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Hiding is not always bad. It could be very good in this case. Intel clearly stated that it is up to Intel's customers to announce.
Intel does not want to expose all its secrets about 14nm.
It will put to rest all the negative about Intel 14nm process advantage. When will we see test/functional chips etc? Where are Intel 14nm products?
There may be a big disappointment. I hope not though
I don't think so. With everything in cloud and with so many clients and smartphone increasing, beefy servers or other servers, it is going to go up. And Intel makes great margin on Atoms as well. Overall revenue could go down but increased volumes of Chromebook is a help to Intel and not against.
It hurts him to see Intel gaining big here with Google. The only things he likes is demise of Intel whether at the hands of AMD(which did not happen) and now at the hands of ARMy.
If that is true then Intel servers business is safe and secured and now it will start dominating thin client. It dominates the client business to start with.
Has anyone idea what is this all about? Any other speculation.
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LOOK OUT MICROSOFT: Google And Intel Will Make A Big Chromebook Announcement On Tuesday
JULIE BORT
MAY 2, 2014, 3:44 PM 481 1
Google Chromebook Caesar Sengupta
Business Insider/Julie Bort
Google Chromebook VP Caesar Sengupta will be announcing news with Intel on Tuesday
On Tuesday, Google and Intel will announce news involving Google Chromebooks, and there's lots of speculation as to what the news will be.
Some say the two are going to announce a new Google Chromebook tablet, though Google already has a tablet operating system with Android.
Others think that Google might be announcing an update to its high-end Chromebook Pixel, which runs on an Intel chip.
Or they may be announcing a new generation of Chromebooks based on Intel's upcoming Broadwell chip, a faster, lower-power chip that should be powering new devices later this year.
Whatever the news is, it won't be good for Microsoft.
Even though there's not a lot of software available for a Chromebook compared to a Windows PC, Chromebooks are starting to become increasingly popular thanks to their low price. Most Chromebooks are available for under $300.
Lately, Microsoft has been directly targeting Google's Chromebooks in its marketing campaigns. A Chromebook partnership with Intel is also pretty symbolic as PC sales continue their disastrous decline. Intel clearly needs to go where the customers are, and that increasingly appears to be Chromebooks.
For instance:
Chromebooks now account for 25% of the devices sold into K-12 schools in the U.S., according to Futuresource. In fact, a high school in Maine just announced plans to give a new Chromebook to all of its 1,700 students, reports Main Line Media News.
Eight PC-makers are now making Chromebooks: Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, and in January Toshiba joined the crowd with its first Chromebook.
Twenty-one percent of commercial notebooks sold in the U.S. in 2013 were Chromebooks, and Chromebooks represent between 20-25% consumer retail sales of low-cost laptops in the U.S., NPD Group reported in December.
Two of the three best-selling laptops on Amazon during the 2013 holiday season were Chromebooks.
Plus, Google has really started to reach out toward businesses with Chromebooks and related Chrome OS products.
In February, it announced a deal with VMware for software that will allow companies to run Windows on a Chromebook.
Google also launched a new Chrome OS PC with Asus that does video conferences.
We'll be attending the press conference on Tuesday, so stay tuned for the news.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-intel-chromebook-announcement-2014-5#ixzz30asukXhr
This is from Feb. 2013. Since then I am sure market sentiment has changed. There are a lot more android tablets on the market. even Apple has sold a lot more.
MS RT is not the one anybody wants.
Samsung and Apple losing market share in Smart phones
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Samsung Electronics retained its top ranking in smartphone sales in the first quarter, but lost global market share for the first time in four years, highlighting the difficulties the company faces in the competitive mobile market.
Data from research firm Strategy Analytics Tuesday showed the South Korean company's first-quarter smartphone market share in terms of units sold slipped to 31.2% from 32.4% a year earlier. Its closest rival, Apple, also saw its market share slip to 15.3% from 17.5% a year earlier in the same period.
Strategy Analytics said Samsung shipped 89 million units in the first quarter, compared to Apple's 43.7 million units. Samsung doesn't disclose its smartphone shipments.
On Tuesday, as it reported quarterly earnings, Samsung said its profit margin on smartphones was unchanged from a year earlier at 19.8%. But analysts say that margin could face pressure in future quarters as competition intensifies.
"Samsung continues to face tough competition from Apple at the higher-end of the smartphone market and from Chinese brands like Huawei at the lower-end," Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, said in the report.
So which companies gained at the expense of Apple and Samsung? Two Chinese electronics giants that are better known for making other kinds of hardware.
PC giant Lenovo, which earlier this year announced plans to buy Motorola Mobility's handset business, saw its first- quarter handset shipments jump 58% in the first quarter, giving it a market share of 4.7%, up from 3.9% a year earlier. Network-equipment maker Huawei, which ranked third globally, sold 13.4 million units in the quarter, up from 10 million a year earlier, giving it a share of 4.7%.
