Spotify may turn profit in 2017, strike an IPO

While we’ve known that the Swedish music streaming company Spotify has been posting steady growth in its business, its overall cash flow has been in the negative and it has needed continued investor support.

But one of the company’s first investors and board members has told Reuters that while “growth, growth, growth,” may have been the directive of the past, perhaps “profitability will start to become a priority too.”

Par-Jorgen Parson, general partner at venture capital provider Northzone, expressed hopes that Spotify could turn in black ink as early as next year. That could come in part due to an initial public offering of stock.

“As an investor – and I’ve been in the company now for almost 10 years – we’re looking forward to an IPO at some point in time,” Parson said.

Spotify is currently valued at $8 billion and, if offered on an exchange, would be Europe’s biggest initiation since 2014.

It has posted operating losses for every year of its existence thanks to its market additions and the need to pick up new licenses per territory. But the enormity of its paid subscriber base — 40 million as of late — could finally outpace expenses for the first time. Operations could spill over into China, Russia and South Korea. Spotify will be looking to do more to serve artists next year, including tour planning and ticket and retail promotions.

Parson believes that Spotify co-founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon have “found their calling in life,” and are in full control of the company’s destiny.

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T-Mobile celebrates 14 quarters in a row of winning share from the competition

Verizon and AT&T are branching out, Sprint continues on its slow but sure way back to profitability, while T-Mobile is as bombastic as always in unveiling “industry-leading” financial results for the year’s third quarter.Yes, John Legere has every reason to be pleased about another three months of “producing both financial growth and shareholder ...

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Samsung estimates direct and indirect Galaxy Note 7 losses at $5.3 billion through Q1 2017

A “measly” $1 billion? As much as $17 billion? Just the $2.3 billion shaved off Samsung’s estimated operating profits for Q3? How about a “middling” $5.3 billion spread out over three quarters, through March 2017?That’s probably a reasonable ...

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Profit growth? Not so fast, as Samsung revises Q3 earnings guidance to reflect Note 7 loss

It didn’t take a rocket scientist before, and it certainly doesn’t take one now, to foresee massive short-term financial damages, and even bigger ones incurred by the explosive Galaxy Note 7 in the long haul on the previously rosy records of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer.But everyone’s having trouble estimating just how bad things will ...

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Believe it or not, Samsung actually posted year-on-year profit growth in Q3 2016

While the long-term repercussions of the seemingly never-ending Galaxy Note 7 fire scandals on Samsung’s financial, reputation and brand awareness health remain impossible to ascertain with any precision, it’s probably safe to say the Korean tech giant has at least managed to temporarily survive the

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Foxconn earnings fall as Chinese regulators greenlight Sharp buyout

Unlike Apple, which had a good, tough fiscal quarter, subcontractor Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. had a pretty bad, tough fiscal quarter.The company, known publicly as Foxconn, reported a 5 percent drop in total revenue to 922 billion New Taiwan dollars or 29.5 billion USD. That boiled down to 17.7 billion NTD (566 million USD) in net profit, down 31 percent annually and a 26 percent disappointment from analyst expectations.The correlation between

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Fitbit enjoys another quarter of sales and revenue growth, as well as wearable domination

The smartwatch market is shrinking, with both Apple and Google’s Android Wear hardware-making partners to blame for their delay in renewing last year’s designs, but the wrist-worn tech industry remains kind and giving for at least one key player, ...

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Sony Mobile sales continue to contract, but a tiny division profit is recorded

Confirmed reports of Sony looking to dispense with its long-lived, once leading-edge but no longer successful and profitable battery business sounded like bad news not just for the conglomerate’s components and semiconductors departments.Other flagging divisions, including mobile communications, aka smartphones, could be in danger, as Sony stops relying on perennially prosperous gaming, home ...

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Slow G5 sales, high marketing expenditures take toll on LG’s Q2 mobile results

When LG’s aptly named mobile communications division posted a troublesome albeit far from massive $180 million operating loss at the end of the year’s first quarter, the G5 couldn’t really be blamed, launching commercially on April 1, i.e. at the very beginning of Q2.But after the early enthusiasm regarding the modular angle of the new flagship phone rapidly died down, it became crystal clear this

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‘Expanded’ Galaxy S7 sales help Samsung post record two-year profit

Apple somehow managed to defy market trends for the large part of last year, seeing both iPhone shipment numbers and overall earnings surge quarter after quarter, and now, it’s Samsung’s turn to beat analyst estimates and the industry’s general stagnation with strong performance from high and low-end Android devices.Obviously, the flagship Galaxy S7 duo was the main driver of profit during Q2 2016 as well as ...

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Nest may be disappointing Alphabet when it comes to cash

Would Alphabet put down what Google picked up? Or will things change to a major degree? Either Amazon has become the Internet of Things hub or Nest is stuck in a tide pool where a slow rise just isn’t enough.In 2014, Google had purchased the smart thermostat-maker for $3.2 billion. The terms of purchase allowed key employees to retain their positions ...

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