2016 expectations and IDNs — Verisign on
Firm warns Q4 might see a drop, states more IDNs on the way.
Verisign held its quarterly investor call yesterday following announcing another quarter of better-than-usual results.
The firm added 2.65 million net additions in .com and .net, above its predicted 1.5 to 2.0 million net adds.
Following predicting normalization of registration numbers from China, firm executives explained that demand from China was regarding one million names higher than expected.
Verisign again predicts normalization in Q2 and anticipates between 0.6 million and 1.1 million net adds in the quarter.
One analyst questioned if Verisign might be wrong regarding this normalization again. The firm reiterated that it expects numbers to return to normal this quarter.
The firm also warned that it still anticipates that deletions might exceed registrations in Q4, the one year anniversary of 2015’s big gains.
On the Internationalized Domain Name front, the firm stated it will begin the rollout of Korean transliterations of .com and .net in Q2, and it may release two or three more IDN strings in the second half of the year.
One notable thing not discussed: Verisign’s plans to monetize its intellectual property.
It seems the firm has either put these plans on the backburner, or it’s being careful not to discuss them much while it works to extend its .com contract.