"Huawei is expanding swiftly in Europe, while Lenovo continues to grow aggressively outside China into new regions such as Russia, " said Linda Sui, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics.
She said once Lenovo's takeover of Motorola is approved, "this will eventually create an even larger competitive force that Samsung and Apple must contend with in the second half of this year."
Global Smartphone Vendor Market Share
1Q 2013 1Q 2014
Samsung 32.4% 31.2%
Apple 17.5% 15.3%
Huawei 4.7% 4.7%
Lenovo 3.9% 4.7%
Others 41.5% 44.1%
Here is a baytrail android tablet from Asus. A great price point.
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A $149 Asus Tablet With An Intel Atom Z3745 Chip Will Compete With Galaxy Tab 4 by Alcaraz Research
There is article on Alpha about this.
How does that matter here? These are all technical parameters.
What matters is the customer response and the advantage it gets out of this process.
Yes. The next step will be preproduction chip and ultimately leading to production. That proves Intel process superiority. This is how it is done. Altera saying everything about the product and its benefits. Not TSMC saying and thumping its chest.
You know what I mean. It is very convenient on your part to give that example. I will make it absolutely clear in that case. TSMC will not be able to produce processor of Haswell complexity with yields that Intel produces.
I am not paying any heed to what these folks say. I read and laugh. It is very obvious that nothing has been learnt how semi business is done. A lot of semi folks have tried to explain and have failed in their attempt.
I bet TSMC will not be able to make an Intel CPU on its process.
Most of the folks(anti-Intel)here have already determined that is not true. TSMC is already ready to do 16nm 3D or otherwise.
Whether Intel is inside or not, Google is defocusing on tablets per the same article. This may be its last one. How does that make a difference anyway then?
I am not sure where you get your information. Everything looks so bleak to you regarding Intel that you try to distort even pure and simple facts. Here is line from Brian on Sofia
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We demonstrated SoFIA, our first integrated apps processor and baseband, after adding it to the roadmap late last year. We're on track to ship the 3G solution to OEMs in Q4 2014, with the LTE version following in the first half of 2015.
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3:35 PM ET
Intel Earnings: Options Market Skeptical
By Tiernan Ray
The options market is flashing a cautious signal on Intel (INTC) a day before the chipmaker reports first-quarter earnings.
Over the past 10 days, investors have aggressively sold April $26 calls in anticipation the stock, recently around $26, does not rally higher toward January’s 52-week high of $27.12. The trading action likely reflects concerns about computer sales, and economic growth.
Of the 114,755 April $26 calls that have traded in the past two weeks, 53% were sold on the bid, compared to 33% bought on the ask. This indicates pessimism. Similarly, Intel’s April $26 put, the second most active contract over the past two weeks, was primarily bought by investors. Of the 65,142 contracts traded, 47% traded on the ask, and 20% received a mid-market execution.
You can tell investors are buying or selling securities by looking at where securities are bought and sold in relation to the “spread,” or the difference between the bid and ask. Orders that execute on the ask are considered buys, as are mid-market executions between the bid and ask. Mid-market executions tend to be reserved for institutional investors. Orders executed on the bid are considered sales.
Intel is expected to report earnings of 37 cents a share, on revenue of $12.8 billion.
Intel shares today are up 34 cents, or 1.3%, at $26.52.
INTC, LLTC, AMD: Taiwan Data Encouraging Ahead of Earnings, Says Wells
By Tiernan Ray
Wells Fargo chip analyst David Wong today offers an update on the state of the industry, writing that data from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) and other Asia-based supply chain parties are tracking better than expected for the season, which is encouraging for chip companies heading into earnings season.
Writes Wong,
For the March quarter as a whole, our chip related composites revenue tracked in the range of down 5% sequentially to up 13% sequentially. On March 12, TSMC raised its guidance for the March quarter. TSMC’s month of March report shows that TSMC exceeded its higher guidance. Revenues for the foundries TSMC+UMC fell 1% sequentially in US dollar terms for the March quarter as a whole, which we consider to be better-than-seasonal. Taiwanese chip packaging sales grew 14% year over year, compared to combined January+February year- over-year growth of 13%, 13% sales growth in December, 4% growth in November and 8% in October. We view chip packaging as a broad indicator of chip company sentiment and chip company business, as most chip companies outsource their packaging.
As far as “subsystems” sales,
Within our subsystem and system composites, March numbers grew year over year for all segments with the exception of our Acer composite. Our handset, notebook ODM, and computer/motherboard composites, and Hon Hai, were all up 1-20% year over year in the month of March, though Acer fell 18%. However, for the March qtr as a whole, revenue for our subsystem and system composites declined sequentially in the 12-34% range, showing seasonal softness.
