Toyota, Japan’s biggest car maker by volume, plans to sell more than 1 million subcompacts in more than 100 countries and regions, such as China, Southeast Asia, India and Brazil, by 2015.

Toyota does not have many other places to go for expansion. The European markets are nearly dead. China’s market has slowed considerably. Toyota’s sales have picked up a great deal in America, but the market has become progressively more competitive as U.S. car companies has been revived and large firms, including Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes, have aggressively exploited the one region in which they have an ongoing chance for rising sales volume.

A New Web Browser

For some reason, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) wants to be in the crowded web browser arena. Its new product is called Axis. It is meant to compete with Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch products. But Apple already has its own Safari browser. And the industry is controlled by Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Internet Explorer, Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Chrome, and Firefox. It is a good guess that Yahoo! wants to use Axis to move further into mobile search, but it already has lost most of that market to Google. And there is no reason for the great majority of users to switch from their preferred browser when they move from computer to portable device.

Galaxy S3’s U.S. Launch

The wildly successful Samsung Galaxy S III will be available in the United States starting on June 1. But the first wave of handsets will not be sold by carriers. Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) will sell the new Galaxy without a wireless contract. Wireless companies underwrite the costs of smartphones because they get two-year subscriptions from customers. Amazon will sell the Galaxy S III for $800. The product will be “unlocked” so it can be used on a number of networks. There is some debate over whether its powerful processor is set to work on superfast 4G LTE networks, or if a less-powerful processor will be required to operate on those systems. The Samsung Galaxy is widely regarded as the primary competitor to the Apple iPhone 4S, so early sales in the U.S. will prove whether that perception is true.

MSNBC.com Buyout Talks

Comcast’s (NASDAQ: CMCSA) NBCUniversal operations is in talks with Microsoft to takeover the part of MSNBC.com that it does not already own. The rumor was reported in Adweek. Microsoft may not want to part with the stake. NBC could use it as a portal to increase traffic to its media sites. But Microsoft has its large MSN.com operation, which has a close relationship with MSNBC.com. As Microsoft works to drive traffic to its Bing search engine, MSNBC.com is strategically important.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Wireless companies underwrite the costs of smartphones because they get two year subscriptions from customers. Amazon will sell the Galaxy S 3 for $800. The product will be “unlocked” so it can be used on a number of networks.

There is some debate over whether its powerful processor is set to work on super-fast 4G LTE networks, of if a less powerful processor will be required to operate on those systems. The Samsung Galaxy is widely regarded as the primary competitor to the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 4S, so early sales in the US will prove whether that perception is true.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The top mobile phone advertising platform was the iPhone, with 15% of the market, followed by RIM’s Blackberry Curve with 4.4% and Motorola’s Droid Razr with 4%. When combined with advertising served to tablets, Apple grabbed about 28% of impressions, followed by Samsung with 18%.

As a group, smartphones took 73% of all advertising in the first quarter, up from 62% in the same period a year ago. Tablets, however, took 20% of impressions, up from 15% last year, and now claim nearly 3x the ad impressions for feature phones.

The data comes from a survey by Millennial Media Inc. (NYSE: MM), a mobile ad network that competes with Apple’s iAds and Google’s AdMob.

Millennial also note that of the top 10 devices that display ads, 3 were tablets. A year ago only Apple’s iPad made the top 20. The two additions this year were Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and Amazon’s Kindle Fire.

As tablets attract more buyers, it’s reasonable to expect that their share of the ad market will grow. Recent research from Nielsen indicates that tablets get 24% of all Worldwide Web ad clicks, compared with just 11% for phones. Tablets are more like desktop and laptop computers and users may click on ads because of the more familiar size of the screen. The small screens on smartphones are not as easy to use to find things quickly — and that’s the appeal of smartphones and smartphone apps — to find exactly what a user wants with the least amount of fuss.

This is good news for Apple, of course, and not-so-good news for Google, which pays a hefty price in traffic acquisition costs to maintain its position as the default search engine on OEM smartphones, including iPhones. By one estimate Apple gets 50%-60% of the revenue from a Google search on iOS, whether from an iPhone or an iPad. Google probably does not have to part with quite as much revenue for devices from other makers, but a cut of about 40% would match Google’s reported traffic acquisition costs. Google needs to find a way to hold onto more of its search revenue because its mobile ad network simply can’t make up the lost cash flow.

Paul Ausick

Dell blamed “alternative mobile computing devices” for its poor earnings and poorer forecast. Dell reported a 4% fall in revenue to $14.4 billion, as well as a profit of $0.43 a share. The consensus forecast among analysts who follow Dell was $14.9 billion in revenue and $0.46 a share in profit. Results for the company’s notebook operations were particularly weak. After the announcement, Dell’s shares fell like a stone.

Dell has had the tools to enter the tablet PC and smartphone businesses. The company still makes money and has almost $14 billion in cash. Its enterprise server sales remain healthy. Dell has no excuse for allowing the cutting edge of computing to pass it by.

