triple the tablet demand from last year

ChangeWave surveyed 3,043 North American shoppers to find out how many of them planned on purchasing tablet PCs within the next 90 days. Fourteen per cent of them responded ‘yes’. This is more than double the 6 per cent of respondents who had said yes when they were asked this question back in August, and its more than triple the 4 per cent of respondents who intended on buying tablet devices in November of 2010.

iPad dominates, Kindle Fire second

Unsurprisingly, most of those planning on purchasing tablet devices had intentions of buying an Apple iPad 2. A whopping 65 per cent of respondents said they would buy Apple’s tablet. This was followed by 22 per cent of respondents who indicated their intent of purchasing an Amazon Kindle Fire. Rounding up the top three – and way off the pace set by Apple and Amazon – was the Samsung Galaxy Tab, with 4 per cent of respondents saying that was their choice device.

None of the remaining tablet manufacturers managed to get more than 1 per cent of consumer interest from those polled – a very telling stat about how one company (and now, potentially, two) has a vice grip on the space.

Early promise

For the Amazon Kindle Fire, the early demand is promising. The Apple iPad 2 is established and its dominance has been this way since day one. If this ChangeWave survey is anything to go by, other tablet PC manufacturers have plenty of work ahead of them.