Computer Hardware

Capital Calls: PC meltdown, Software short-seller

12 Jul 2022

Concise views on global finance: Shipments of personal computers suffered the biggest decline in years, yet still exceed pre-pandemic levels; SoftBank-backed communication software group Sinch has lost over a third of its value after a short-seller attacked its accounting.

Breakdown: Private credit’s main threat is itself

7 Jul 2022

Direct lenders like Ares or Apollo are displacing banks and investors when funding buyouts. Breakingviews explains how more flexible and generous lending terms helped these upstarts grab market share. As credit markets turn, the $1.2 trln industry’s success could be its weakness.

Apple’s reveal party glosses over bigger shifts

7 Jun 2022

The iPhone maker’s developer conference can bring major product drops. This year’s announcements, like buy-now-pay-later and medication tracking features, barely move the needle. What will, though, is Apple’s quiet creep into advertising, percolating beneath the surface.

Broadcom gives only limp defense of VMware deal

26 May 2022

The chip giant is being vague about the benefits of a $61 bln tie-up with software maker VMware, giving only a lofty and distant profit target. Meeting it would require juiced-up revenue or massive cost cuts. The ambiguity may reflect that shareholders have no real say anyway.

Broadcom will find VMware no Qualcomm, sadly

24 May 2022

Washington is unlikely to object to Broadcom’s bid for VMware the way it kiboshed a 2018 offer to buy wireless chip maker Qualcomm. The buyer is now American, the target has fewer securities ties, and a deal is more likely to be friendly. It’s also less desirable.

Broadcom’s build-up hints at future break-up

23 May 2022

A bid for $48 bln software firm VMware would fit with boss Hock Tan’s campaign to turn his chipmaker into a kind of tech conglomerate. The potential returns don’t look great, and nor does the logic. If Tan succeeds, it could bolster the case for rethinking Broadcom’s structure.

Xiaomi fight puts China Inc on India red alert

13 May 2022

The country’s tax and financial agencies have tried to block some $1.2 bln of the smartphone maker’s funds. New Delhi engaged Vodafone, Cairn and others in similar battles but its testy relations with Beijing up the ante. Xiaomi and Chinese peers in India face a slow decline.

Capital Calls: Turkey, Nintendo/Sony, India IPO

10 May 2022

Concise views on global finance: President Erdogan makes another ham-fisted monetary intervention; the Switch maker weathers supply chain ructions better than its larger rival; New Delhi needs to be even more generous in its landmark listing of Life Insurance Corp of India.

Apple collects Big Tech quarterly earnings Oscar

28 Apr 2022

The $2.6 trln iPhone maker’s financial report for January to March showed it had a winning season compared to its Big Tech fellows. CEO Tim Cook’s business got less of a Covid boost than, say, Amazon, and had early supply-chain jams. Now it’s more than catching up.

Apple Pay push is scarier for fintechs than banks

31 Mar 2022

The $2.9 trln iPhone maker is beefing up its in-house financial tools and muscling into consumer credit, Bloomberg reported. That’s bad news for technology partners and pay-later rivals. Lenders have less to fear: underwriting big loans isn’t lucrative enough to appeal to Apple.

U.S. services have better China lockdown defenses

15 Mar 2022

Chinese lockdowns spell new supply disruptions for firms like Apple and higher prices. Surging inflation is already hurting consumers. But services, like restaurants and travel, will be more resilient than during the pandemic, thanks to $2.6 trln of excess household savings.

Russia is dry run for bigger China sanctions test

25 Feb 2022

The threat of penalties didn’t stop Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine. Sanctions would have even less chance of preventing China from taking control of Taiwan. The deeper the trade ties, the greater the chance of self-harm. And China has a head start in creating workarounds.

Intel’s Tower deal comes up strategically short

15 Feb 2022

The $200 bln chipmaker has many problems to solve. A $5.4 bln acquisition of an Israeli rival shows there are no easy answers. Tower brings key skills and industrial applications, but Intel’s tech still lags. And even tiny chip deals risk taking heaps of time and effort to close.

Apple supply shortages are a good problem to have

27 Jan 2022

Tech investors fear the pandemic pulled forward demand, especially for cloud-based companies. The $2.6 trln Apple has the opposite issue. Covid-fueled supply-chain woes have prevented it from satiating iPhone demand. Customer loyalty probably means these sales will come later.

Taiwan’s TSMC is wisely cashing in more chips

13 Jan 2022

The $620 bln top chipmaker is hiking prices in response to the global shortage, giving up some of its relative restraint versus competitors. Coupled with voracious demand from the likes of Apple, the increase will pad profits even as it ramps up spending to maintain its huge tech lead.

Legal challenge affirms logic of Nvidia mega-deal

3 Dec 2021

U.S. trustbusters are suing to block the chipmaker’s controversial Arm acquisition. A growing price tag, from $40 bln to about $75 bln, undermines the financial value. At least the FTC is, in a way, buttressing the strategic rationale of buying the Switzerland of semiconductors.

Razer’s $4.5 bln buyout plan has a serrated edge

19 Nov 2021

The purveyor of pricey keyboards may swap a Hong Kong listing for one in New York as part of a management-led deal. A video-gaming fanbase gives it meme-stock potential while its Southeast Asian fintech unit might look hotter stateside. But any valuation gains may be subtle.

Lenovo’s weaknesses pop up in Shanghai overreach

12 Oct 2021

The PC maker abruptly nixed a $1.6 bln share offering. The attempt to tap cash on a tech bourse brought unwanted attention to its feeble R&D spend and boss Yang Yuanqing's generous pay. As Beijing pushes for more innovation and less inequality, Lenovo ticks all the wrong boxes.

Samsung etches fresh way to take on TSMC

8 Oct 2021

Memory chips are set to help lift the South Korean company’s quarterly operating profit 28% to $13 bln. Growth at its small semiconductor design and manufacturing arms also warrant greater attention. Customers like Tesla could make the units secret weapons against Taiwan's titan.

Taiwan’s top diplomat is a $567 bln chipmaker

15 Jul 2021

Tensions between Beijing and the self-ruled island are spiking amid vaccine squabbles and fighter jet sorties. Enter TSMC, whose economic and geopolitical clout has risen amid the semiconductor shortage. It could be Taipei’s best political advantage against a hostile neighbour.