Software

Beauty of selfie-app IPO is only skin deep

24 Aug 2016

Millions of young Chinese use Meitu to airbrush pictures, whitening their skin or applying virtual makeup. But the company is basically a small smartphone business made up to look like a big Internet player. A $700 mln Hong Kong IPO should be seen through a sceptical lens.

Oracle-NetSuite deal may be sweetest for Ellison

28 Jul 2016

The business-software company is paying $9.3 bln, a whopping 44 pct premium, for a cloud-computing company effectively controlled by the Oracle CEO. The deal makes strategic sense, but Ellison looks to be once again cashing in on a side investment at Oracle's expense.

Apple’s muted results belie building pressure

26 Jul 2016

With little reason for customers to update their iPhones, the $520 billion firm led by Tim Cook again reported declining quarterly sales. Yet favorable forces pile up with each mediocre result - existing handsets are aging, services growing, and investor expectations falling.

Microsoft makes partial amends for LinkedIn folly

19 Jul 2016

Its enterprise and cloud software businesses are growing quickly, and CEO Satya Nadella is wisely investing. Meanwhile, "More Personal Computing" – a grab bag for phones, games and search – saw margins rise even as sales fell. If only Microsoft showed similar discipline in M&A.

EMC owners shift concerns from Dell to VMware

19 Jul 2016

The storage maker's shareholders overwhelmingly backed a sale to the PC producer, cementing a deal once valued at $67 bln. Now they have to get comfortable with the untested VMware tracking stock they'll receive. For now, the implied discount of nearly 50 pct makes sense.