News Round Up: Skype, iPhone, Boxing Day Sales, Red Bull
A round up of the media, marketing and technology news making headlines this lunchtime.
Skype’s unhappy Christmas: Outages and Patent Infringement Lawsuit
Online peer-to-peer telephone service Skype suffered a major service breakdown In the lead up to the Christmas weekend, affecting an estimated 10 million users. The problem was rectified within a working day but saw many users switching to instant messaging alternatives such as Facebook Chat. Thankfully for Skype, it seems the outage cleared in time for Christmas Day. At the time of writing there are over 20 million users logged in to the service, so it looks like business as usual for the Ebay-owned firm. To top a forgettable Christmas, Skype has been served a lawsuit for patent infringement by little known software firm Gradient Enterprises.
Apple expects to ship 21 million iPhones in first quarter of 2011
Apple has raised its global shipment goal for the popular iPhone for the first three months of 2011 to 21 million after a strong end to 2010. According to sources at Taiwan-based component suppliers, global iPhone shipments in the last three months of 2010 were estimated at 15.5 million, with an overall 47 million units shipped in 2010. This represents a strong return for Apple, who are also set to reveal more about the highly anticipated iPad 2 tablet computer in January.
Boxing Day sales reach £2.5 billion, online sales hit record high
A higher rate of consumers consulted websites to plan their high street sales shopping before venturing into the crowds this year, according to market analysts Experian Hitwise. Almost 5 million people bought products online, with Tesco, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer leading the way with early-bird sales via their websites. Visits to retail websites between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were up 32% and with high street shops adhering to Sunday trading laws, the rush to find bargains began early online. The British Retail Commission estimates £5billion will be spent sales shopping this week, totalling £22billion by the end of January. This marks a deficit of £13billion in contrast with figures from 12 months ago.
Red Bull supersonic skydive stunt grounded
A 41-year-old skydiver aiming to beat the world record for the highest altitude jump has been grounded by a legal case. Felix Baumgartner of Austria is sponsored by Red Bull, who are backing him to leap 120,000ft above the desert of New Mexico, beating a 50-year-old record. Whilst Baumgartner is busy training, a writ has been lodged against the drinks company by Los Angeles promoter Daniel Hogan, who claims he originally pitched the stunt to Red Bull in 2004 and then resurrected the idea with Baumgartner. The skydive is arguably Red Bull’s most daring stunt to date, carrying potentially lucrative advertising opportunities.