Structural Change In The Mobile Processor Marketplace: Intel Wins; ARM, AMD Lose [View article]
Interesting to hear from a former Intel employee. However, I don't find your article fully convincing.
First of all, I'm not sure if you can just dismiss architectural differences as "architecture is an abstract thing". That very well may be true, but architecture is extremely important, if for nothing else than just because different architectures require different compilers, different support software, and generally it does cleave the software ecosystem to a considerable degree.
Second of all, it's not just the power/performance capabilities which have kept Intel behind at this point. They are also behind due to (a.) lack of partnership with mobile telecommunications firms such as Qualcomm, and/or (b.) lack of timely development of their own telecommunications products. A modern phone needs an excellent 3G or preferably 4G modem to be competitive -- fast performance or lower power doesn't cut it. Without including this discussion in your analysis, your thesis is incomplete.
Krzanich Not The Big Intel Announcement [View article]
Well written, but this is totally incorrect. Android, for example, can run equally well on Intel processors -- this is widely publicized knowledge, and Intel sells Android smartphone processors already. And again, opposite to what you state, the biggest reason to buy Intel is their established, large, and growing lead in hardware manufacturing. I think you should study the fundamentals more.
How you say Intel considers Apple a competitor again mystifies me. This is just a misunderstanding. Intel makes tons of money through Apple in its PC's, as it has since 2006 ... if it's just another "competitor" well then .. I'm sure Intel would say, "Bring them on!"
PennantPark Investment - An Irrational Reach For Yield [View article]
Good article & educational for me. I'm interested in trying out some high yield stocks (presently CLMT) and have noticed these 10%+ yielders out there. Very interesting to see things like the portfolio collateral rating.
Intuitive Surgical: The Perfect Time To Buy - A Doctor's Perspective [View article]
I think there's two sides to this. The Da Vinci still needs a lot of work. People are completely right to criticize it -- the technology is still emerging and in a period of rapid development. This stuff was just a fantasy 15 years ago. They still don't have haptic feedback on the device, and if you look into it, that's because haptic feedback on laparoscopic surgery is pretty damn complicated to do. There's all sorts of improvements like that which can and will be made on the Da Vinci in the next 5-10 years, and only then will the device start to actually become superior to regular laparoscopic surgery. That's the main reason to buy the stock, because looking out 5-10 years you have to think that this stuff will be able to improve much faster than the rate of improvement of classical surgical techniques. I agree that these recent declines are a good point to get in, but I wouldn't say they're necessarily unjustified.
The Growing Performance Gap In Consumer Software And How To Play It [View article]
And as far as the performance gap actually being smaller now, well, I think I would disagree. The hardware improvements have certainly gotten more difficult, but it hasn't prevented them from occurring. The hardware development has barely slowed whereas the software development has remained mostly stuck in a 15-20 year, basic 2-D GUI mold.
The Growing Performance Gap In Consumer Software And How To Play It [View article]
This is what I was getting at -- that hardware upgrades are essentially unnecessary today because the software is so far behind. In my opinion, a future OS just cannot be considered good software if it doesn't understand how to make use of the available resources to enhance the mainstream functionalities like navigation and search.
The Growing Performance Gap In Consumer Software And How To Play It [View article]
I've been looking into this further, and finding some examples of what these kinds of next-generation applications might be. Still too early to say but some interesting sponsored work being done by Intel http://intel.ly/YByeJI
The Growing Performance Gap In Consumer Software And How To Play It [View article]
Thanks for your detailed remarks. I guess you're saying that the "performance gap" has always been an issue. Fair enough but I don't think this really changes the outcome of my thinking, which is that the performance gap is particularly ripe for exploitation right now. That's because the hardware is starting to offer -fundamentally- new software capabilities, as opposed to simple upgrades of existing software.
The Growing Performance Gap In Consumer Software And How To Play It [View article]
Right, games can certainly drive performance requirements, and especially in the nineties the game community basically drove the existence of Nvidia and ATI (now AMD).
If You Think Microsoft Is Dying, You Need A Reality Check [View article]
I think most of your points against Microsoft seem like straw men to me. For example, I've seen media panning the Surface Pro, but the Pro is an interesting product. Similarly, Windows 8 has gotten bad reviews, but it's as good a product as any of the other generations. I disagree as well about balling all these points together as though they deserve equal weight. The issues of price stagnation and management under-performance are serious issues that you can't dispel this easily. If you're interested in more of my thoughts, check out my recent article (http://seekingalpha.co...).
Intuitive Surgical Remains Best Of Breed [View article]
Pretty thorough, but I'm not sure if it's a complete "best of breed" article without comparison with its competitors. Then again, I'm not sure if you can even say it has any competitors, so maybe it's a moot point. I think this stuff is the future of operative surgery, no question. Would you rather be bending over, wrist deep into someone's torso, or operating on a console seated on a comfortable leather chair?
Growth Needs Resuscitation, But Medtronic Still Looks Like A Value [View article]
I took note of Medtronic a little while ago, myself. I also thought their valuation looked good, partly due to the InFuse saga, which obviously didn't do the stock any favors in 2011. IMO the current price and growth looks like it's still suffering from that more than from the modest growth rate. What I'm really looking for in the long term is neuromodulation growth and potential. Exciting technology and first FDA approval seems especially noteworthy.
Intel Vs. Microsoft: Stability, Growth Or Stagnation? [View article]
Yes, absolutely, that's a relevant distinction here. I probably should have included some basic numbers like this to make the argument more technically detailed.
Structural Change In The Mobile Processor Marketplace: Intel Wins; ARM, AMD Lose [View article]
First of all, I'm not sure if you can just dismiss architectural differences as "architecture is an abstract thing". That very well may be true, but architecture is extremely important, if for nothing else than just because different architectures require different compilers, different support software, and generally it does cleave the software ecosystem to a considerable degree.
Second of all, it's not just the power/performance capabilities which have kept Intel behind at this point. They are also behind due to (a.) lack of partnership with mobile telecommunications firms such as Qualcomm, and/or (b.) lack of timely development of their own telecommunications products. A modern phone needs an excellent 3G or preferably 4G modem to be competitive -- fast performance or lower power doesn't cut it. Without including this discussion in your analysis, your thesis is incomplete.
Krzanich Not The Big Intel Announcement [View article]
How you say Intel considers Apple a competitor again mystifies me. This is just a misunderstanding. Intel makes tons of money through Apple in its PC's, as it has since 2006 ... if it's just another "competitor" well then .. I'm sure Intel would say, "Bring them on!"
PennantPark Investment - An Irrational Reach For Yield [View article]
Intuitive Surgical: The Perfect Time To Buy - A Doctor's Perspective [View article]
Intuitive Surgical: The Perfect Time To Buy - A Doctor's Perspective [View article]
The Growing Performance Gap In Consumer Software And How To Play It [View article]
The Growing Performance Gap In Consumer Software And How To Play It [View article]
The Growing Performance Gap In Consumer Software And How To Play It [View article]
The Growing Performance Gap In Consumer Software And How To Play It [View article]
The Growing Performance Gap In Consumer Software And How To Play It [View article]
The Growing Performance Gap In Consumer Software And How To Play It [View article]
If You Think Microsoft Is Dying, You Need A Reality Check [View article]
Intuitive Surgical Remains Best Of Breed [View article]
Growth Needs Resuscitation, But Medtronic Still Looks Like A Value [View article]
Intel Vs. Microsoft: Stability, Growth Or Stagnation? [View article]