The fight between HPQ and Autonomy is going very badly for HPQ. It looks increasingly likely that HPQ will have egg all over its face when the Serious Fraud Office and the FBI decline to press charges of fraud against the former management of Autonomy. HPQ purchased Autonomy for $10.8bn in 2011 and then followed...
This deal looks eerily similar to Ebay’s unsuccessful purchase of Skype in 2005. Rakuten, The Japanese B2C and B2B2C e-commerce platform has announced that it will buy Viber for $900m. Viber is very similar to Skype except that it was developed for mobile first meaning that it has been designed with mobile in mind. Skype...
The latest news from Tizen is unlikely to change anything. Despite its leading supporter shelving its plans to launch devices, the Tizen association has announced a raft of new members and plans to show devices at MWC on 23rd February. Tizen is not new. It is the remnant of a plethora of industry consortia that...
Lenovo can absorb Motorola and just avoid red ink Lenovo will be skating on very thin ice when it absorbs Motorola as the handset maker is so unprofitable that it could push Lenovo into the red. Lenovo reported good Q3 results as it gained share in PCs but margins remain wafer thin. Q3 Revenues /...
HTC has lost its edge and there is no sign of its return. From its financial forecasts to the leaked products it is due to release, it looks very much as if 2014E will compound the agonies of 2013. In Q1 14E revenues / EPS are expected to be NT$34bn-NT$36bn and a loss of NT$2.10...
Another round of bean counting reveals a dire outlook. The rotating doors are still turning as the old guard exits to be replaced with John Chen’s chosen crew. Latest to go is Andrew Bocking who was responsible for BBM. In contrast to most of the others, it looks like Andrew Bocking has left of his...
The 3DS gives Nintendo some time but it must act now. Given, its awful performance to date, Nintendo’s results surprised me but they do nothing to avert the issues that the company currently faces. Nintendo sold 1.95m Wii U units during Q4 which combined with reasonable sales of the 3DS allowed the company to make...
The narrow focus of some ecosystem plays is starting to hurt. First there was Twitter, now there is Linked-in. Linked-in reported disappointing results as growth slowed more than expected causing investors to worry about the longer-term growth. Linked-in, like Twitter, has a valuation (12.4x 2014E EV/Sales), that is already pricing in high growth in the...
When so much is pinned on the future, the tiniest wobble is catastrophic. Twitter reported great maiden results but the slowing user growth caused the stock to lose nearly a fifth of its value. Q4 revenues and EPS were $243m / $0.02 compared to consensus at $217m and a loss of $0.02. Guidance nicely trumped...
Richard is founder, owner of research company, Radio Free Mobile. He has 16 years of experience working in sell side equity research. During his 11 year tenure at Nomura Securities, he focused on the equity coverage of the Global Technology sector.
Samsung – Gear up MWC
Galaxy Gear could steal the thunder next week. Samsung is launching its new line-up on Monday evening at an event in Barcelona. While the Samsung Galaxy S5 is likely to be one of the most boring launches of the show, there could be some interest around the Galaxy Gear. The Samsung Galaxy S5 is likely...