Following less-bad PC numbers last week from Gartner and IDC for the PC market, Wong notes that his data for original design manufacturers (ODM) show some improvement in March as well:
March 2014 quarter sales for our Taiwanese notebook ODM composite increased 1% year over year, an improvement over a flat December 2013 quarter, a 4% year-over-year decline in the September 2013 quarter, a 6% year-over-year decline for the June 2013 quarter and an 8% year-over-year decline in the March 2013 quarter.
Wong’s view of the upshot of all of that is positive for chip companies:
We expect most chip companies will meet or modestly beat expectations in upcoming March quarter reports and June quarter guidance. Intel (INTC), Linear Technology (LLTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are scheduled to report earnings in the coming week.
Exactly. The other day he felt offensive when someone posted an announcement of Intel tablet win. The headlines were made bold and he could not take it.
You don't have to be Intel's investors to post here but have to be rational in arguments. The every post of his anti-Intel even when the news is good.
How about the same thing for Intel from your side? Even a small bit of good news of Intel willing phone or tablet design from Asus, Acer or anyone else brings big sigh from some of you especially from you.
I read that article and was wondering what advantage Intel has here, if any.
Intel Rising: Piper Ups to Buy; PCs Stabilizing, Mobile Improving
By Tiernan Ray
Shares of Intel (INTC) are up 11 cents, or 0.4%, at $26, in late trading, after Piper Jaffray‘s Ruben Roy, recently of Mizuho Securities USA assumed coverage of the stock from Jennifer Baxter, and raises the firm’s rating on the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight, assigning a $30 price target.
Among the factors working for Intel, writes Roy, are a stabilization of the PC market, and continued growth in data center microprocessors. He also lauds the company for “making strides on the mobile processor front.”
The PC market, for one, is less bad, he notes:
While PC unit shipments declined, year-over-year, for the seventh consecutive quarter in 4Q, the rate of decline moderated during the second half of 2013 and, according to Gartner increased 4% sequentially, which was above the five-year average sequential growth of 2%. Recent industry data points suggest that 1Q notebook shipments are tracking roughly in line with expectations while commentary on direct server trends have been positive. We expect the trend of improving rate of year-over-year declines to continue in 2014, driven by corporate upgrades and given indications that the rate of cannibalization of PCs by mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones is beginning to slow.
For enterprise server chips, Intel will benefit from investments such as last week’s partnership with, and equity stake in, startup Cloudera, he believes:
On the data center side of the business, investors remain concerned with INTC’s forecast for double-digit growth in 2014 given weakness for the group during the back half of 2013. INTC said that its focus data center areas, such as data analytics, cloud computing, high performance computing and enterprise storage. INTC’s recent $740M investment into data analytics company, Cloudera, which is the largest investment by INTC into the data center market to date, is a good indicator of where the company’s renewed investment focus lies, in our view. Over time, we expect INTC to benefit from its investments at both the highend of the data center market as well as recent investments into lower end applications such as microservers. Based on industry trends relative to data growth, we believe that INTC’s longer-term view of a 15% CAGR for the DCG group is achievable.
As far as mobile devices, Intel is catching up with competitors, sometimes beating them, on features, he argues:
INTC’s recent announcements at the Mobile World Congress event in late February illustrated that the company’ s investments continue at a rapid clip and, in our view, INTC appears to be catching up to, and, in some cases, surpassing competitors with advanced features unveiled in its latest platform, the XMM7260, which incorporates LTE Cat 6 features and is expected to ship during the second half of 2014. While the competive environment will remain challenging with Qualcomm maintaining its grip on the high-end of the market and various competitors such as Marvell, Mediatek and Broadcom vying for share, we believe that, longer-term, INTC’s ability to integrate, coupled with its manufacturing advantage, could yield product differentiation and improved market share.
Roy estimates Intel making $53 billlion in revenue this year and $1.85 per share in net income. That compares to the average estimate on the Street of $53.1 billion and $1.86.
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2014/04/02/intel-rising-piper-ups-to-buy-pcs-stabilizing-mobile-improving/
Thanks. You make my point valid and you put it better.
Are you that misinformed? There is plenty of other Intel business with TSMC. All Infineon products are built at TSMC.
He has no clue. Intel is getting these devices free. It is paying real money for these components. I am sure there is clause in the contract which covers delay and it will hurt TSMC more than Intel in pocket. Yes, introduction will get delayed.
I have no bones to pick with him on personal level.
He has a right to pick his source of information and believe in it.
I have no issue with him.
But the fact is analysts communities also believe in in TSMC's erroneous information.
That says it all.
There is no hate here except reality of facts and history of semiconductor process development.
