Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is no longer Intel Corp.'s (NASDAQ: INTC) largest worldwide customer. As of the end of 2008, competitor Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) stole that crown away from Round Rock, Tx.-based Dell as the company continued hammering the competition in the retail PC business.intel chips posts
FeedHPQ passes Dell as Intel's largest global customer
Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is no longer Intel Corp.'s (NASDAQ: INTC) largest worldwide customer. As of the end of 2008, competitor Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) stole that crown away from Round Rock, Tx.-based Dell as the company continued hammering the competition in the retail PC business.Continue reading HPQ passes Dell as Intel's largest global customer
Intel Corp is all that AND a bag of nano-chips!
"The Co-Op of Three," which includes Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) seem to be surviving the economic downturn. According to Businesswire:
Probably one of the greatest technology deals of recent time has got to be the co-op of Apple/Intel/Microsoft. Finally thinking abut the bigger opportunity, these three giants approached the competitive landscape with a resolve to dominate. Since the day Apple's operating system allowed the running of Microsoft's Windows OS, there was no stopping the expansion. Intel's part in all of this was also key. By producing a chip that would help bring these two behemoths together, it has been rising a nice wave of income. No longer does Intel have the same competition as it did only a few years ago.
Intel Corporation today announced record first-quarter revenue of $9.7 billion, operating income of $2.1 billion, net income of $1.4 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of 25 cents.The earnings helped to propel the stock higher in after hours trading to the point where Intel is flirting with an almost 8% gain since the close of the regular session. The street was happy not to hear another piece of horrifying news and took notice of how well that Intel held up during this difficult economic environment. Even better, margins were up 4% YOY to a whopping 57% for the full 2008 fiscal reporting period. Much of this has to be a result of the key relationship that Intel has with Apple.
Probably one of the greatest technology deals of recent time has got to be the co-op of Apple/Intel/Microsoft. Finally thinking abut the bigger opportunity, these three giants approached the competitive landscape with a resolve to dominate. Since the day Apple's operating system allowed the running of Microsoft's Windows OS, there was no stopping the expansion. Intel's part in all of this was also key. By producing a chip that would help bring these two behemoths together, it has been rising a nice wave of income. No longer does Intel have the same competition as it did only a few years ago.
Continue reading Intel Corp is all that AND a bag of nano-chips!
AMD's last battle of the Intel war?
With Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) quarterly results being released yesterday, its closest competitor is yet again on the ropes as Intel pounds it ceaselessly. Intel and AMD have locked themselves in fierce pricing battles for almost a decade, but the constant leapfrogging each company has had in terms of technology prowess and price cutting were bound to take a heavy toll on both companies.
Intel announced a reorganization and a massive layoff last year. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) has -- twice -- readjusted its quarterly guidance for the current quarter based on a fiercer-than-fierce pricing battle with Intel in the last six months or so. AMD is now stating that first quarter sales will come in at roughly $1.225 billion after analysts and investors were expecting $1.55 billion (already down from a $1.7 billion expectation in January). AMD will also be cutting about $500 million in 2007 capital expenditures. Summary: not good news for AMD so far this year.
What can the chipmaker do? It's renewed focus on cutting costs probably means to Intel that AMD will relieve some of the pressure on price cutting on its chips, which will allow some price stability for both companies in 2007. AMD's strategy to constantly steal market share has come at a price (profits). Now the chipmaker may want to return to making profits and settle for less market share. Hey, even if you have 50% of the market but are not making a penny, what's the point, right?
Intel announced a reorganization and a massive layoff last year. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) has -- twice -- readjusted its quarterly guidance for the current quarter based on a fiercer-than-fierce pricing battle with Intel in the last six months or so. AMD is now stating that first quarter sales will come in at roughly $1.225 billion after analysts and investors were expecting $1.55 billion (already down from a $1.7 billion expectation in January). AMD will also be cutting about $500 million in 2007 capital expenditures. Summary: not good news for AMD so far this year.
