Tag Archives: aapl

Intel Might Dethrone Qualcomm In Apple iPhone 7; PC Sales Atrophy

No. 1 chipmaker Intel ( INTC ) remains in the running for an Apple ( AAPL ) iPhone 7 chip even as the smartphone-maker’s iPad Pro continues to gouge PC sales, a Summit Research analyst said Tuesday. Financially, gaining the iPhone 7 modem would be a “non-event,” accounting for $200 million in sales and 2 cents earnings per share ex items per quarter, Summit Research analyst Srini Sundararajan wrote in a research report. But it would allow Intel to undercut No. 3 rival Qualcomm ( QCOM ) which, teardowns show, has supplied the iPhone modem in at least the past four flagship iterations. Qualcomm has been an iPhone supplier since iPhone 4S, whereas Intel has never supplied an iPhone chip. “The implications from a prestige point of view — getting a socket into the iPhone, is likely to be seen as an achievement for Intel and a loss for Qualcomm,” Sundararajan wrote. ‘Dreadful’ January, ‘So-So’ February In midday trading on the stock market today , Intel stock was down a fraction following the death of former longtime CEO Andrew Grove, 79, a Silicon Valley and tech visionary largely credited with building the company into a powerhouse. He left as CEO in 1998 and left the board in 2004 — both moves precipitated by health issues — but remained an advisor. Sundararajan cut his price target on Intel stock to 38 from 40 on “PC doldrums,” but reiterated his buy rating. Sundararajan is the third analyst since February to cut his Q1 estimates for Intel on the weakening PC unit. Taiwanese PC shipments were “dreadful” in January and “so-so” in February, Sundararajan wrote. And “Apple’s release of the smaller iPad Pro and iPad Pro earlier should continue to cut incrementally into PC sales.” But Sundararajan doesn’t expect Intel to pre-announce new guidance . Intel previously guided to $14.1 billion in sales, plus or minus $500 million, suggesting 52 cents EPS ex items. That would be up 10% and 27%, respectively, vs. the year-earlier quarter. “To a certain extent, we feel that Intel’s mentioning weakness in China was an accurate presaging of what was to come, so we do not think that Intel’s guidance is likely to be that far off from actual results,” he wrote. Sundararajan cut his Q1 views to $13.8 billion and 45 cents vs. earlier expectations for $14.3 billion and 53 cents. He notes that Intel anticipates about $400 million in revenue from its completed Altera acquisition and an extra-week bump. The consensus of 46 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters models $13.96 billion in Q1 sales and 49 cents EPS minus items, up a respective 9% and 20%, on a year-over-year basis. For the year, Sundararajan now sees $57.9 billion in sales and $2.35 EPS minus items, down from $59.9 billion and $2.50. On average, analysts expect $58.77 billion and $2.40, up 6% and 3% vs. the year earlier.

