As mentioned in a previous post, Microsoft has started to come clean on its software strategy as it relates to Windows 8 for PCs and Tablets. The strategy has been changing quite rapidly since their first admission in September. Essentially the Windows 8 O/S will be forked based on whether the mobile device is operating on an x86 or… Read More
Author: Ed McKernan
Microsoft’s New Tablet Strategy: Here, There and Everywhere
Will Amazon’s Kindle Fire Force x86 Processors To Revisit the 1980s?
What if Amazon’s new Kindle Fire, priced at $199 and using a sub $10 TI processor, has effectively started the ball rolling towards forcing Intel and AMD to building a Very Low Cost (perhaps even <$10) x86 mobile processor? A recent article entitled “Amazon’s Risky Strategy” explores the ramifications of Amazon selling Kindle… Read More
Did Apple Influence AMD’s TSMC Foundry Switch?
During the weekend, I read two articles that highlighted Apple’s LCD supply chain build out and started to think of how this would look if Apple were to do the same on the x86 side of the ledger. The two articles, one related to Hitachi and Sony building a new 4” LCD for iphones and a more extensive one on Sharp building a new LCD for the iPAD3… Read More
AMD’s Crossing of the Chasm
When AMD announced its cutbacks recently many people were left wondering why they were so deep given the strong financial performance in Q3 and the guidance for an up Q4. It couldn’t have been related to the Thailand floods that could have been at most a one-quarter squeeze expected in Q1. Now it is apparent from reports that AMD’s … Read More
Jen Hsun Huang’s Game Over Strategy for Windows 8!
It is always a treat to listen to the nVidia earnings conference call as Jen Hsun Huang offers his take on the industry as well as a peek at his company’s future plans. Invariably a Wall St. analyst will ask about Windows 8 and Project Denver – the code name for the ARM based processor designed to run Windows 8 with great graphics performance… Read More
ARM Chips Away at Intel’s Server Business!
When Intel entered the server market in the 1990s with their Pentium Processor and follow on Xeons beginning in 1998, they focused on the simple enterprise applications. At the same time they laid the groundwork for what will turn out to be a multi-decade, long war to wrest control from all mainframes and workstations. The announcements… Read More
PC Growth Latches on to the Parabolic Curve of Emerging Markets
One of the interesting tidbits of information to come from Intel’s October earnings call was that Brazil, a country of nearly 200M people, has moved up to the #3 position in terms of PC unit sales. This was a shock to most people and as usual brushed aside by those not familiar with the happenings of the emerging markets (i.e. the countries… Read More
Meg Whitman Should Buy AMD and Take HP Back To Its Roots
Back in the 2008 financial Crises, GM was finally brought to its knees and had to face a radical makeover. They asked for a bailout from the government that allowed the unions to swap out lower compensation for equity, something no union would do unless the alternative was to shutter the doors. The bondholders and the shareholders… Read More
Xilinx and Altera’s Summer At The Beach
The “old saw” is “To Sell in May and Go Away.” It’s a Maxim that particularly applies to semiconductor stocks as they typically drop from a post April earnings peak through the summer doldrums to a late September nadir only to be revived in the prelude of October earnings. It has happened again this year, although the path taken by the… Read More
Intel’s Incredible Semiconductor Machine
It is hard not to be impressed by Intel’s stunning financial performance since the 2008 downturn. They are on track to post revenue of $55B this year or 50% higher than 2008 while nVidia and AMD will be flat to less than 10% better. More significantly, earnings will be 3X that of 2008. More significantly, in the past 12 months they have… Read More
Application-Specific Lithography: Sense Amplifier and Sub-Wordline Driver Metal Patterning in DRAM