Apple put some of the vast $28 billion in cash and short-term investments it has socked away to good use this week by raising its stake in Imagination Technologies. The $5.16 million investment nearly triples Apple’s original 3.6 percent stake, giving it 9.5 percent ownership of the British chip designer whose PowerVR graphics technology figures prominently in the iPhone and iPod touch.
“We would love dearly to win one of the big guys, that really is the smartphone game, it really is a concentrated set of suppliers,” Intel CFO Stacy Smith told Bloomberg earlier this year. “We’re lurking behind every bush and showing them our product line.” Well, the ambushes to which Smith referred appear to have finally paid off: Intel has landed a deal to develop chips with Nokia.
Looks like Yahoo has found its new CFO. This afternoon, the company said Tim Morse will take charge of its finances. Morse, who has served as CFO for chip maker Altera since 2007 and spent 15 years at GE before that, will start work on June 17 and assume CFO responsibilities on July 1.
Welcome news, since Yahoo has been looking to fill the position since Blake Jorgensen said he would step down from the company last February.
Intel’s year of sequential gains in the semiconductor market came to an abrupt end in the first quarter of 2009. According to market research outfit iSuppli, the chip giant’s share of the market fell 2.5 percent to 79.1 percent in Q1. Meanwhile, AMD’s rose about 2.3 percent to 12.8 percent.
A bit of good news today amid the chip industry’s seemingly endless procession of bad. Sales of semiconductors rose 6.4 percent globally from March to April to $15.6 billion, according to the latest metrics from the Semiconductor Industry Association. But at $15.6 billion, they were still about 25 percent below the $20.9 billion reported last April.
You know things are bad at AMD when the company’s schadenfreude over Intel’s European legal woes spills over into its brand messaging. Surf over to AMD’s Web site this morning and you’ll find foremost on its homepage not a message about Fusion, its next-generation microprocessor design, or branding for its various chips, but a gigantic European Union flag.
Ouch. European regulators slapped Intel with an antitrust fine and, as expected, it’s a large one–a record $1.45 billion, which dwarfs even the $1.2 billion fine levied against Microsoft in 2008. The largest ever assessed for monopoly abuse, the fine follows charges that Intel abused its market dominance by illegally inducing PC manufacturers to use its chips over those of rival AMD.
“The worst is now behind us.” Intel CEO Paul Otellini made that brave statement back in April. And not a month later, it’s proving true. Commenting on Intel’s business during an event for financial analysts Tuesday, Otellini said, “Looking at order patterns, billings patterns, it’s a little better than expected.“
Well, look at that. Floundering though it is, AMD has managed some gains in the semiconductor market. According to IDC, the company’s share of the chip market hit 22.3 percent during the first quarter of 2009, an increase of 4.6 percent over the fourth quarter of 2008. Meanwhile, Intel’s share fell to 77.3 percent, a decline of 4.7 percent.
After three years, AMD is finally getting around to merging it’s microprocessor and graphics divisions, another stab at reaching profitability after more than two years of losses. On Wednesday afternoon the company said it would consolidate the two divisions into one–platforms and products–led by SVP Rick Bergman.
“Sponsors of Tomorrow” is the new “Intel Inside.” The chipmaker is gearing up to launch a massive new advertising campaign, and that slogan is to be its anchor. Its purpose: to make us all more familiar with the Intel brand–as if it wasn’t ubiquitous enough already.
Emulex dissed and dismissed an unsolicited bid from Broadcom this morning saying it “significantly undervalues Emulex” and is not in the best interests of shareholders. In a blistering letter appended to the rejection announcement, Emulex CEO Paul Folino described Broadcom’s unsolicited $9.25-a-share cash takeover offer as “an opportunistic attempt to take advantage of Emulex’s depressed stock price” in a souring economy.
No big surprises here. The souring economy and related uncertainty in consumer and enterprise technology markets continue to drag the chip sector down into the mud. While world-wide sales of semiconductors in March rose 3.3 percent from February, they were down nearly 30 percent from last year.
Apple has fleshed out its chip design group with another key hire. The company has recruited Bob Drebin, former CTO of AMD’s Graphics Products Group, as a senior director. Apple won’t say what it is exactly Drebin’s going to work on, though it’s a safe bet it’s related to the multicore graphics processors in which Drebin has his expertise.
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper.
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
Includes “Pigs in a Polka,” “Rabbit of Seville” and, of course, “What’s Opera, Doc?”
Take the famous ballads and duets of West Side Story, insert a dozen mentions of famous social media sites like twitter and facebook, and this is what you get.
An iPod mini rebuilt with a wooden case
Star Wars meets Magnum, P.I.
Music videos recreated with new lyrics based on what’s actually happening in them. Daydream Believer and Total Eclipse of the Heart are particularly good.
In response to numerous e-mails, I have no idea what planet the giant alien creature is from. Judging from its enormous gills, I’d have to guess it’s from a watery planet. Reminder: please let me know if you plan to be in the office on Memorial Day so I can request HVAC for your floor.
For those of you who mock the wolf shirt beware. There is an old Navajo story about a young man who made fun of another man for wearing a wolf trio shirt. Legend has it that in his sleep, the wolves on the other man’s shirt came to life and tore his body to shreds. They never found any part of that man’s body. The Wolf is something to be respected and feared, not treated like a novelty.
Hands down the most inexplicably bizarre game for Wii I’ve ever seen
Yo mama is so attractive she could be on the cover of Prevention.
The inspiration for this project was to determine who could generate the worst flatulence measurable in a personally unbiased manner.
D is unlike any other executive conference. Since its debut in 2003, D has brought to life the energy and excitement of the digital revolution in an unscripted, upfront and unparalleled way. Read more »
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