Microsoft, Inphi Plan To Leave Amazon, Apple In Digital Drone Dust

Tech giant Microsoft ( MSFT ) and chipmaker Inphi ( IPHI ) plan to leave Apple ( AAPL ), Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Alphabet ( GOOGL ) in their drone dust come Q3 … digitally speaking. Early Tuesday, the companies introduced a 100-gigabit platform capable of digitally tying multiple data centers within 80 kilometers (about 50 miles). Previously, that breakneck 100G speed was possible only in cross-country networks. Linking data centers to amass cloud size — and speed — will become more necessary as cloud users like Facebook ( FB ), Alibaba ( BABA ), Yahoo ( YHOO ) and others expand their online footprint, says Jeff Cox, Microsoft senior director of network architecture. Microsoft realized as much in 2012, but the industry’s “long-haul solution” for cross-country information transit was too hefty for use in metropolitan areas, Cox says. It would be the travel equivalent of launching a Boeing 777 to go from John Wayne Airport near Anaheim, Calif., to Los Angeles International Airport 20 miles away. “You’d take a cab, not a 777,” he told IBD. “For those distances across town, we want these large quantities, but that’s the wrong approach.” Trains, Planes, Trucks … And Drones In 2013, Microsoft and Inphi teamed up to solve the problem. Inphi moves data in the same way FedEx ( FDX ) transports packages — by trains, planes and trucks, Inphi CEO Ford Tamer told IBD. The Microsoft-Inphi solution is a 100G “drone.” Inphi also has a 100G long-haul solution under its Coherent platform. But the Coherent platform is more power-consumptive, expensive and requires space to allow excess heat to dissipate, Cox says. He estimates the Coherent platform uses 20 times more power than the new Inphi-Microsoft platform. “Using the Coherent technology would blow your entire power budget,” he said. “It’s fairly impractical at this scale.” Enter Colorz. Microsoft and Inphi’s partnership will be borne out in the Colorz platform — faster than the industry’s current 10G drones and less costly than 100G long-hauls, Tamer says. The 100G drones are capable of moving the digital equivalent of the Library of Congress multiple times in one second. “We do not believe there is any other solution that can achieve what we’ve done in the power and cost envelope,” Tamer said. “For that type of power and that type of performance and that distance, we do believe it’s an industry first.” Who Needs 640KB RAM? Three years ago, Microsoft met brick walls as it sought to reach 100G inside city limits, Cox said. He referenced tech lore when, in 1981, company co-founder Bill Gates asked who would need more than 640 kilobytes, in defense of IBM ‘s ( IBM ) newest PC, based on an Intel ( INTC ) processor. “Almost kind of like 10 years ago, when people asked, ‘Who needs more than 640KB of RAM (computer memory, where 4GB is now standard)?’ ” Cox said. “Then it was, ‘Who needs more than 100G in a metro?’ I think it was hard for people to wrap their heads around it.” Since then, he says, bandwidth needs have multiplied. Cloud providers are leasing or buying data center spaces across the world as their needs outgrow those of traditional consumers like IT and Internet providers. Data center is the industry’s new buzzword, and chipmakers especially are making a hard run for a piece of this market. Over the past year, Intel, Qualcomm ( QCOM ), Broadcom ( AVGO ), Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Integrated Device Technology ( IDTI ) have redoubled their data center efforts in a bid to gain share. “I think now when we talk about Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Facebook, everyone is building these infrastructures,” Cox said. “And the scale of these infrastructures is surprising everyone in the industry.” He added: “There isn’t so much disbelief any longer. I think we’ve proven we weren’t kidding. In fact, I think we underestimated a little.”

Apple’s Product Launch: What The Stock Market Loved And Hated

Apple ( AAPL ) investors on Monday were most excited about the new lower starting price for the Apple Watch, but they were most disappointed about the lower-than-expected starting price for the new iPhone SE. That’s judging by minute-by-minute trading in Apple stock during the company’s spring product launch event . Apple stock rose as the start of the company’s spring product launch approached. Shares opened at 106 on Monday, a fraction higher than its prior close of 105.92. It reached a high for the day of 107.03 at 10:22 a.m. Eastern Time, less than three hours before the event. When the product launch event started at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. Pacific Time), Apple stock had dipped to 106.46, but was still in the green for the day. Shortly after the event started, Apple’s share price began to dip, especially as Chief Executive Tim Cook introduced Lisa Jackson, vice president of environment for Apple, to talk about the company’s environmental initiatives. But Apple’s stock price began to climb when Jackson unveiled Liam, the company’s iPhone recycling robot. Apple stock continued to rise as company executives discussed health-care software initiatives for the iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple hit its highest point during the 63-minute event when Cook announced that the starting price for the Apple Watch would drop $50 to $299. Shares climbed to 106.58 at 1:29 p.m. ET. However, Apple shares soon retreated when the company started discussing software tweaks to the Apple TV and introduced the new 4-inch iPhone SE. Apple stock hit its lowest price of the day after the company announced pricing for the iPhone SE. The new smartphone will start at $399, as much as $100 less than analyst estimates. Shares slipped to 105.14 at 1:51 p.m. ET on the disclosure. By the time the event ended at 2:03 p.m. ET, shares had recovered a bit to 105.72. The stock ended Monday at 105.91, almost dead even for the day. Apple stock was up nearly 1% in early trading in the stock market today , near 107.