Computer Hardware

Fixing Intel ends with taking it apart

29 Sep 2023

The chip giant faces the existential challenge of regaining its lost lead in manufacturing. Doing so could double its $145 bln market value, but maintaining an edge requires ever more spending, fed by serving outside customers. The best way to do that: split Intel in two.

China’s next chip battle is for the bottom line

19 Sep 2023

Huawei’s new smartphone proves the country can make cutting-edge hardware despite US restrictions. But it’s unclear if semiconductor provider SMIC can scale supply. Huawei’s flashy phones have hogged the limelight: SMIC’s shrinking margins deserve the same scrutiny.

India’s laptop ban hints at limits of onshoring

18 Aug 2023

Modi’s government is restricting the import of the hardware while incentivising manufacturers to make more in the giant emerging market. It’s late, though. Dell, HP and others have diversified from China to Southeast Asia. By pushing hard, India risks upsetting its neighbours.

Hey Siri: Screen iPhone calls on Apple’s valuation

3 Aug 2023

The handset that anchors the $3 trln company is due an update soon. Loyal fans will buy it, but most customers are upgrading more slowly. The trend makes it hard to justify paying twice the multiple of earnings as five years ago, despite the record quarterly services revenue.

3D-printing takeover battle misses third dimension

10 Jul 2023

Nano Dimension raised its unsolicited bid to buy control of $1.3 bln Stratasys, making the choice for shareholders tougher. The target’s preferred deal with Desktop Metal partly hinges on elusive revenue synergies. A snubbed offer from 3D Systems may ultimately be the best option.

Apple could overcome VR’s nerd and creepy factors

6 Jun 2023

Past attempts at virtual and augmented reality failed because the devices looked embarrassing, and the firms behind these efforts seemed untrustworthy. The headset the $2.8 trillion tech company rolled out on Monday isn’t an obvious success in its current form, but Apple has a better shot than others.

Apple’s balance sheet is golden and delicious

4 May 2023

The iPhone maker ended the quarter with $57 bln of net cash, despite pledging five years ago to cut its hoard down to size. Investors ought to be glad it didn’t. Rising interest rates put Apple in a juicy position to reinvest its money and push deeper into financial services.

Capital Calls: OpenAI’s backers

1 May 2023

Concise views on global finance: The ChatGPT developer has secured $300 mln from venture giants including Andreessen Horowitz, according to TechCrunch. As it rounds up scarce funding from tech’s biggest names, competitors will find it harder to break through.

Tech giants bury mediocre results under AI hype

25 Apr 2023

Microsoft and Alphabet beat low expectations, but slowing growth and penny-pinching to juice profit don’t make for the world-changing narrative tech investors usually crave. Touting the promise of artificial intelligence scratches that itch – and supports their valuations.

Apple’s store push marks its big Indian wedding

18 Apr 2023

Dhol drums – a high-decibel feature of marriage celebrations – played in Mumbai as Tim Cook opened the company’s first store. A retail presence is mostly a symbolic gesture given India’s lower-middle income status. Yet selling more iPhones isn’t the only thing Cook has to gain.

Seoul and Tokyo demonstrate chip war limits

16 Mar 2023

Japan may ease curbs put on high-tech materials exports to South Korea after a four-year diplomatic spat. The impact was minimal; companies like Samsung found easy workarounds. The United States and China face similar difficulties decoupling sophisticated supply chain links.

Rough chip waters give ASML little room for error

25 Jan 2023

The Dutch giant expects sales to grow by a chunky 25% in 2023. Clients’ fear of missing out on an economic rebound is propping up demand for its equipment. Yet rising costs and the risk of a widening export ban to China may take the shine off the $264 bln group’s rich valuation.

Chip dilemma will buy Beijing precious time

19 Dec 2022

America is pushing Asian and European allies to stifle semiconductor progress in China. But antagonising the $466 bln market will be costly for South Korea's Samsung and Dutch ASML as global demand slows. Their hesitancy to fully embrace the blockade will benefit Beijing.

Musk’s Apple fight could be his Twitter legacy

29 Nov 2022

The billionaire isn’t the first to criticize the smartphone maker for taking a cut from transactions on its app store. But owning Twitter gives Elon Musk a powerful megaphone. Taking a chunk out of Apple could even be the most durable outcome of Musk’s social media foray.

IPhone plant woes are least of Apple’s problems

7 Nov 2022

The supplier of the $2.2 trillion tech giant’s devices, Foxconn, may lose up to 30% of production from a key facility following a Covid outbreak. That sounds bad, but it may only hit 1% of revenue. Waning demand and a slower transition to services affects Apple more.

Microsoft’s melancholy largely out of its hands

25 Oct 2022

The $1.9 trln software giant has been hit by three woes: Consumers are overstuffed with pandemic PC purchases, a strong dollar is reducing overseas revenue, and web services growth is slowing as businesses retrench. Shareholders just have to sit tight.

Review: U.S.-China tech fight leaves global losers

30 Sep 2022

Historian Chris Miller’s “Chip War" offers a timely account of America’s increasingly frantic efforts to stay ahead of China on semiconductors. Both sides have policy and trade weapons at their disposal. The collateral damage to big companies and other countries will be immense.

Capital Calls: Apple’s aging clout

28 Jul 2022

Concise views on global finance: The company barely eked out slow growth as it sold more iPhones and wrung more money from users by selling services. Investors are happy enough as the company churns out and returns plenty of cash.

Chip sector’s bright spot brings back bad memory

28 Jul 2022

Semiconductor demand is faltering as companies and officials spend billions adding supply. The $166 bln memory-chip market is consolidated at present, so leaders like Samsung can quickly cut output to protect profit. Chinese entrants and reshoring efforts might upend that soon.

Capital Calls: Royal Mail, Europe’s chip champion

20 Jul 2022

Concise views on global finance: Britain’s postal provider is eyeing a potentially messy separation, but a nationalisation would make more sense; shares of ASML, which provides cutting-edge machines for chipmaking, look more appealing despite inflation and geopolitical worries.