5 Companies That Had A Rough Week

The Week Ending July 31

Topping this week's roundup of companies that had a rough week is Citrix and the turmoil it's in -- including the departure of longtime CEO Mark Templeton -- due to pressure from activist investor Elliott Management.

Also making the list is Samsung's disappointing smartphone sales numbers; NetApp's loss of a key channel executive; losses and layoffs at distributor Ingram Micro; and a reported cyberattack against a major airline.

Not everyone in the IT industry was having a rough go of it this week. For a rundown of companies that made smart decisions, executed savvy strategic moves -- or just had good luck -- check out this week's Five Companies That Came To Win roundup.

Turmoil At Citrix Has Partners Looking To Competitors

Bowing to pressure from activist investor Elliott Management Corp., Citrix Systems this week signed a "cooperation" agreement with the hedge fund company, appointed one of its executives to the Citrix board and announced that CEO Mark Templeton will retire.

Under the agreement, Citrix will explore some of Elliott Management's demands, including possibly selling off Citrix's GoTo line of services and its ByteMobile business. Citrix also will review its operations and capital structure.

Given that Elliott Management had suggested that Citrix had too many channel partners, several solution providers who work with the vendor told CRN that they were considering partnering with Citrix rival VMware.

Disappointing Galaxy S6 Sales Lead To Another Down Quarter For Samsung

It appears Samsung didn't get the smartphone market boost from the Galaxy S6 it was hoping for.

Samsung this week reported its fifth straight quarter of declining profits, largely due to "quite muted" smartphone sales and continued decline of its mobile business that not too long ago was the company's big moneymaker. In the June quarter, Samsung's mobile division recorded a 7.3 percent sales decline year-over-year.

Samsung had been counting on the Galaxy S6, a new edition of the company's flagship smartphone that debuted during the quarter, to turn things around. But Samsung continues to lose ground to Apple's iPhone 6.

NetApp Loses North America Channel Chief To SAP

NetApp, which has seen the departure of some key executives recently, confirmed this week that Regina Kunkle, vice president of North American channel sales, had left to take a job with software giant SAP.

Kunkle is joining SAP as the vendor's vice president of state and local/higher education (SLED). NetApp has already named five-year NetApp veteran Scott Strubel to fill the vacant position.

Kunkle's departure is the latest in a string of executive changes at NetApp in recent months, including CEO Tom Georgens, who stepped down on June 1 and was replaced on an interim basis by George Kurian.

Ingram Micro Records Q2 Loss, Plans Layoffs In $100 Million Cost-Cutting Plan

Distributor Ingram Micro this week reported a $34.3 million loss for its fiscal second quarter, and the company said it would eliminate an unspecified number of jobs as part of a $100 million cost-cutting program.

The company reported sales of $10.55 billion for the quarter ended July 4, down 3 percent year over year.

CEO Alain Monie, on an earnings call, said the distributor was successfully transitioning into faster-growing, higher-margin services. On the same call, President and COO Paul Read said Ingram Micro would drop about one-third of its Verizon mobility practice in North America.

United Airlines Reportedly Hit By China-Based Hackers

United Airlines is the latest disclosed victim of a state-sponsored hacker, according to a Bloomberg report this week. The airline detected an intrusion in May or early June, and further investigation linked the attack to China-based hackers. United Airlines, in a statement, denied the breach report.

The attackers reportedly accessed airline records, including passenger information, origin and destinations. The report didn't say how many records were compromised or whether passengers' personal information was accessed.

The reported incident was apparently unrelated to a computer system failure earlier this month that grounded United flights across the country for more than an hour.