Apple’s Ma Bell Moment

Apple’s Ma Bell Moment
by Ed McKernan on 02-10-2013 at 12:17 am

The wreckage that is Apple’s stock is a surprise to many including yours truly but it appears to mark the beginnings of a transition period that will result in freeing the company from the demands of Wall St as it appeals to the broader population of mainsteam America. I call it the Ma Bell Strategy. Unlike Microsoft or Intel, Apple … Read More


Will Google Go Thermonuclear?

Will Google Go Thermonuclear?
by Ed McKernan on 01-06-2013 at 8:30 pm

“It’s not like we started it,” said Larry. “After all the idea of going Thermonuclear was first broached by Steve to Eric at their outdoor café meeting in Palo Alto way back in 2010. We’re just following by example and as Steve was wont to quote Picasso; “good artist copy, great artist steal” so why not go Thermonuclear with our Android… Read More


Intel’s New Tablet Strategy Brings Ivy Bridge to the Forefront

Intel’s New Tablet Strategy Brings Ivy Bridge to the Forefront
by Ed McKernan on 12-19-2012 at 11:00 pm

In an article published this week in microprocessor report and highlighted in Barron’s, Linley Gwennap makes the argument that Intel should stay the course and fix the PC instead of trying to offset its declines with sales into the Smartphone and Tablet space. He cites that lower PC sales growth was due to a dramatic slowdown in processor… Read More


New HP Memristor Material Developments

New HP Memristor Material Developments
by Ed McKernan on 12-12-2012 at 10:00 pm

At the recent NCCAVS Thin Film Users Group meeting in November, HP was on the program in the person of Joshua Yang who gave a materials centric look at the status of the HP ReRAM (Memristor) program. A colleague passed on the informative set of slides presented at the meeting. Being a former process integration team leader, I was immediately… Read More


How Apple Plans to Leverage Intel’s Foundry

How Apple Plans to Leverage Intel’s Foundry
by Ed McKernan on 12-09-2012 at 4:00 pm

Tim Cook’s strategy to disengage from Samsung as a supplier of LCDs, memory and processors while simultaneously creating a worldwide supply chain from the remnants of former leaders like Sharp, Elpida, Toshiba and soon Intel is remarkable in its scope and breadth. By 2014, Apple should have in place a supply chain for 500M iOS devices… Read More


Intel Taps The Debt Market: Should They Go Private?

Intel Taps The Debt Market: Should They Go Private?
by Ed McKernan on 12-06-2012 at 9:25 am

Intel’s ability this week to raise $6B in debt at rock bottom interest rates should give one a moment to pause and consider what this portends for the future of the company and whether it remains in public hands. We live in extraordinary times where a fiscally excessive government can sell 10 year treasuries at 1.6% and the largest … Read More


Will Andy Grove Save Intel By Recruiting Jen Hsun Huang?

Will Andy Grove Save Intel By Recruiting Jen Hsun Huang?
by Ed McKernan on 11-26-2012 at 10:00 pm

Intel may not know it but they are entering a crises moment due to the announced resignation of Paul Otellini that will not take place until May 2013. A six-month funeral with a 100,000 mourning employees will not calm customers who question whether to stick with the x86 PC roadmap much less the Atom mobile processors. A more dramatic… Read More


Interview with David Eggleston on Rambus-Unity CMOx

Interview with David Eggleston on Rambus-Unity CMOx
by Ed McKernan on 11-26-2012 at 11:00 am

by Christie Marrian of ReRAM-Forum.com

Unity Semiconductor is a true veteran in the emerging memory/ReRAM field and was recently acquired by Rambus “one of the world’s premier technology licensing companies”. I must admit to being somewhat surprised by this acquisition when I first heard about it. Was this another example… Read More


Andy Bryant Will Now Lead Intel Into The Foundry Era

Andy Bryant Will Now Lead Intel Into The Foundry Era
by Ed McKernan on 11-19-2012 at 12:30 pm

The announcement that Paul Otellini will step down in May 2013 is extraordinary in the history of the way Intel makes CEO transitions. They are thoughtful, deliberate and years in the making, unlike today’s announcement. Twenty years ago Otellini and Andy Bryant were in the top echelon of Andy Grove’s executive team and … Read More


Adesto Acquisition of Atmel Serial Flash: Strange Bedfellows?

Adesto Acquisition of Atmel Serial Flash: Strange Bedfellows?
by Ed McKernan on 11-14-2012 at 1:00 pm

On October 1, Adesto Technologies announced that it had acquired Atmel’s DataFlash and Serial Flash business groups. At first sight, this seemed a rather counter intuitive move for one of the most aggressive (and visible) companies in the emerging memory field. The purchase raised many questions to those, not least the moderator… Read More