It is reasonable to blame Michael Dell because he has controlled the company since the start. He could not possibly have missed the surge in the sales of smartphones by Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), and later Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android-powered devices, or the iPad. Dell has not made a substantial push into either market. The risks would have been big, both in terms of investment and reputation. Yet, it was a risk worth taking, based solely on the alternative, which was to be left behind.

It is already too late for Dell to enter the rapidly emerging markets of smartphones and tablets. The market shares of Apple, Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Samsung are already too large. Another dozen companies are fighting for the tiny amount of business that remains.

Fixing Dell may be a long shot, but it certainly has no chance to happen with Michael Dell as its CEO.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Besides competing with smaller national rivals like RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) and GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), Best Buy has to slug it out with retailers Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), and direct sellers like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

And while Best Buy touts its increases in sales of mobile phones and other portable devices, it also notes:

Areas of comparable store sales growth in the Domestic segment included tablets and mobile phones within the Computing & Mobile Phones revenue category, eReaders within the Consumer Electronics revenue category and Appliances. These increases were more than offset by comparable store sales declines primarily in notebooks within the Computing and Mobile Phones revenue category, gaming within the Entertainment revenue category, and digital imaging and televisions within the Consumer Electronics revenue category. The Domestic segment online channel revenue grew 20 percent compared to the prior-year period.

Selling more cheaper devices does not make up for lost sales in pricier items, unless a retailer can sell an enormous number. Best Buy can’t do that because there’s simply too much competition from wireless carriers, other retailers, and direct sales.

The company reiterated its full-year adjusted EPS guidance of $3.50-$3.80, in-line with the consensus estimate of $3.59. But weak international sales and declining same-store sales mean that Best Buy will be forced to close more stores, which will hurt revenues and ultimately profits unless the company can really figure out a way to boost its online sales. The outlook is probably not as rosy as the company would like us to think.

Shares are up about 1.6% in the pre-market, but were up as much as 6% at one point. Current price is $18.43 in a 52-week range of $17.53-$32.85. The 52-week low was set yesterday.

Paul Ausick

Take a look at any chart and you will see that Best Buy shares hit a low not seen since back in 2009 when every stock tied to retail and technology had hit the ‘free fall’ button.  This stock hit a low of $17.53 this morning and its prior 52-week range was $17.84 to $32.85.

Somehow Amazon remains the winner here.  Many buyers go to Best Buy to interact with consumer electronics and then turn around and buy the item online from a competitor to avoid sales tax and/or to pay a lower price.

Analysts still have a consensus price target around $25.00 for Best Buy, but for now that should not be trusted.  And what about that $3.59 EPS target for this year at Best Buy from Thomson Reuters?  Or the $3.72 EPS target for next year from Thomson Reuters?  If those were to remain true then Best Buy trades at only 5-times this year’s earnings and under 4.9-times next year’s earnings estimates.

The reality is that Best Buy has no CEO, it lost its founder, it is suffering from margin compression, and it is often cited as losing more and more of the potential customer base. BB&T Capital Markets also downgraded Best Buy shares to Hold from Buy just this morning, although admittedly that is just a very late downgrade.

The one thing which may actually act as a slingshot on any news that “lass bad” is that Best Buy has close to 54 million shares in its short interest per the most recent data.  It is hard to get excited that short sellers may drive up the price if the news is not just dismal.

JON C. OGG

Einhorn’s reasons for beating up on Amazon’s stock are not compelling. Wall St. does not need to look beyond the recent results of JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) and other mid-tier retailers, or even big-box retailer Walmart (NYSE: WMT). Online shoppers have found Amazon irresistible. It has run several competitors, particularly Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), almost out of business.

A victory over competition is not necessarily an outright win. Amazon has to show consumer loyalty and profits to make a final convincing case. The well-regarded Foresee study of e-commerce user customer satisfaction had Amazon on top again. It was even ahead of Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) e-commerce customer satisfaction, and was it far ahead of e-commerce satisfaction for all bricks-and-mortar retailers. The survey was based on a large sample of 21,000 respondents, too.

The other criticism of Amazon concerns its margins. Despite a 34% increase in Amazon’s revenue last quarter to $13.2 billion, net income fell 35% to a tiny $130 million. There are at least two ways to look at the net income figure. One is that Amazon cannot control its costs despite rapid sales growth. The other is that the company has elected to forgo higher margins for now because there is a cost to crush competition. The value of Amazon’s stock indicates a majority of investors believe that the second case is true.

The debate about Amazon’s future reemerges with each new earnings report and product introduction. Despite these questions, Amazon has overcome the rule that sales growth slows as companies get larger. Only a few other companies that have been public for a long time have also been able to demonstrate this. Apple is the first one that comes to mind.

Amazon, despite Einhorn’s protests, has shown almost nothing to shake the opinion that nearly every major decision made by its management has made has been right.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Samsung Electronics (OTC: SSNLF.PK) recently introduced a 4.8-inch screen on its Galaxy S III, half-an-inch larger than the 4.3-inch screen on the company’s existing Galaxy S II model. The new device is scheduled to launch in the US this summer.

The larger iPhone screens are being manufactured by several suppliers, including LG Display Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LPL), Sharp Corp. (OTC: SHCAY.PK), and Japan Display Inc.

