M3 does not wipe the floor with Elite X. Apple launched its next series of M-chips but even though they will all be made on the new 3nm TSMC process, the degree of improvement over M2 is lower than I was expecting keeping Elite X very much in the game. Apple held a short event where it launched its M3...
Qualcomm throws down the gauntlet to both Apple and Intel. Qualcomm is mounting a bold challenge to both Apple and Intel in PCs with the launch of the Snapdragon X Elite but no matter how good the chip is, everything will depend on how well it runs the Windows ecosystem. Qualcomm held its Snapdragon Summit last week and given the...
Good numbers but both have problems. Both Intel and Amazon reported good results, but both have some fundamental problems that are hurting current performance and will take some time to be fixed. Intel Q3 23 – Risk imbalance Intel reported good results as the PC market came back to life to some degree, but the risks that Intel is increasingly...
Meta may be returning to its bad habits. Meta Platforms delivered another set of excellent results but wiped out enthusiasm by guiding weakly for Q4 2023 and raising spending expectations for 2024. Q3 2023 revenues / EPS were $34.2bn / $4.39 nicely ahead of consensus of $33.6bn / $3.64 where profits were driven by a 23% increase in revenues and...
Microsoft is really getting under Google’s skin. Microsoft continues to leverage OpenAI to get under Google’s skin and this quarter one can see some impact of this in the numbers. Microsoft FQ1 24 – AI Brand power Microsoft reported excellent results where its cloud business reaccelerated revenue growth and the rest of its business remained very robust even in the...
Taiwanese politics and Apple. Long-term collaborator and colleague Alastair Newton from Alavan Independent joins Radio Free Mobile in authoring today’s commentary concerning China, Foxconn, Taiwan and Apple. China has launched an investigation into Foxconn which employs over 1m people in China which we think is either another warning shot at Apple or a message regarding the Taiwanese election next year....
The USA still has the upper hand. In the face of further restrictions on its ability to develop AI algorithms, China is threatening to restrict the export of graphite in a move that is likely to be as ineffective as the restrictions it put on rare-earth metals 10 years ago. In what is now likely to be an annual update,...
An unattractive proposition. It looks increasingly like it will be Cruise rather than Tesla or Waymo that gets to market first with robotaxis giving it the best opportunity to be one of the winners in what is likely to be a bloodbath of cutthroat competition. Honda has announced that it is going to start a robotaxi operation in Tokyo in...
Low volume, low value. Qualcomm and Google have announced that Android Wear OS will be supported on RISC-V processors opening the way for the first market implementation that takes RISC-V on Android beyond vapourware for the first time. Qualcomm is the dominant supplier of silicon for Wear OS but to date, this has only been available for Arm powered processors....
Autonomous Autos – Cruise control
Cruise is mostly punished for bad behaviour. Although there was most certainly a technology failure, Cruise is off the roads mostly because the California DMV thinks that it failed to fully disclose data around an incident involving a pedestrian in a move that will delay the journey to autonomous driving yet again. Cruise has had its licence to operate in...