Gross margin expanded 150 basis points (bps) year-over-year to 40.1%, benefiting from the shift to higher-margin products.
But growth in these new markets has gone hand-in-hand with a shift towards lower-margin entry-point products, the firm conceded.
He thinks product gross margin should expand slowly from 71.6% in calendar 2012 to 72.8% in calendar 2014, as mix shift away from high margin controllers seems to be slowing, and high margin software revenue picks up.
This gradual shift towards a more favorable margin segments is how IBM plans to grow profits at more than twice the rate of sales growth (forecasted to grow 5% annually).
The shift within mobility sales toward lower margin smartphones was the key driver behind declining margins.
The company noted pressures from precious metal and diamond costs, as gold prices have remained elevated, and a shift to higher-priced, lower margin products in their revenue mix.
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Although relocation costs for crews and equipment are expected to eat into the margin in North America in Q1 2012, the shift will help companies boost revenues in the long term by riding on the oil boom in the Bakken shale.
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The poll said Gore's narrowing margin appeared to be the result of a 3 percentage point shift in voter support to Bush.
Misek trims his March quarter iPhone estimate to 48 million units from 52 million, reducing his gross margin forecast to 40%, from 42%, due to a mix shift and continued assembly execution issues.
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Avnet said the weak profit forecast reflects the lower revenue in the technology solutions group, lower profits margins in the Western regions in electronics marketing due to a weaker sales environment, and a greater-than-expected mix shift in electronics market, with better sales in the lower-margin Asia region more offset by weaker sales in higher-margin Western regions.
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The difference appears to be a shift among independent voters, who now support McCain in Florida by a 5-point margin.
He inches up his gross margin forecast to 38.7% from 38.5% to reflect better yields and a mix shift toward iPhone.
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Dell has continued to struggle valiantly to shift its emphasis in a similar direction and reduce its dependency on high-volume, low-margin PC clients.
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The biggest: a dramatic shift away from slow-growth newspaper publishing, leaving the company to focus more on its higher-margin entertainment and digital-distribution properties.
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Risk management has been moving to near real-time or real-time for some years, but the shift of OTC trades to exchanges will accelerate it, Bory added, because participants will be subject to margin calls.
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