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Date Title 27 Feb 2012 ARM Holdings PLC New York Roadshow with Credit Suise - With IR 28 Feb 2012 4:30 p.m. CET ARM Investor Event at Mobile World Congress 28 Feb 2012 4:30 p.m.- 29 Feb 2012 5:30 p.m. PT ARM Holdings PLC at Morgan Stanley Tech Conference, San Francisco - With management 01 Mar 2012 - 02 Mar 2012 ARM Holdings PLC West Coast Roadshow with D.A. Davidson - With IR 08 Mar 2012 ARM Holdings PLC at UBS Tech Conference, London - With IR 13 Mar 2012- 14 Mar 2012 ARM Holdings PLC at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Tech Conference, Taiwan - With IR
Feb. 27, 2012 The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is a fine device. Its Android 4.0 OS, dual-core processor and crop of next next-gen radios lead market in the technological sophistication, but at more than $600 without contract, also leads the market in price. But Broadcom claims that all of that hardware and functionality can be available for half of the cost. That’s right, a smartphone for the cost of a feature phone. Monday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Broadcom is unveiling the silicon component of that low-cost equation. The chipmaker announced three new Android 4.0-optimized integrated chipsets, combining one or multiple ARM (a armh) Cortex A9 processors with 3G radios. At the low-end is a package with a single 1 GHz processor and 7.5 Mbps HSPA modem, which Broadcom said is priced at feature phone levels. Robert Rango, Broadcom EVP and GM of its mobile and wireless group, said the pricing on mobile computing power are scaling so low, that anybody with a feature phone budget can soon afford a smartphone. At the higher end are two 1.3 GHz dual-core chips with HSPA+ radios — the key difference is one supports 1080p video while the other runs on 720p. The higher-resolution multimedia package is priced for devices in the $200 to $300 unsubsidized range, while the lower-resolution chip can scale all the way down to the $100 phone, Rango said. The bottom line, Rango said, is that a handset vendor could replicate the specs and performance of the European Nexus in a phone priced $300 or less. In the U.S. where operators heavily subsidize devices, it’s easy to see the cost to the consumer dropping below $100. What’s even more compelling is the idea that carriers could soon start giving dual-core smartphones away for free with their standard two-year contracts. All three chips are sampling today and will begin shipping in volumes to vendors in the second half of the year. That means we might see that $300 Nexus knock-off before the end of the year. Of course, by that point the industry will have scaled its next performance peak launching the first quad-core smartphones. Still, it’s amazing to see how quickly the top-line technologies of today are dropping down to the mass market. http://gigaom.com/mobile/broadcom-promises-dual-core-power-for-budget-prices/
Feb. 27, 2012, 4:01 a.m. EST (9:01 AM BST) SMIC and Brite Semiconductor Tape Out Low Leakage 40nm Test Chip Based on a Dual-Core ARM Cortex-A9 Processor Test Chip Achieves 900MHz Performance SHANGHAI and CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, Feb. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Brite Semiconductor (Shanghai) Corporation, a leading IC design and turnkey service provider, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation ("SMIC"; NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 0981.HK), and ARM today jointly announced the first tape out of a dual-core ARM® Cortex(TM)-A9 MPCore(TM) test chip using SMIC's 40nm low leakage process technology. The test chip is an implementation of a dual-core Cortex-A9 processor designed using SMIC's 40nm low leakage process technology. The processor incorporates a 32K I-Cache and 32K D-Cache, 128 TLB entries, NEON(TM) technology, as well as debug and trace technology from the CoreSight(TM) Design Kit. In addition to high-speed standard cell libraries, high-speed customized memories and cells were adopted in the test chip to enhance performance. The test chip was signed off at 900MHz (WC), with typical silicon results expected to top 1.0GHz when the results become available in Q2 2012. "The dual-core chip is designed using SMIC's 40nm low leakage process, which minimizes the time, risks and costs associated with bringing a high-performance Cortex-A9 processor implementation to market. We are delighted that the development work with ARM and SMIC on processor cores and implementation optimization has resulted in this test chip tape out, which demonstrates the close partnership between the three companies. With the support of ARM and SMIC, Brite brings huge value to customers who need high-performance ARM cores," said Dr. Charlie Zhi, President & CEO of Brite Semiconductor. "Working closely with ARM and Brite allows us to deliver an integrated platform that rapidly brings customers' designs to production. We value the partnership with Brite and ARM, and the work they accomplished to achieve this milestone. It is a strong testimonial of our mutual commitment to provide industry-leading technology for advanced-node designs. The combination of SMIC's 40nm technology, the ARM Cortex-A9 processor and Brite's design flow will help meet the increasing demand for high-performance and energy-efficient consumer devices," said Chris Chi, Chief Business Officer of SMIC. "ARM continues to work with partners in China to develop an ecosystem that drives innovation and growth," said Allen Wu, President, ARM China. "This important milestone with Brite and SMIC is a great example of what our partnership can achieve and promises faster time to market for a broad range of high performance and low power devices."
