Computer Hardware

Toshiba’s chip IPO could short-circuit

17 Sep 2020

Two years after the Japanese company's crown jewel was sold to a Bain-led group, the rebranded Kioxia will list at a $20 bln valuation. It offers a partial exit to the U.S. buyout firm and other backers. But aiming for a premium multiple amid choppy markets may backfire.

Nvidia’s $40 bln Arm deal is risky chess move

14 Sep 2020

The chip specialist led by Jensen Huang will buy the UK company from SoftBank in the industry's biggest deal. It gives Nvidia a boost in the data centre business. But Arm's customers and regulators may baulk, and the chunky price tag presupposes huge growth and market share gains.

SMIC selloff downplays U.S.-China trade friction

8 Sep 2020

The Hong Kong shares of the chipmaker plunged 23% on news that the White House might blacklist it. The immediate financial hit looks manageable, but long-term prospects are darkening. SMIC's still-frothy valuation hints at more volatility for the company and its peers.

Staid Microsoft gets a viral gift from TikTok

4 Aug 2020

The least cool tech giant has outperformed most of its rivals to reach a $1.6 trln value. Owning the popular video app could finally bring buzz and ad dollars. There are political risks, and buying only part of TikTok may be messy. But potential financial gains make up for it.

Sony is primed for coming game-console battle

4 Aug 2020

Quarterly operating profit at the group’s PlayStation unit blew up 68% year-on-year to $1 bln. With Sony ready to roll out a new console later this year, the momentum looks sustainable. A huge base of loyal gamers plus exclusive content gives it an edge over Microsoft.

Asia chip windfall preludes tech’s next challenge

29 Jul 2020

Shares of TSMC and Samsung have leapt on hopes Intel may outsource production. It could enlarge the contract-chipmaking market they dominate by 20%. Still, the $209 bln Intel's woes highlight the high costs of making advanced semiconductors. Finding buyers may get harder.

Microsoft’s cloud mostly floats above Covid-19

22 Jul 2020

The $1.6 trln software giant’s latest quarter showed the pandemic's effects, good and bad. A sharp fall in advertising showed the company can’t entirely escape the real economy. But cloud services, on-demand software, and video gaming grew rapidly, thanks to more work from home.

Chip champ jumps into Shanghai-Hong Kong value gap

17 Jul 2020

Dual-listed SMIC's mainland shares debuted at four times the price of its Hong Kong equivalent. Other peers trade at similarly ridiculous premiums. Mainland traders still struggle with valuing companies, while Beijing’s incomplete reforms keep the markets out of sync.

Corona Capital: Expense accounts, Zoom’s new box

15 Jul 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Goldman Sachs’ earnings give an insight into pandemic-era client schmoozing, and virtual meeting facilitator Zoom tiptoes into the high-priced hardware market.

VMware spin would repair Dell’s complexity damage

24 Jun 2020

The $36 bln IT group may off-load its $50 bln majority stake in separately listed VMware. Logic suggests first extracting cash to reduce debt and then spinning VMware off to Dell’s shareholders. That would clean up balance sheets and governance, probably boosting both valuations.

IBM makes a virtue of facial-recognition necessity

9 Jun 2020

New CEO Arvind Krishna is ending the $117 bln firm’s attempts to develop the technology and questioning whether police should use it. Companies rarely abandon potential profit for PR wins, but it’s easier when operations are small, rivals pull ahead, and regulation threatens.

Complacency is as much a disruptor as antitrust

8 Jun 2020

Big Tech critics credit the 1969 push to break up IBM for spurring the today’s software industry. But it was as much Big Blue’s shortsightedness that led to others’ power. As probes of newer tech companies ramp up, Microsoft, with similar challenges, tells a more promising story.

China’s chip giant serves nationalism and reform

18 May 2020

The $13 bln SMIC received a $2 bln boost from state funds ahead of a debut on Shanghai’s new STAR board. The firepower reinforces Beijing’s push for tech self-sufficiency. SMIC’s Cayman Islands structure will also test new listing rules that overseas-listed peers could use.

Stars align for China tech’s stay-at-home project

28 Apr 2020

Controversial surveillance startup Megvii is mulling a local IPO, and exchanges are rolling out welcome mats. It’s good timing given the suspicion U.S.-listed Chinese firms are falling under. Backers face lockup periods and capital controls, but will get better valuations.

Intel’s inside today, may not be tomorrow

23 Apr 2020

The chipmaker’s first-quarter revenue rose 23%. It is benefiting from a pandemic-driven shift to online living, with more demand for servers and PCs. Yet tech firms such as Apple are using more internally-designed chips, which will bring Intel back down to earth.

ValueAct slides an atypically ajar shōji

14 Apr 2020

After a victory at Olympus, the U.S. investor is trying to push open the latticed door at $4 bln JSR. Unusually for a Japanese company, the synthetic rubber and chemicals maker has a foreign CEO and regularly pays out cash. That means it could be receptive to an outsider’s ideas.

Samsung discovers perks of working from home

7 Apr 2020

A surge in remote working activity lifted demand for chips used in data centres. That helped first-quarter operating profit rise 3% from a year earlier and offset the pain of lower smartphone sales. The South Korean giant is benefiting from the all-pervasiveness of semiconductors.

Xerox-HP deal is dead for now

26 Mar 2020

The smaller printer maker's hostile $35 bln offer for its rival looks even more like a fool’s errand in today's market. It would pile on debt, and HP’s resistance suggests a friendly deal won't happen. As with other pending mergers, industrial logic will still exist in a year.

Market mess may save Xerox from itself

12 Mar 2020

The fallout from Covid-19 makes the printer maker’s hostile $35 bln bid for HP even edgier – and Xerox hasn’t raised all the cash yet. If it can do so, and if volatility continues, HP owners might bite. The problem for Xerox shareholders is that could mean too much risk for them.

Xerox drawn into duplicative Japanese fight

10 Mar 2020

After pushy investor Carl Icahn showed up, the U.S. printer maker rancorously rewrote a 57-year relationship with Japan’s Fujifilm. Xerox’s next move, a hostile $35 billion bid for HP, has now riled Canon, a 35-year HP partner. Aggressive tactics invite copycat responses.