News and New Products

Winners & Losers

By Ed Sperling -- Electronic News, 3/2/2007

Who’s Up?
Intel took the lead in spearheading global tech reach using a United Nations panel. This is a very good thing. When was the last time you heard of an IRA bombing? Probably before the tech boom in Ireland. This is the kind of proactive move that can help soften political trouble spots around the globe. Forget democracy. This makes the world safe for capitalism.

Rational behavior doesn’t come naturally to all companies once they get started on a successful path, but rising costs have a way of forcing the issue. Witness the collapse of the Crolles Alliance and Texas Instruments’ decision to outsource core process development. Wally Rhines, CEO of Mentor Graphics, believes this is all good because it forces design differentiation instead of process differentiation. At the very least, it’s good for Mentor Graphics.

Infinera filed an initial public offering even though it posted a loss last year. We like this kind of unbridled optimism. It’s nice to see IPOs rolling out again after a long dry spell. The fact that everyone keeps referencing Google as a hugely successful IPO is a sign there haven’t been enough other IPOs in recent years to swallow some of the limelight.

Who’s Down?
China’s version of RoHS—the European Restriction of Hazardous Substances—is now in effect. While we applaud the move to green, the real key in China will be equal enforcement for indigenous companies doing business in China and international companies doing business everywhere. In China, relationships are a vital part of culture, business, and even politics—something that could have a pronounced effect on enforcement. 

Apple seems to have changed its itune about only announcing products that are available for sale. First came promises of the iPhone, which everyone assumed was due to pressure from service provider partners. Now comes word that the Apple video box is delayed for a couple weeks. While that’s not material from a financial standpoint, it’s certainly important from a corporate strategy standpoint. Apple seems to be just as willing to freeze the market with promised products as anyone else—with or without partners—and that serves to make Apple less unique. Sometimes you don’t know what you have until you lose it.

The entire stock market took a bath this week, and electronics companies went into the water with the rest of the global market. Everyone got soaked, but there are signs that everything is starting to dry off nicely. 

Carl Icahn, one of the barbarians at the gate, is looking for a larger piece of Motorola, possibly even the whole thing. We assume this was all prompted by a bad cell phone experience. Icahn doesn’t buy new cell phones. He buys new cell phone companies

Despite public statements to the contrary, graphics board developer Nvidia is showing signs of stress. AMD unfurled a new chipset that includes graphics technology from subsidiary ATI. Is it just coincidence that Nvidia’s corporate parking lot is filled with cars on weekends and holidays? By the way, we have eyewitnesses on this one.