"This really isn't going to sell. I can't see a market for 'budget' smartphone developers. On smartphones the community of developers and their development tools are critically important. A lack of decent competitive software will lead to this being DOA. Nothing is going to usurp the iOS and Android phones any time soon. This will not affect ARM in the slightest. iOS and Android phones' growth trajectory is totally nonlinear at the moment and isn't about to slowdown any time soon." ====================================================== he new device, developed under the code name "Orange Santa Clara", will be the first Intel-based smartphone in Europe. It will target the lower end of the market and aims to "democratise" access to smartphones, Vincent Brunet, executive vice president of consumer mobile devices at Orange said ahead of the Mobile World Congress, which opens in Barcelona today. The details of the Santa Clara launch are unknown, but it will be available in the UK and France, and will position Orange to grow the number of customers using their mobiles to access the internet – the fastest growing part of the business. Last week Everything Everywhere, which owns Orange and T-Mobile in the UK, said that nearly half of its customers used their mobiles to access the web, helping to fuel 150pc growth in data usage in 2011. It anticipates the same rate of growth this year. The boost for Orange marks a blow for ARM Holdings, which until now has had its chips in more than 99pc of all mobile phones globally. The British chipmaker, headquartered in Cambridge, is used to battling Intel in areas like chips for PCs, where processing power is paramount and Intel has traditionally led the field. However, ARM's long-standing focus on energy efficiency meant it has effectively had the smartphone market to itself. Intel first announced its intention to take a share of the smartphone market in 2009, but nothing happened until the start of this year when Lenovo unveiled its K800, the first Intel-based smartphone, and Motorola announced a multi-year, multi-device contract with the chipmaker. 26 Feb 2012 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/telecoms/9107381/Orange-set-to-challenge-ARMs-grip.html#disqus_thread
The threat to ARM Holdings' grip on the smartphone market has increased with Orange announcing plans for a budget smartphone – using an Intel chip. The new device, developed under the code name "Orange Santa Clara", will be the first Intel-based smartphone in Europe. It will target the lower end of the market and aims to "democratise" access to smartphones, Vincent Brunet, executive vice president of consumer mobile devices at Orange said ahead of the Mobile World Congress, which opens in Barcelona today. The details of the Santa Clara launch are unknown, but it will be available in the UK and France, and will position Orange to grow the number of customers using their mobiles to access the internet – the fastest growing part of the business, The Telegraph says
HP working on Windows 8 tablets using ARM chips: Sources February 25, 2012 11:31 AM PST Hewlett-Packard is working on ARM-based tablets and hybrids, a source told CNET. Hewlett-Packard has Windows 8 tablets and hybrid devices in the works, sources told CNET. This follows comments this week by CEO Meg Whitman, who signaled that HP is readying a bevy of Windows 8 products for the fourth quarter. Those tablets, which are either being considered or being readied for commercial release, include two designs based on Intel's next-generation Atom processor and one using a Qualcomm ARM processor, said an industry source familiar with the designs. HP's enthusiasm around Windows 8 products is no secret. CEO Meg Whitman made it amply clear this week during the company's earnings conference call. "We have a product line lined up in PSG (Personal Systems Group) on Windows on X86. We believe we're going to be well-positioned for holiday on Windows 8 X86," she said, referring to Intel's X86 chip design. And the next day at a tech conference, Whitman said HP would release a Windows 8 tablets using both Intel and ARM chips, though no more details were provided. One of the two Intel-based designs is a consumer hybrid device, according to the source, who had seen a prototype. Hybrid implies a design that combines aspects of both a tablet and laptop. The other device, not a hybrid, is for corporate customers. Both are expected to use Intel's upcoming Clover Trail Atom processor--Intel's first 32-nanometer dual-core Atom chip. A third device is built around a Qualcomm processor. Presumably, that would be a Snapdragon processor, which implements a unique Qualcomm design with roots in the ARM chip architecture. Earlier this week, Whitman told The Wall Street Journal that though a Windows 8 tablet on X86 is slated for the December holiday, that's not necessarily the case for ARM. "Windows 8 on ARM. It's not immediately clear when that will launch," Whitman said. Separately, Richard Shim, an analyst at DisplaySearch, said he knows of one HP Windows 8 tablet in the works. That's a 10.1-inch design boasting a resolution of 1,366x768 pixels. That device is slated for mass production in the July timeframe, according to Shim. HP declined to comment. Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-57385063-64/hp-working-on-windows-8-tablets-using-intel-arm-chips-sources/#ixzz1nTmnyQ6q