You are the one who is taking it wrong way and creating love and hate environments.
Process advantage has not helped Intel in mobile and it may never help. But facts will not change.
So you want to believe what TSMC is saying blindly. I am not saying believe what Intel is claiming blindly too.
Proof lies in actual shipping products at what process technology.
It is a known fact in semi that how difficult it is to make progress in processes.
For folks who understand that already knew as to what is happening.
It is a tactics TSMC is using to keep its customer base from migrating so Samsung/Global Foundries. Intel is not a choice for them to start with.
Exactly. There are no 20nm parts to be seen and now TSMC will go into production at the end of 2014.
In another a few months, TSMC will skip 16nm and will go into 12nm or whatever it can dream of.
He was good in a lots of ways but changed his tune very easily. Investment thesis don't change with every story or every words some one writes or states.
He claimed to have some insider information. That is no-no. No one has insider information except a few on the top. We all told him that no one from Intel will ever disclose to him about Intel products and its roadmap except what is official and everyone else knows as well.
I wish him all the best.
What was being sold to you is still working. If you had bought from others, it may not even work.
With time things do get much better, in case you have forgotten.
All playing games. Moms are trying to keep their kids busy so that they can chat or be on FaceBook.
If this was such a great news(it was for MSFT stock) then Intel should have tanked big time which it did not. So go figure.
Dual OS products are not going anywhere
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Electronics makers may seem to have free rein to design the devices they sell. But behind the scenes, software makers such as Google and Microsoft exert a firm push and pull.
Case in point is Asustek's decision to indefinitely postpone sales of a tablet that runs both Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows operating systems, as reported in The Wall Street Journal Friday.
The incident illustrates how Google's and Microsoft's influence over manufacturers extends beyond product development. The software giants can put the kibosh on products even after they have been announced to the public.
The Asustek tablet, the Transformer Book Duet TD300, had already been introduced in a big way. Intel's chief executive Brian Krzanich had shown the device during his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
A similar eleventh-hour product cancelation took place in September 2012. Journalists in Shanghai arrived for the launch of a phone developed by Acer and Alibaba, only to be told it had been canceled. Alibaba later said that Acer suspended the launch after Google threatened to terminate its "Android-related cooperation and other technology licensing" with Acer. Google said Alibaba's Aliyun operating system was an "Android fork" and that Acer would break its licensing agreement with Google by using it, a claim that Alibaba contested.
Manufacturers that wanted access to Google's search engine, YouTube and its vast store of apps have long had to sign stringent agreements with Google. European antitrust authorities are currently examining if the company's practices conflict with European regulations.
Strict contracts are one way to shepherd manufacturers. Another is money.
Microsoft and Intel supply large chunks of computer makers' marketing budgets, and manufacturers who go against their wishes risk jeopardizing the funding, people familiar with the matter said. If this marketing support was removed, it would be crippling for manufacturers, especially many Asian ones who allocate relatively little of their own dollars for marketing.
As for Asustek, it has made a name for itself by being first to unveil new types of products, including a smartphone that docks into a tablet, and a tablet with a detachable keyboard. But as the Transformer Book Duet TD300 shows, being an early adopter can also come with risks.
Google declined to comment. A Microsoft spokesman said the company "will continue to invest with OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] to promote best- in-class OEM and Microsoft experiences to our joint customers."
IDC: 2014 Global Tablet Shipments Growth To Slow to 19%
By Teresa Rivas
A new report from the International Data Corporation forecasts that worldwide shipments of tablets will grow 19.4% this year, well below the 51.6% growth of the total market in 2013 and a 3.6% reduction from its previous estimates.
IDC also notes that the rapid dropoff in average selling prices of tablets in recent years is also moderating. For example, ASPs of tablets declined 18.3% year-over-year in 2012, while last year saw prices fall only 14.6%. IDC expects just a 3.6% decline in average selling prices this year.
The estimates are a result of the tablet market becoming more mature, especially in more developed markets, where consumers are also upgrading their devices more slowly.
However, while consumers aren’t buying as many tablets, the commercial side of the mix will grow: It was only 11% of the market last year, but is expected to climb to 14% of tablets sold this year, and be 18% of the market by 2018.
Earlier this week came a 2013 global tablet sales tally from Gartner, which found that devices using Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system saw sales climb 127%, while Apple’s (AAPL) iPads dropped and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Surface sales volume improved, but still remained small.
This is capitalist society. Any one can do anything. Market is not manipulated the way you are thinking. I know you are aware of that.
Hypothetically if that could be done. Sure and why not.
Intel has realised this and understands it very well. That is why it has offered Atoms servers parts to fend this off from ARM echo system. And at the same time Intel is addressing mobile market though very slowly to shareholders likings. Intel is addressing both.