Computer Hardware

Breakdown: End of Moore’s law reshapes chip market

26 Feb 2019

For decades, raw computing power increased and became cheaper at a heady pace. The death of the trend means chip producers seeking an edge must specialize or find more difficult advances. One result will be a more fragmented industry. Intel and others have their work cut out.

Lenovo’s reboot could run low on battery

21 Feb 2019

Quarterly pre-tax earnings more than doubled from a year earlier, confirming a turnaround at the world's top PC-maker. That's mostly powered by cost cuts in the $9 bln group's handset and server units. With demand cooling for both, this comeback may prove difficult to sustain.

Apple departure points to wider mystery

6 Feb 2019

Retail chief Angela Ahrendts was one of the firm’s best-paid executives. Was she worth it? It’s impossible to know, because Apple doesn’t say how its stores are doing. It’s one of several important data points the company holds back. Opacity weighs on Apple’s valuation.

Microsoft floats above tech downdraft

30 Jan 2019

The software giant, at some $820 bln vying to be the most valuable company, racked up another quarter of strong growth and profit as more business moved to the cloud. The shift has years to go and could accelerate in a recession. Microsoft’s lesser regulatory worries are a bonus.

Apple cash and services salve iPhone worries

29 Jan 2019

The tech giant’s holiday quarter was dismal, as warned. A 5 pct sales drop shows Tim Cook’s company can no longer expect to sell significantly more phones or jack up prices. But rising margins on services for iPhone users and hefty capital returns buys Apple time to refresh.

Xiaomi’s grand plan gets market reckoning

11 Jan 2019

After Apple warned of weakness in China, Lei Jun’s $33 bln smartphone maker lost a quarter of its market value. The end of a post-IPO freeze on share sales also hurt. It’s time for Xiaomi to tone down “new species” talk and keep proving it can sell more handsets internationally.

Apple sales warning is a Chinese joint venture

2 Jan 2019

Investors may not always believe China’s official data, but Apple’s warning that iPhone sales rapidly decelerated in the country sends an alarming message about the main engine of global growth. Still, in some ways the U.S. tech giant may be at the sharp end of the slowdown.

Samsung faces ghost of technology future

27 Dec 2018

South Korea's $230 bln giant is hurting with a fall in memory chip prices and uncertainty about future growth. U.S. rival Intel missed the mobile boom. To avoid a similar fate, heir Jay Y. Lee needs to spend some of its cash hoard to catch up with nimbler rivals in AI and 5G.

Goodbye tracking stocks – don’t hurry back

11 Dec 2018

Dell’s $23.9 bln plan to buy back paper that mirrored the performance of subsidiary VMware received shareholder approval. Like most tracking stocks, it consistently traded at a discount because holders had few rights. That sounds like a bug; for Dell it proved a handy feature.

Chip industry’s new paradigm looks like old one

16 Nov 2018

As cutting-edge semiconductors got harder to make and demand boomed from new fields like bitcoin mining, top manufacturers seemed invulnerable. Shrinking sales forecasts from Nvidia and Applied Materials show companies are as prone as ever to economic cycles and excess inventory.

Dell puts $2 bln price tag on VMware resistance

15 Nov 2018

The PC maker’s second attempt to go public by buying out its subsidiary’s tracking stock should work. A higher valuation, extra cash and a board seat address skeptics’ main concerns, and have won over Elliott and others. The rewards of acceptance outweigh the risks of voting no.

Carlyle dials up a smart way to double dip

8 Nov 2018

The private-equity shop made a killing on its CommScope LBO. Now it’s helping the embattled telecom-gear maker finance its $7.4 bln offer for Arris. The deal is highly leveraged and at the top of the cycle. Buying converts, though, gives Carlyle both protection and upside.

Apple’s pricey strategy carries risk

1 Nov 2018

Making its new iPhones more expensive helped boost the tech giant’s revenue 20 percent in the latest quarter. Now Tim Cook is applying the same formula to the company’s Macs, iPads and accessories. But a warning that growth may slow suggests even Apple fans have price limits.

Microsoft’s blandness is its beauty

24 Oct 2018

The software giant is checking all the right boxes. Quarterly revenue grew 19 pct and net income is healthy. The $830 bln firm is even managing to avoid data privacy issues that are dogging peers with similar market values. Credit boss Satya Nadella for keeping things staid.

TSMC can withstand a worsening trade storm

18 Oct 2018

The $200 bln Taiwanese chipmaker’s quarterly profit only dipped 1 pct in a tough market. U.S.-China tensions loom, but next-generation semiconductors are helping cushion the blow. Unlike fellow Apple supplier Foxconn, TSMC is also less vulnerable to customers moving production.

Finance makes Apple and Google forced friends

17 Oct 2018

Steve Jobs once wanted to destroy Google for copying the iPhone. The company he founded is now dependent on the search engine and its parent Alphabet for around 10 pct of its profit. The growth of mobile search and the market for secondhand phones will bind the two even tighter.

Infected supply chains challenge Big Tech defenses

4 Oct 2018

Apple and Amazon both denied a report they had installed servers harboring compromised chips. It speaks to a problem with global manufacturing. Ensuring the purity of goods made far from end users is difficult, especially across borders. The alternative is to make less profit.

Holding: Dell deal’s high hurdles include the law

26 Sep 2018

The PC maker risks getting sued by owners of VMware tracking stock if it pushes through a $22 bln share swap. Yet recent Delaware decisions about the rights of similar shares offer a novel defense. The planned transaction could test legal limits as well as investor patience.

Dell IPO talk sounds like bluff

24 Sep 2018

Investors are resisting its $22 bln plan to swap VMware tracking stock for regular shares and then list them. Reports suggest the hardware group could just go public instead. But that’d crystallize a big problem with the deal now on offer: Dell’s high valuation of its own stock.

Microsoft’s rising cash may burn hole in pocket

19 Sep 2018

The software giant raised its dividend by a modest 9.5 pct, virtually assuring the company will increase the $58 bln hoard on its balance sheet. Why the AAA-rated outfit needs so much dry powder isn’t clear – but it may tempt boss Satya Nadella into extravagant dealmaking.