Posted Date: 25-Feb-2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvdQAcb0-KE As like the other Tech enthusiasts, I am also waiting for the release of Windows 8 Consumer preview operating system. As per the available update, Microsoft is going to launch the Windows 8 Consumer Preview at the Mobile World Congress(MWC) which is going to be held in Barcelona on February 29. One can expect the release of Windows 8 beta version on Feb 29. To get further updates on the release of beta version of Windows 8 operating system, visit MyWindowsClub.com on Feb 29. Apart visiting MyWindowsClub.com, one should periodically check the Microsoft site. We can expect a link to download the beta version of Windows 8 operating system in the site. Expected minimum hardware requirements for Windows 8 Operating system 1) 1GHz processor 2) Minimum 1GB RAM for 32-bit OS, 2GB RAM for 64-bit OS. 2GB Ram is preferred for both, 3) Direct X 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver 4) Minimum 16 GB HDD free space for 32-bit, 20GB HDD free space for 64-bit. One shouldn't install the beta version on a production system. One can test the Windows 8 by installing it on a Virtual PC or on a spare PC. Microsoft clarified that Windows 8 will work on general motherboard's also, no need to be specifically an ARM based one. If you have a spare touch screen device, you can install Windows 8 in it. Microsoft promise's the touch experience in its new Windows 8 operating system. Expected editions of Windows 8 operating system As per the rumors, below mentioned editions are the expected to release, once the Windows 8 is officially out. They are 1) Microsoft Windows 8 32 Edition 2) Microsoft Windows 8 64 Edition 3) Microsoft Windows 8 Enterprise 32 Edition 4) Microsoft Windows 8 Enterprise 64 Edition 5) Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 32 Edition 6) Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 64 Edition With the help of above info, we can expect 1) Windows 8 2) Windows 8 Enterprise Edition (32 and 64 bit) 3) Windows 8 professional Edition (32 and 64 bit) To get the accurate info, we have to wait for few more days. you can go through the articles mentioned below to get more info on Windows 8 operating system. 1) How to install Windows 8 from a USB drive. 2) Features of Windows 8 OS 3) Improved Copy job features in Windows 8 OS. http://www.mywindowsclub.com/resources/5743-Windows-Consumer-Preview-Release.aspx
Dan Knight - 2012.02.24 Short link: http://bit.ly/yOEMTq Once again we have rumors that Apple is working on an ARM-based notebook, which we find eminently believable. With the success of the iPad, the number of iPad keyboards on the market, and quad-core ARM CPUs just around the corner, there's no reason Apple wouldn't be experimenting with the concept. The question is whether it will be a Mac or an iOS machine. As Cult of Mac's John Brownlee notes in Why You'll Probably Never Own a Mac With an ARM Processor, ARM processors simply aren't designed to do the kind of heavy lifting we expect of Macs, so any such notebook is far more likely to be strictly an iOS machine, not a Mac. General Apple and Mac desktop news is covered in The Mac News Review. iPad, iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV news is covered in The iNews Review. All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted. http://lowendmac.com/bookrev/12br/0224.html
Monday 2012/02/20 There have been some speculations earlier that Apple might become loyal for the ARM processors as they are planning to design an ARM based notebook and the same topic has been raised again. According to Piper Jaffray, an analyst of Gus Richard has mentioned in a research note that, there have been a lot of data points that Apple’s processor design group is working on an ARM-based product for its notebook line. He also adds that, it’s still not clear if this rumored device will ever go for production or not, but it is the highest probability risk to Intel from the ARM camp on the PC market. As we know, ARM is a UK-based company that provides the basic design for chips which are equipped in most of the world’s Smartphones and tablets. The A5 chip used in Apple’s iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, is mostly based on the ARM design. Along with that it is also expected that Apple might come up with an updated A series chip for their upcoming iPad. The ARM chips are mainly designed to be power efficient and are more efficient than the Intel chips, however the Intel chips seems quite a better product performance wise. