Activism in technology stocks is long overdue and it is refreshing to see it taking root. Robert Chapman is turning his attention to a company in a sector in dire need of external consolidation forces.
Archive for the 'Components' Category
Centillium Communications (NASDAQ CTLM) has a troubled past and present but the market has mispriced even the most pessimistic scenarios at this point, short of accounting fraud. With proper investor activism this value could be extracted through consolidation, liquidation, or private turnaround scenarios.
Credit Suisse discusses Portalplayer (PLAY) today in their morning note.
Michael Masdea now sees Portalplayer as a potential supplier for the Microsoft Zune player, and specifically highlights the existing relationship Portalplayer has with Microsoft.
Current MSFT relationship is key. For many months now, PLAY has been working with Microsoft to develop the Preface technology for laptops. Microsoft […]
I am receiving many Google hits from folks looking for this.
The full transcript of the recent Vitesse Semiconductor (VTSS) conference call has been posted in the SEC EDGAR database and can be accessed here.
My abbreviated notes on the call can be read here.
The slow motion disaster movie that is Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AMCC) is still in theaters even though investors stopped buying tickets long ago.
AMCC announced this morning an all cash deal to buy Quake Technologies for $69M net. AMCC has managed to spend nearly $1BB in cash on a number of acquisitions, none of which […]
I am listening to the Vitesse Semiconductor (vtss) conference call.
Many people have asked me what I thought about owning Vitesse stock. My only answer was that “I didn’t own any”.
Today, on the Vitesse conference call, the details came out. Revenue recognition issues.
There is still something unseen, and related to Vitesse.
Notes from the call are below:
CALL […]
What was rampant speculation (including ours) is now official- AMD (AMD) is buying ATI Technologies (ATYT), a Canadian maker of graphics accelerator chipsets.
Graphics acceleration is no longer for gaming freaks; the new version of Microsoft Vista contains advanced visual features dubbed “Aero” that demand more functionality than the standard video frame buffer can provide.
More importantly, […]
Interesting little factoid-table on semiconductor market share in China.
Couple things jumped out at me when I saw this:
While AMD has around 35% market share worldwide, they don’t appear on this list. Why is it that AMD processors are not popular in China, where price sensitivity should skew things in their favor.
Freescale… wonder what products drive […]
The pre-release benchmarks and rumors about Intel’s (INTC) new architecture are holding firm now that the silicon has seen official release.
Two independent reviewers have written opinions about the new Intel Core processors (see below)… both were previously solid AMD (AMD) supporters.
Intel has now seized a commanding lead in performance desktop processors. This is in addition […]
Received a couple emails and a Yahoo! IM today with the same question… why no blogging?
I’m working on a detailed study on optical modules. I think I’ve found something particularly interesting.
Good data on optical module volumes is hard to come by. When the bubble blew, all of the research shops that generated the tables of […]
Rumors have been coming fast and furious over the last month about Microsoft’s (MSFT) entry into the digital music player business. The NY Times broke the story today with multiple confirmed sources, turning rumors into fact.
Engadget has dug up some interesting rumors that go beyond what was reported in the New York Times today.
Microsoft’s new […]
What we’ve learned
Part One - A radical change in demographics is creating an optimal situation for a fiber build out in China
Part Two - GE-PON has taken hold in other countries with similar demographics
Part Three - The economic and market conditions appear to favor GE-PON
Part Four -The activities by the largest Chinese Telecom actor […]
This article is an anonymous submission from a dedicated reader and frustrated engineer
A decade or more ago life as an “optical guy”…as grad student or a professional, revolved around fairly simple things…moving photons over here, a little “guvment” money over there, a product or two now and then…good times, good times. And if you were […]
This is part IV in a continuing series. Part III can be found here.
Enter the Dragon
China Telecom (CHA) recently assembled a very quiet, closed door session of suppliers in order to orchestrate implementation of several extensions to the IEEE 803.3ah GE-PON standard. This event has gone totally unreported in the press. Obviously, knowing which companies […]
This is part III in a continuing series. Part II can be found here.
The Chinese Tao
Contrary to popular belief, both government and business in China do not function through rigid top-down execution of initiatives. China is a confederation of provinces and townships with varying amount of influence, and each is slowly coerced into following a […]
Perhaps investors will pause for a moment from their ritualistic dead-horse-beating about the demise of Intel (INTC) and the ascendency of AMD (AMD). They should read a recent performance benchmarking from AnandTech, “Intel Woodcrest, AMD’s Opteron and Sun’s UltraSparc T1: Server CPU Shoot-out“.
It’s a great overview of the performance of Intel’s new Woodcrest Server chip, […]
It looks like the cleansing of the optical component sector is nearing completion. This is something I have been waiting for in expectation of a more rational investing environment in which I can apply my principles and philosophies. As readers know, I own no optical component stocks (yet). I strongly suggest you read my post […]
This is part II in a continuing series. Part I can be found here.
Technology Selection – GE-PON vs. G-PON
Chinese carriers will be forced to select between two competing standards for Passive Optical Networks (PON) for Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Deployments.
There are two competing PON specifications - GE-PON, the IEEE 802.3ah Ethernet in the First […]
The San Jose Mercury News picks up on ’several unnamed sources’ who confirm what we predicted weeks ago - that Intel (INTC) is selling their communication semicondustor business.
Read my original post, from April 29.
From the San Jose Mercury News:
The groups for sale include:
• Intel’s communications processor business, including the IXP network processor and communications processor […]
I first came across Immenstar, a provider of GE-PON silicon, while researching The Future of FTTH in China. These are the most notable things about Immenstar.
R&D in China. Helps win Chinese business
Funding from UT Starcom, and likely their lead customer
They have a quad OLT chip
They were recently profiled in Lightreading and in the comments a […]
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