Information Technology

NBC takes on Apple, ignores pirates

31 Aug 2007

The media conglomerate thinks Apple sells videos cheaply, with few controls to push hardware sales. So NBC won t renew its iTunes contract. This looks like brinksmanship. If content providers push too hard, there s a chance video piracy will be the winner.

Questions linger in Dell accounting scandal

17 Aug 2007

Investors breathed a sigh of relief after the computer group's internal probe revealed smaller than expected restatements. Yet Dell admits unnamed senior executives participated in fraud. Ongoing SEC and Justice Department probes may shed more light.

What’s your porn star name?

17 Aug 2007

Been bitten by a zombie? Received a buttery nipple? No? Then you haven t been one of the Facebook users downloading 80m such applications. As frivolous as it sounds, VCs and bankers have been crawling all over the website for investment and M&A ideas with good reason.

Amazon and Netflix make a nice pair

7 Jun 2007

Cramming together the internet DVD rental company and the online retailer would generate lots of synergies. But time may be of the essence. The biggest stumbling block is Netflix s toppy valuation. Fortunately, Amazon has its own overvalued stock as a currency.

Dell’s deal with Wal-Mart looks like bad idea

24 May 2007

The PC giant s business model is broken. Selling computers at the world s largest retailer might sound like a great way to boost sales. But Dell is entering a highlycompetitive, low margin market where its had a bad experience. That s a recipe for burning capital.

Microsoft could pay through the nose for Yahoo

4 May 2007

Combining the software giant and the internet company might generate enough value to justify Microsoft paying a $11bn premium. The hard part is rationalising the valuation attached to Yahoo even before news of talks between the two.

Microsoft would give Yahoo boss an escape hatch

4 May 2007

The software behemoth is said to have reignited talks to buy the internet group led by former Hollywood boss Terry Semel. For nigh on a year, Yahoo has been in trouble and Semel s leadership questionable. A sale would allow him to save face.

Should Microsoft buy DoubleClick?

28 Mar 2007

Snapping up the online ad broker looks like a smart way for the software giant to leapfrog Google in a potentially lucrative business. But it s no sure thing. At $2bn, DoubleClick looks expensive. And Google is building its own system, which might work better.

Google faces heightened political risk

12 Feb 2007

Its stance on copyright is creating animosity in the media world. This is reminiscent of Microsoft's antitrust woes a decade ago. There are vital differences, of course. But a growing backlash from ornery rivals and legislators is a looming problem.

Jobs running out of options

9 Feb 2007

Links between Apple s boss and options backdating are becoming difficult to ignore he negotiated and signed a suspicious Pixar contract. Apple s claim that Jobs neither benefited, nor appreciated the accounting implications, is not good enough. He ll need a better explanation.

Michael Dell tries a Steve Jobs

1 Feb 2007

Jobs brought innovation and design flair back to the firm. Dell s great invention lowcost manufacturing has been copied by rivals. Investors hoping the return of the founder to his computer firm s CEO slot will herald a turnaround like Jobs at Apple may be disappointed.

Time Warner in a quandary over AOL

31 Jan 2007

The media titan has already reaped the easy money from AOL's shift to a free addriven service through cost cuts and onetime asset sales. But profits from these moves have masked AOL s underlying problems, notably declining usage. That's a dangerous sign.

Google turns volatility into compensation

15 Dec 2006

The search engine s plan to allow employees to sell vested options is neither free lunch nor an outrageous executive perk. It cleverly capitalizes on investors who may be willing to pay something for stock options that employees may not value at all.

Apple’s online music sales bogging down

12 Dec 2006

The tech group s iTunes music store dominates the market. Yet sales have actually fallen by 65% since January, according to a new report. This appears too large to be strictly seasonal. The wall protecting Apple s iPod from competition may be smaller than commonly thought.

Time Warner copies Yahoo playbook at AOL

22 Nov 2006

By poaching a media executive from NBC, it hopes to jumpstart the transition from subscriberdriven revenues to advertising. This may explain why boss Parsons thinks AOL is worth $26bn. But it s hard to see how that is possible even with perfect execution.

Does Google meet its own goals?

15 Nov 2006

While Google is struggling to meet many of these, it appears to be hitting the ones that matter financially. Internal documents that recently hit the web show Google set an array of corporate ambitions for this year.

Google comes to aid of ailing newspapers

6 Nov 2006

The search group will begin placing ads in the New York Times and more than 50 other major dailies. If the test works, it could change the way offline ads are sold. Old media s destroyer may become its salvation.

AOL has a hidden jewel

2 Nov 2006

AOL's shift to a free, adsupported service shows promise thanks to a littleknown unit, Advertising.com, bought for $500m in 2004. If the momentum continues AOL may become synonymous with something more than value destruction one day.

Hewlett Packard interested in Atos Origin – reports

26 Oct 2006

That the US group would be interested in the French IT group is no surprise. And HP is unlikely to be the only trade buyer. Strategic buyers should be able to pay more than buyout groups like Blackstone. But to maximise value Atos needs to get an auction going.

Forget about an STMicro buyout

25 Oct 2006

Sure, the E12bn FrancoItalian chip group looks like a natural candidate for private equity. It has no debt and throws off lots of cash. But even yoghurt is a strategic industry in the eyes of France. And it s virtually the only big Italian technology company. It s off limits.