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, earlier commented to a Citigroup analyst two weeks ago that Apple would be expanding the iPad line to meet the need for a notebook-like product. Although, we cannot relate Jaffray’s statement with this new line of device as he made clear in his comment that the ARM notebook project might not be getting into production. Or are these comments pointing to the same product? For to get the answer to this question we will have to wait for a bit more time till the release of the next model of the MacBook line of notebooks. http://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-working-on-ARM-laptops.70389.0.html
FEBRUARY 24, 2012, 10:27 A.M. ET ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) Started as Overweight at Piper Jaffray. Shares of ARM Holdings (ARMH) are up 31 cents, or 1%, at $27.49 this morning after Piper Jaffray’s Gus Richard initiated coverage of the stock with an Overweight rating and a $33 price target, writing that ARM will benefit from the surge in smartphones among mobile phone sales, and from the “tens of billions” of “connected devices” that will end up using its chips in the embedded market. The company’s end markets are faring well, he writes, either by sheer unit growth or by share gains: We model smartphones up 31% Y/ Y to 811M units. In addition, we believe ARM is displacing MIPS in markets like digital TV where it holds ~40% market share in CY11, growing to 50% in CY12. In addition, the microcontroller market is in the early innings of adopting ARM. We believe this will drive long term royalty growth and model processor division royalties up 25% in 2013, and that a 5 yr. royalty CAGR of 25% is reasonable. The “ecosystem” is swelling, he writes, observing, “There were 8B ARM chips shipped in 2011 and ~850 licensees use ARM processors.” And ARM’s share of each device’s revenue is growing, as “Ramping handset complexity drove the number of processors per phone to 2.5 last quarter.” As for Intel (INTC), Richard thinks Intel’s chips may be too expensive. We believe the ultimate commercial success of Intel’s platform remains to be seen. In particular, we hear of concerns among OEMs that Intel’s price is too high relative to competitive offerings. This will push Intel’s apps processor to the high-end of the market where Intel will run up against the vertically integrated suppliers who are better positioned to spread the high cost of an apps processor over the sale of an entire system. He also sees x86 architecture struggling in a world of smartphones “tuned” to the ARM instruction set. Richard also thinks Intel is seeking to replace the ARM core that is used inside of the baseband processor that Intel will be selling along with its “Medfield,” or Atom, apps processor. That is no easy feat, writes Richard: We expect Intel to replace the ARM core in the Infineon baseband over the next couple of years. We think this creates more risk to Intel’s success in the baseband market than it does revenue risk to ARM. http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2012/02/24/armh-piper-starts-at-buy-as-ecosystem-swells/
Apple ARM laptop tipped by Piper Jaffray Chris Burns, Feb 17th 2012 This week it’s been tipped by Piper Jaffray analyst Gus Richard that Apple is currently actively working on an ARM laptop. A research note from Richard spoke of the idea that because Apple is almost certainly working on a laptop which uses an internally-designed chip, Intel’s stake in the company appears to be at risk. While this sort of tip would not stand up to judgement on its own, we have seen at least one previous report that says exactly the same thing, that ARM and Apple will be partnering up soon. The previous note comes from an academic paper written by former intern turned CoreOS engineer Tristan Schaap. This paper was titled Porting Darwin to the MV88F5281 and showed how a Marvell ARM chipset was able to run a coaxed underlying part of Apple’s own OS X – telling information that brings us back to this Richard note. The note read as follows: “We have numerous datapoints that Apple’s processor design group is working on an ARM-based product for its notebook line. Whether or not it goes into production remains to be seen, but it is the highest probability risk to Intel from the ARM camp in the PC market.” – Richard The statement goes on to note how this project may well never be produced as a commercial product. Instead perhaps the tests are only to see how well iOS works on a MacBook – the concept is absurd, but the merging of the operating systems is coming ever closer to reality as OS X Mountain Lion shows off its iPad and iPhone love this summer. The iPhone 4S and iPad 2 lines currently use Apple’s own A5 chip based on the ARM design, and the iPad 3 has been tipped as featuring a new chip made by Apple as well. Another possibility is Apple creating the touch-screen notebook shown all the way back at the launch of Mac OS X Lion — Back to the Mac with touching of the display: make sense to have an ARM chip in there if we’re doing things so similar to the iPad? I think very possibly – how about you? http://www.slashgear.com/apple-arm-laptop-tipped-by-piper-jaffray-17214110/
