Psion warns on profits (and Vodafone on revenues!)

(By Anthony Miller) Remember Psion? I must be one of the thousands (millions?) of users that still has a Psion clamshell, handheld computer stashed away in a drawer somewhere, reluctant to throw away what was at its time a wonderful piece of technology. It’s a rather different company today, focusing on industrial hand-held devices, having left the consumer market to the mobile phone and PC manufacturers. Though still quoted in the UK, Psion (through its main operating company Psion Teklogix) is headquartered in Canada after its merger with Teklogix in 2000. Anyway, the point of these ramblings is that even the mobile marketplace is not immune from the downturn. In its trading statement (see here) Psion warned of deteriorating order intake in October as corporations delay their IT spend “for several months or longer”. Psion now expects both revenues and profits to be lower in H2 than in H1. Even Vodafone warned about lower FY revenues today (see here) though expects cost reductions and favourable FX movements to protect profits. And so the warnings continue.