tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39681634805400915132024-02-18T23:58:45.727-08:00All Things DigitalA discussion on trends in consumer electronics, consumer internet services, web 2.0 applications, enterprise applications with a focus on product marketing. Reviews of CE devices and services that I've used.Wendell Wenjenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17393487237008414130noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3968163480540091513.post-10300743150086138642010-08-26T23:42:00.000-07:002010-08-27T00:10:15.894-07:00Intel, Please No More Acquisitions<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Intel's stock price hit a new 52 week low today, closing at $18.1</span><span style="text-decoration: underline;">8. </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyvFL820YtqEt3S95Jgk3B1fhmBlzR5c1Qw3FOJfxvWubNUB-ugsWtcuGGnN2U6C4c3hGnZVwNR2wbsnxLbufkZZVtKqqf9Daldhyphenhyphen1YtraJhwHYeIfdd9v8r381cmYeN9vFt2oddqOV4YK/s1600/INTC.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 177px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyvFL820YtqEt3S95Jgk3B1fhmBlzR5c1Qw3FOJfxvWubNUB-ugsWtcuGGnN2U6C4c3hGnZVwNR2wbsnxLbufkZZVtKqqf9Daldhyphenhyphen1YtraJhwHYeIfdd9v8r381cmYeN9vFt2oddqOV4YK/s320/INTC.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509978369122937602" border="0" /></a><span style="text-decoration: underline;">This new low happened less than a week after Intel announced an almost $8B acquisition of security software company McAfee. I was thinking about this today as I was driving down the 101 freeway in Santa Clara and passed by McAfee and Intel's headquarters.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr737waibHQxpg0keWxPpwn17l_BU76cS_e_MKZzwOCqxZjphxHeIQm34UNfKm4OKA4zcevt2-hc_QMwwT_ChnfCO7VAwl5B_8jeZaRVWH49NuP07DkOKyBstH4KRotGHOBZe0QiyoUM3c/s1600/IMG00035.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr737waibHQxpg0keWxPpwn17l_BU76cS_e_MKZzwOCqxZjphxHeIQm34UNfKm4OKA4zcevt2-hc_QMwwT_ChnfCO7VAwl5B_8jeZaRVWH49NuP07DkOKyBstH4KRotGHOBZe0QiyoUM3c/s320/IMG00035.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509980075512804290" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CwdW2gSE_0cBvYAGl7pmwpLzPNQFdkjLcCGCR6941TsS33QsFI0mtxH1vSJnIxPSgUYtAcdLCdSHILQ_zXRyoHzdd_2V05WgS10fvECi5MqPRo1rJtRZuju9UC9fXtEqlK95kN6sdCCu/s1600/IMG00036.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CwdW2gSE_0cBvYAGl7pmwpLzPNQFdkjLcCGCR6941TsS33QsFI0mtxH1vSJnIxPSgUYtAcdLCdSHILQ_zXRyoHzdd_2V05WgS10fvECi5MqPRo1rJtRZuju9UC9fXtEqlK95kN6sdCCu/s320/IMG00036.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509980240600193762" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><img src="file:///C:/Users/Wendell/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" /><br /><br /><br /><br />Although McAfee and Intel are only located less than a mile apart, they are worlds apart as companies. Not only is one primarily a software and subscription based services company and the other almost exclusively a hardware company, but the key technologies for each company are different and seemingly mostly unrelated.<br /><br />I will leave it for a future blog on the history of over $20B of failed acquisitions that Intel has made and later liquidated for cents on the dollar over the last 10 years. Now, there is a new news that Intel is considering acquiring Infinieon's wireless business. Based on the market's reaction to the McAfee announcement and Intel's track record of acquisitions, as an Intel shareholder, I humbly ask Intel, please no more acquisitions.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.digg.com">
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Other than a lot of three letter acronyms, what does this really signify?<br /><br />To start, this indicates that the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">UMPC</span>/<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">UMD</span>/MID category is a segment in search of a market niche. The features, functionality, and implementation of the first several generations of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">UMPC's</span> have been less than <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">overwhelming</span> to consumers, so the marketers are hard at work trying to redefine the segment, the market or both.<br /><br />In it's latest incarnation, the 'MID" has transitioned from the Windows-based <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">UMPC</span> used as <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">miniature</span> PC to a Linux-based device which is either fixed function or built as a dedicated device for a particular usage.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Good:</span> Although the iPhone and its sibling the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">iPod</span> Touch were not classified as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">MID's</span> by Apple, it has the key features which were originally targeted by the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">UMPC</span>/<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">UMD</span>/MID segment, namely anywhere <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Internet</span> access using both <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">WWAN</span> (EDGE for the iPhone) and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">WiFi</span> (for both the iPhone and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">iPod</span> Touch). These devices render full fidelity web pages using the Safari browser and the embedded OS X. While one can argue that Flash <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">plugin</span> for animation is not supported, this is more of a strategic choice by Apple to promote <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Quicktime</span> rather than a technical limitation of the iPhone/<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">iPod</span> Touch. Further, Apple has even opened up the devices to third party developers after initially closing off the devices to these developers.<br /><br />Another product which deserves mention is the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Nokia</span> N800 and the newly introduced N810. The N800, shown at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">CES</span> 2007 and shipping in volume in January, showed how a small, light device running Linux, priced at $399 could do most of functions of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">UMPC</span> while being half the size and weight of any shipping self identified "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">UMPC</span>". The N810 added a keyboard to the outstanding N800, and increased the price to $480.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Bad:</span> The majority of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">UMPC's</span> introduced in 2007 fall into this category. All were too large to be <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">pocketable</span>, too heavy, too limited in battery life to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">fulfil</span> the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">UMPC</span> promise. The poster child of bad <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">UMPC's</span> is the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Samsung</span> Q1 Ultra. The second generation of Q1 was introduced last year with a split keyboard that seem to kludged on the case.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Ugly:</span> The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">Oqo</span> Model 2 is a beautifully looking device to be sure. But its price, from $1,500 (since lowered to $1,300) to over $2,000 is "ugly" and unfriendly to consumers. The Model 2 changed out the underpowered, and overly hot <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">Transmeta</span> processor for a Via processor and added <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">WWAN</span> radio. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">Oqo</span> is still the smallest and best designed of the crop of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">UMPC's</span> but it's pricing indicates its target segment is business vertical markets, not consumers.<br /><br />So, I'm looking forward to some new announcements at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">CES</span> next week that shows there is still life left in this segment.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.digg.com">
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