Nasdaq hit new high yesterday since dotcom: 2,970.88 http://www.google.com/finance?q=INDEXNASDAQ%3A.IXIC
Like any money-hungry corporation, Sprint's branching out to pursue greener (as in the color of dolla dolla bills) pastures. The Hesse-led co's just announced the creation of its New Ventures unit, an overseas- and wholesale-focused entity which is set to expand upon Android's rapidly growing user base to generate some lucrative B2B handshakes with manufacturers and foreign operators. First up on the organization's plate is the white labeled extension of the company's branded apps, now nestled under the carrier agnostic Mobile ID and Mobile Zone monikers. Those software packs will function much like they do here in the US, offering subs a pre-selected assortment of skins containing applications, ringtones and wallpapers, in addition to a centralized hub for account management. No word yet on what international partners have signed up for the licensed service, but with Mobile World Congress only a few days away, we're sure those necessary details will be forthcoming. http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/24/sprint-launches-new-ventures-arm-adapts-id-and-zone-apps-for-fo/
ARM, MediaTek extend licensing deals 2012/02/24 13:53:58 Taipei, Feb. 24 (CNA) British chipset designer ARM Holdings Plc announced Friday it would extend its partnership with Taiwan's MediaTek Inc. to license its intellectual property (IP) used in smartphones, smart televisions and blue-ray players. The Taiwanese integrated circuit designer will also be extending its existing license with ARM for graphics processing units used in smartphones and smart TVs, according to a statement. "Future consumer electronics devices, such as smartphones and smart TVs, must satisfy consumer demand for an outstanding user experience that brings their worlds to their fingertips," said Mike Inglis, executive vice president and general manager of ARM's processor division. "We are excited to see the fruits of this agreement as MediaTek enables the next generation of consumer devices using advanced ARM IP," Inglis said. http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aALL&ID=201202240011
February 23, 2012 - 12:32 ARM is preparing to move into the lucrative notebook market which is currently dominated by Intel x86 processors. 

A number of analysts believe ARM's initial foray into the hyper-competitive space will be successful, with Sterne Agee confirming RISC-based processors remain on track to capture 5% of the market in 2012 and 10% by 2013. 

 Similarly, analysts at Nomura Equity Research believe Windows 8 notebook application processor shipments will hit 20 million in 2013 and increase to an impressive 290 million in 2015. Meaning, ARM chips are projected to claim 3% percent of the market in 2013 - and subsequently jump to 17%, or 49 million units by 2015. However, as tech guru Charlie Demerjian notes, ARM CPUs will need to offer similar performance to x86 chips for users to not turn their noses up at the experience. "Physics is a *****. To attain a certain level of performance, you need to flip a certain number of transistors. Higher performance means more flips, and that means more energy use," Demerjian explained in a recent analysis on SemiAccurate that examined Intel's PR approach to ARM's notebook campaign. "[Yes], some ISAs may be more efficient than others, but across a SoC as a whole, with memory, fixed function accelerators, and other things taken in to account, the difference is pretty small. If ARM is going to increase performance to the point where users are accepting of the performance levels, its power advantage will largely evaporate."
 Nevertheless, said Demerjian, ARM's RISC processors will be forced to meet x86 performance demands, and are likely to encounter some the same problems Intel and AMD have already worked through. "There are many more barriers than people expect for ARM to play in the traditional laptop form factor, and the road will be anything but easy. [Yet], if x86 can be successful in phones, ARM can be successful in laptops. Neither has any magic barriers to exclude the other, and both have learning curves that cross over at about the same point.

 "Both ARM and x86 will climb their respective hills, and both are entirely capable of doing what the other does. Don't let anyone tell you it can't be done. Whether or not either side will do what is necessary, for technical, financial, or sheer persistence reasons is another question entirely. Both can and will try. Both can be successful, and maybe both will, but the outcome remains to be seen," he concluded. http://www.tgdaily.com/hardware-features/61657-can-arm-take-on-x86-notebooks
2012/02/23: Thursday, ARM announced the release of its Cortex A9 MPCore Processor Optimization Pack for Globalfoundries 28nm-SLP High-K Metal Gate process technology. This will let System-on-Chip designers optimize performance for Cortex A9 and provide typical working performance of up to 2GHz. This is a significant announcement because Globalfoundries makes chips for many of the leading mobile companies, including Qualcomm's Snapdragon SoC, and most prominently -in terms of market share and promises of 2GHz smartphones in early 2012- Samsung's Exynos. Samsung and Globalfoundries have been collaborating on the 28nm High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) technology since 2010, and together have four fabrication facilities worldwide offering the technology (Globalfoundtries Fab 1 in Dresden, Germany and Fab 8 in Saratoga County, New York; Samsung S1 in Giheung, Korea, and S2 in Austin, Texas.) Last August, Globalfoundries said the collaboration created the largest foundry footprint in the industry. The POPs that were announced today include prepackaged designs and instructions to crank up performance in 28nm A9 SoCs, including: the Artisan Physical IP logic libraries and memory instances, a comprehensive benchmarking report to document the exact conditions and results ARM achieved in its core implementation, and a POP Implementation Guide that details the methodology used to achieve the result. In December, ARM and Globalfoundries announced that they had created a test chip based on a dual-core Cortex-A9 processor that could operate at frequencies in excess of 2.5GHz, but that sort of performance is not documented in this POP. http://betanews.com/2012/02/23/arm-optimization-pack-speeds-globalfoundries-cortex-a9s-up-to-2ghz/
Thu Feb 23, 2012 1:08pm EST Feb 23 (Reuters) HEWLETT-PACKARD CO, $27.52, down 5 pct Shares of Hewlett-Packard Co HPQ.N fell more than 7 percent after the world's No. 1 computer maker posted a sharp decline in quarterly earnings and warned it would take several years to turn around its sprawling businesses. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/23/markets-stocks-headlines-idUSL4E8DN6S520120223
Feb 23, 2012 12:22 PM Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman said the company will release a tablet computer based on Microsoft Corp.’s new version of its Windows software before the end of the year. Speaking at a Wall Street Journal conference in Menlo Park, California, Whitman said the initial tablet will be based on Intel Corp.’s technology. It’s “not clear” when Windows 8, the update to Microsoft’s operating system, will be released for devices running chips based on ARM Holdings Plc (ARM) technology, she said. Microsoft hasn’t given an official release date for Windows 8. Whitman also said Hewlett-Packard is investing in developing talented executives, focusing on organic growth, and getting back to “The HP Way,” company’s original principles. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-23/hewlett-packard-s-whitman-sees-windows-8-tablet-by-year-end.html
Wed Feb 22, 2012 3:49pm EST (Reuters) - A series of technology companies, including security software maker Palo Alto Networks, are preparing to go public on the heels of Facebook's $5-billion filing, sensing a window of opportunity as the stock market rallies. Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/22/us-technology-ipos-idUSTRE81L1DS20120222
cheeeeeeeeeeky.....