What can the chipmaker do? It's renewed focus on cutting costs probably means to Intel that AMD will relieve some of the pressure on price cutting on its chips, which will allow some price stability for both companies in 2007. AMD's strategy to constantly steal market share has come at a price (profits). Now the chipmaker may want to return to making profits and settle for less market share. Hey, even if you have 50% of the market but are not making a penny, what's the point, right?
Intel's breakthrough 'nano' chip technology
Is the world so thrilled on the concept of improving software that it misses the "hardware" side of the equation? It's true that customers actually interact with Microsoft's(NASDAQ:MSFT) Vista operating system or Apple Inc.'s(NASDAQ:AAPL)OS X operating system. But then, those pieces of software talk to the underlying hardware processor to get speedy responses to those customer requests, and the speed at which these processors gain in terms or technological brilliance would impress any technologist.Both Intel Corp.(NASDAQ:INTC) and AMD (NYSE:AMD)-- two of the world's largest chipmakers, are working on new chips that have measurements stated in "nanometers" -- a billionth of a meter. In fact, Intel's newer nano-chips are said to be able and allow the creation of super-powerful computers that fit in a shirt pocket -- and tiny machines that crawl through the bloodstream, delivering cancer drugs.
Sounds like sci-fi? It's closer than you think. Intel just recently announced the first fundamental change in the way electronic circuits are produced since the 1960s. That's a major breakthrough. Intel will be replacing much of the silicon dioxide in its chips with an alloy of an element called halfnium. Halfnium is far less likely to leak electricity -- and that has huge implications for producing chips with ever-decreasing sizes. Want a great resource on nanotech investing? Try the Wolfe Report at Forbes.
Microsoft software, concert tickets, and now porn for your iPod?
Apple has finally found a product, in the iPod, that is an unqualified profit monster. The company is morphing from
niche hipster to provider of music to the masses. And as part of the transformation they're making moves that never
before seemed possible, like using Intel chips and (horrors!) Microsoft software on their computers. New strategies
indicate that Apple is willing to be creative and do some interesting deals, like the one where the Red Hot Chili
Peppers are selling advance tickets to their upcoming tour through the iTunes store.
The obvious next step? Porn, says Mark Gilbert (no relation to yours truly). If iPod owners will watch films on their 2.5" screens, surely they'll watch movies of an, umm, more lascivious nature. It's a huge money business; if Apple could get just a sliver of that $20 billion in adult video sales each year, they might continue their finally-respectable growth. But is growth respectable if it's (literally) made on the backs of the naked and promiscuous?
I love profits and all, but for the same reason I wouldn't invest in cigarettes, I'd feel very different about an Apple (fruit of the tree of good and evil) sinking its strategic go-juice into porn. Mark Gilbert doesn't agree, with the (flawed) rationale: "A search on Google Inc. shows a bunch of companies willing to sell the content and software needed to view erotic material on an iPod. Apple may as well grab some of that revenue for itself." With this logic, you could justify anything. I, for one investor, will pass.
The obvious next step? Porn, says Mark Gilbert (no relation to yours truly). If iPod owners will watch films on their 2.5" screens, surely they'll watch movies of an, umm, more lascivious nature. It's a huge money business; if Apple could get just a sliver of that $20 billion in adult video sales each year, they might continue their finally-respectable growth. But is growth respectable if it's (literally) made on the backs of the naked and promiscuous?
I love profits and all, but for the same reason I wouldn't invest in cigarettes, I'd feel very different about an Apple (fruit of the tree of good and evil) sinking its strategic go-juice into porn. Mark Gilbert doesn't agree, with the (flawed) rationale: "A search on Google Inc. shows a bunch of companies willing to sell the content and software needed to view erotic material on an iPod. Apple may as well grab some of that revenue for itself." With this logic, you could justify anything. I, for one investor, will pass.
Closing Bell: Can't go up every day (BAC, HE, HPW, COMS, BRCD, WMT, AMD)
Wal-Mart grows profit and cash flow in Q3, but comps still ailing
Chasing Value: Ten stocks for 2010 -- Part 2