Apple is reported to be considered making a smaller version of its iPad tablet as well. Like the iPhone, the tablet’s screen size has remained unchanged since the iPad’s introduction. Other tablets, including the Kindle Fire family from Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and the Nook from Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) have had success with smaller screens.

Apple and Samsung currently account for more than 50% of all smartphones sold, and Apple’s iPad really has no serious competition yet in the tablet market. The issue for Apple is whether or not it wants to get out in front of the mobile device market with a new product that raises the bar for everyone else. A “me-too” smartphone with a larger screen or a similar shrinking of the iPad screen is not the sort of change a leader makes. Especially when the evidence (i.e., sales) indicates that consumers can’t get enough of the products you already have.

Apple’s strength has always been to build a product that none of us knew we wanted because we don’t have the vision. Anybody can make screens bigger or smaller. Apple should be doing something else. Like building a cheaper phone that would appeal to the half of the world that can’t afford to buy the current iPhone.

Paul Ausick

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) had a change forced on it. Whether Scott Thompson, who was chief executive for four months, would have done well as a new leader of a troubled company will never be known. There is at least a chance he might have succeeded, if the scandal about his resume had not occurred. The board of Yahoo! did not get the opportunity to evaluate his tenure because he had none.

Two examples of CEOs who have been hired and supported by their boards despite very poor results are Ron Johnson of JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) and Stephen Elop of Nokia (NYSE: NOK). Elop has run the large handset company since September 2010. Johnson has only run Penney for a little longer than a quarter.

Elop followed Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo as chief executive. Kallasvuo was blamed because he could not transform Nokia into a successful manufacturer of smartphones. He may have stayed with the Symbian operating system, which lost popularity as Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android and Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone gained market share. Elop, the Nokia board reasoned, could rely on his years as a the head of Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) business division, although the link between that job and being the head of a handset company is difficult to understand.

Johnson’s promise as a turnaround CEO for JCPenney at least had a foundation in the success he had in his former job as head of Apple’s retail division, although some critics believe that Apple would have done well in retail no matter who was in charge. The demand for Apple products assured that. But JCPenney had been nearly ruined by former CEO and chairman Myron E. Ullman III. His strategy to make the retailer a better competitor to companies such as Macy’s (NYSE: M) and Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) did not advance JCPenney. The company’s board gambled that Johnson could do better.

Elop made one bet on a turnaround of Nokia, and it may have been his best and only chance. He tethered his company’s success to that of Microsoft and its troubled Windows Mobile OS. At least Microsoft had the cash and marketing muscle to press its software into the market, although those efforts have been failures in the past. Elop’s decision did almost nothing for Nokia, at least based on the results from the last year. Nokia’s revenue collapsed along with its market share in smartphones. Microsoft was no help at all. The Nokia board is left to decide whether Elop made the wrong decision, or whether Nokia is doomed along with other companies that have been crushed by Google and Apple: Sony Ericsson, LG and Motorola. Nokia’s future may have been set long before Elop joined. There is no reason to replace him. Who can do any better?

Johnson’s situation is another matter. He decided that JCPenney could only do well if he utterly and completely changed how the retailer brought in customers and turned them into buyers. He rebranded the retailer “JCP.” JCPenney now has three basic tiers of pricing, which are supposed to make it easier for shoppers to decide the value of products sold by the company. The results of the most recently reported quarter show the strategy has not paid off. JCPenney’s same-store sales fell an astonishing 20% and online sales dropped more than 27%. If the results for the current quarter are similar, it will be clear that Johnson’s plan has failed, or that JCPenney has been a failure for some time. The board will have to face the fact that it picked the wrong candidate or that JCPenney cannot survive in its current form in competition with several other larger retailers and e-commerce firms led by Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN). As with Nokia, the battle may have been lost long before the new CEO took up the reins.

The boards of Nokia and JCPenney may as well be passive as their new CEOs preside over companies that continue to fall apart. Neither had any chance of succeeding no matter who was put in charge.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Greeks take hundreds of millions of dollars out of banks there and the government calls national elections. (Reuters)

Shares of JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) fall sharply after it announces poor earnings. (Reuters)

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) says commodities prices will drop more than they have in the past month. (Reuters)

T-Mobile USA will cut 900 jobs as its subscriber count falls. (Reuters)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) will stop advertising on Facebook because of poor results. (Reuters)

Global mobile phone sales drop 2% in the first quarter, according to Gartner. (Reuters)

Activist fund Relational Investors takes a $600 million stake in PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) and may press to shake up management and strategy. (WSJ)

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) begins to move graphics functions from PCs to the cloud. (WSJ)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) sharply increases the size of its work force. (WSJ)

House Speaker John Boehner says an increase in the national borrowing level would need to be accompanied by budget cuts. (WSJ)

Two of seven transport workers unions reject contract offers from bankrupt AMR, leaving a judge to decide their fates. (WSJ)

The FBI begins investigating the trading at JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) that created a $2 billion loss. (NYT)

As consumers move away from soda, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) must rely more on bottled water sales. (NYT)

Merkel and Hollande say they want Greece to remain in the eurozone and state that stimulus measures might be in order. (FT)

European car sales fall more than 6% in April, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre