Five Companies That Dropped The Ball This Week

Oracle: Hardware Reseller Relationships Could 'Deteriorate'

Oracle this week said its relationships with hardware resellers "may deteriorate" as the company increases its direct hardware sales.

Oracle outlined its goals in a 10-k report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: "Although we will continue to sell our hardware systems products through indirect channels, including independent distributors and value-added resellers, we have enhanced our direct sales coverage for our hardware products and intend that our direct sales force will sell a larger portion of our hardware products in the future than they do now," the report entry said.

Juniper Shares Plummet After Weak Q2 Results

Juniper Networks reported Q2 earnings this week that included disappointing revenue and profit as well as lowered guidance. Unsurprisingly, investors reacted by fleeing the scene, sending Juniper shares down nearly 20 percent.

This could end up being just a bump in the road for Juniper, which has been on a good run of late. But macroeconomic factors and a drop in Juniper's service layer technology products, including its security offerings, are fueling investors' uneasiness.

Sprint Shares Hammered After 101,000 Subscribers Say Bye-Bye

Sprint Nextel plummeted nearly 20 percent after the carrier reported losing 101,000 wireless subscribers in Q2. Industry analysts had expected some subscriber loss, but nowhere near that figure, which serves as a telling indictment of Sprint's inability to keep pace with Verizon and AT&T. Sprint has been rumored to be getting the iPhone at some point this year, and judging from these figures, that cavalry had better show up soon before there's nothing left to rescue.

CEO Quindlen Steps Down From Slumping Logitech

Logitech this week reported a net loss of $29.6 million for its fiscal Q1, a steep drop from the $19.5 million in profit the company reported in last year's Q1. The culprits? Ongoing weakness in Europe and a $34 million charge related to price reductions for Logitech Revue for Google TV, a set-top box and keyboard product bundle.

In the wake of the report, Logitech President and CEO Gerald P. Quindlen stepped down. Logitech Chairman Guerrino De Luca, who served as president and CEO of the company from 1998 to 2008, will take over for Quindlen until his replacement is found.

Shoretel Remains Mum On Cloud Strategy

What the heck happened to Shoretel's plans for selling hosted versions of its products through partners? It's a question partners were asking this week at ShoreTel's Champion Partner Conference in Chicago. While the idea of more ShoreTel as-a-service sales through partners, especially unified communications sales, is still being considered, VARs are concerned that company executives didn't spent much time focusing on this at the event.

During his keynote presentation, Shoretel CEO Peter Blackmore described the cloud as both "an opportunity and a threat." In an on-site interview with CRN, Blackmore said the take-up of hosted solutions, especially in the midmarket and among larger customers, is hard to predict.

"To be fair, it's building very slowly," he said. "It could change, and I don't want to miss out on a very natural opportunity if it does."