Google looks steady while Microsoft continues to chase its own tail. Sift through the details of Google and Microsoft’s earnings announcements and you will see clear signs of the old and the new. How consumers interact with machines and the internet is radically changing and Microsoft is struggling to remain relevant in that segment. Google...
Danger has been a superb acquisition for Microsoft. Microsoft’s acquisition of Danger (11th February 2008) has been described as a classic M&A failure with some $400m going up in smoke but I have long believed that it was the patents that Microsoft was after. The business and the people have long since withered away but...
Difficult results in display advertising mask the potential. Yahoo! reported disappointing results as display advertising continued to decline despite the remedial actions put in place by the new team. Q1 Revenues / EPS were $1.07bn / $0.35 compared to consensus at $1.10bn / $0.25. Better expense control was the main reason for the EPS...
App based gaming remains the future of this critical segment. Say what you like about games but nearly one third of all time spent on smartphones is still spent playing games. Gaming is alive and well but it is rapidly shedding the genre of social gaming and returning to its roots in applications With...
There are still too many reasons why this won’t work. Wearable technology is not a new idea; it is just that no one has managed to create any with mass market appeal. Remember the Microsoft SPOT watches from 2003? (Click here if you can’t) Another example is the older generation of the iPod Nano which...
Flexible screens are Samsung’s patch, not Apple’s Apple Patent applications and job filings are an admission of what I have long suspected. Flexible and bendable screens are not just a fad but could define the next generation of form factor in the handset and tablet arena. From the end of 2011 and steadily through...
Apple needs to skip the iPhone 5S and go straight to the 6. To date, the iPhone has managed to hold its position by beating its competitors both in the hardware and in the software user experience. Back in 2007 the iPhone was market leading in terms of hardware but as competitors have caught up...
Google’s interest in WhatsApp is a sign of weakness. WhatsApp has denied that it is in talks with Google with respect to being acquired but that does not mean that discussions have not taken place. Quite to the contrary, I suspect that Google has made a play for the company but been rebuffed...
Dare I hope that Hewlett Packard is turning the corner?. Hewlett Packard’s response to the message sent by its shareholders at the recent AGM encourages me to take a second look. Hewlett Packard has had two main problems to date. First, the lack of any real strategy to change a lumbering hardware maker with...
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.
Dell – Don’t be Greedy
Those holding out for $15 may be disappointed. The exit of Blackstone has little to do with PC forecasts and everything to do with a bidding war that was increasingly likely to end in disaster. I suspect that Blackstone realised that paying “more than $14.25” was effectively giving shareholders a far better return than they...