While we believe shares of Intel (INTC) appear cheap at 10x FY12 EPS, significant secular headwinds are concerning, and we believe risk is weighted toward the downside in quarters ahead. Specifically, we expect ARM (ARMH) to increasingly encroach upon Intel's core notebook and server markets. We received a reminder of this point today when news emerged that Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), the world's largest server manufacturer, will be shipping ARM-based server samples to clients in 2Q. That HP and others are evaluating ARM is not news, but the actual sampling to clients is somewhat earlier than we anticipated, and will be an ongoing worry for folks in the Intel camp. Despite its massive manufacturing footprint andR&D capabilities, Intel appears to face challenging times, and, in our view, has a shrinking moat around its business. Intel has been ill-prepared for the post-PC world the shift to mobile -- smartphones and tablets which will increasingly cannibalize desktop and notebook. Moreover, the emergence of ARM, who has been the dominant supplier to Apple for its iPhones and iPads due to its highly efficient, low power processors, is likely to be an ever growing concern. ARM is not just an Apple story, and has taken massive share in the smartphone market, and expects 50% share in the entire mobile market by 2015 (including notebooks), up from 10% just a year ago. Clearly, if ARM is anywhere close to achieving its goals, Intel will be challenged to grow. A stronghold for Intel has been its dominant position in the server space, which continues to grow at double-digit rates. While ARM may take share slowly, its ongoing appearance in the headlines is likely to hamper any multiple expansion from Intel. And should ARM actually surprise in gaining share at a faster clip, Intel could see results for 2013 and beyond at significant risk. Given Intel's abundant resources, it is difficult to believe they won't aggressively attack the ARM challenge, but it may be years, and many points of market share loss before they succeed. http://seekingalpha.com/article/380791-arm-strength-threatens-intel
..the stalker!
Beyond the "usual suspects," several other players are looking to MWC to make a splash in 2012. Take Huawei, for instance, which wowed journalists with its 6.7mm Ascend P1 S back at CES; it'll be showing a high-end "Diamond series" handset at the show along with a new 10-inch tablet, both possibly powered by a homegrown quad-core processor. ZTE — another Chinese powerhouse looking to expand its global presence — just announced the Mimosa X, which is making waves as the first handset with an Nvidia modem on board. From Taiwan, Acer and Asus will be showing new hardware at the show. Acer's coming off a prestigious iF Design Award for its so-called CloudMobile, an ICS-powered flagship, and Asus looks to show the production version of its Eee Padfone tablet / handset hybrid that first debuted at last year's Computex. And from Japan, look for Fujitsu and Panasonic to show promising new Android devices, including the Eluga that just debuted for the European market. The processor makers will be out in force, too: Qualcomm, Nvidia, TI, and Intel will all be on hand, and we fully expect most or all to be equipped with new development kits or reference designs that showcase their latest designs' raw horsepower. We're especially focused on Intel, which looks poised to finally break into the smartphone market this year with its Medfield line — it's likely that we'll hear more about its platform at the show, and launch partners Motorola and Lenovo could have devices on hand. Use our Mobile World Congress StoryStream and hub to follow all the latest news from MWC 2012, and be sure to stay tuned for our live coverage from the show starting this Sunday, February 26th. http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/22/2816623/mwc-2012-preview
THE BIGGEST NEWS TO COME OUT OF MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS MAY NOT BE "MOBILE" AT ALL MICROSOFT Strangely, the biggest news to come out of Mobile World Congress may not be "mobile" at all — at least, not in the traditional, smartphone-centric sense of the word. Microsoft has chosen Barcelona as the venue to unveil its so-called "Consumer Preview" release of Windows 8, and all indications are that it'll feature some significant changes from the version showed at BUILD last year. Gone is the Start button orb — a staple of the platform for over fifteen years — and we're also expecting to see some new applications that take advantage of Windows 8's all-new Metro style interface. Of course, there may be method to Microsoft's madness. As unusual as MWC may seem to unveil an operating system targeted at desktops and notebooks, the notion of Windows on ARM looms large on the horizon — a product that Redmond hopes will push it far deeper into the consumer tablet market than it's ever been before. For attendees of this show, of course, tablets are a familiar sight; Android tablets were a major focus at last year's event, and they'll undoubtedly be again this year. Windows 8 is also rumored to foster considerably tighter integration with Windows Phone. Microsoft has "gone big" with its renaissance mobile platform in each of the last two Mobile World Congresses — in fact, Windows Phone 7 debuted there two years ago. The company has been relatively tight-lipped about what we'll see on the Windows Phone side in Barcelona this time around, but we're expecting at least two major revisions in 2012: Tango, which focuses on lower-end hardware for wider-scale internationalization, and Apollo, which is shaping up to be a more thorough revamp. At the very least, we'd expect a full unveiling of Tango, and we wouldn't be surprised to see some hints of Apollo thrown in as well. http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/22/2816623/mwc-2012-preview