Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
The only answer I can find is that Nokia felt they badly needed MSFT financial support, in the short term, to survive - I doubt Microsoft would have opened its wallet if NOK had gone for both Android and WinPhone OSs.
I am not a believer in the stategic choice made by Elop (going with MSFT only), so I guess my opinion is somehow flawed.
Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
In its filings, Nokia mentions minimum commitments to MSFT - I haven't been able, however, to find any number attached to it, that is obviously confidential between the companies. I quoted a filing in the article, and there's another quote in a previous comment:
>annual minimum software royalty commitments [that] reflect the large volumes that we expect to ship
Nokia is a very interesting turnaround story - if successful, investors will be largely rewarded. I believe betting the whole smartphone farm on WinPhone with no plan B has made the turnaround more risky. Today's share price fully reflects this concern.
Living in Europe I have witnessed the difference in presence of the Nokia brand with retailers - you have to consider it used to be most of the phones on sales, unlike in the US (subsidized phones are not that relevant in some European markets). Today, most customers (who can't afford an iPhone) look for an Android phone, and then chose between the brands that offer the handsets they can afford. Nokia is being hurt mostly on the lower hand of the market.
We'll see if the new WinPhone will be a game changer. It is, however, unusual to hear a CEO of a company spending most of its prepared remarks speaking about the launch of another company's product, Win8 for phones... Just my two cents.
Good luck with your investment, for me it remains a story just on my radar screen untill I see an inflection point, at risk of losing a run up or acquisition.
Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
Unless we get more details about the agreement, any speculation may make sense. It would probably be in Nokia's interest, at a time when most analysts are concerned about its cash burn, to let the market know if there are areas that the company may be monetizing with MSFT.
There are several fields where the two companies are cooperating today - you mentioned some, I'd add IP, through the Mosaid agreement.
Thanks to you and Leont68 for adding further data and opinions to the discussion.
Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
NOK needed to move to a new operating system to compete in the smartphone arena and save on costs - however, to be completely fair we should also mention that Android was also a potential choice for the company.
Here is a recent news, taken from SA market current:
Nokia (NOK) has scrapped a software project it had hoped would compete with Google's (GOOG) Android, sources say. The Linux-based software platform, code-named Meltemi, would have replaced Nokia's aging Series 40 software, but was reportedly abandoned as part of a massive cost-cutting effort.
Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
I'm not ruling out a Microsoft buy out at all - I'm just saying a contract is a contract. Microsoft might be entitled to ask Nokia to respect its minimum royalty commitment, at the end of the contract. Or decide to convert any potential money due in equity, or whatever they feel more appropriate at that stage.
Any other suitor should consider in its offer the possibility that Microsoft sends an expensive bill...which makes, in my opinion, Nokia less appealing as an acquisition target.
Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
Ted,
the $15 speculation is part of Asymco's analysis, and taken from the article I quoted:
>We also need to estimate the royalty payment structure. One figure that has been circulating for a long time is that Microsoft prices Windows Phone (and its antecedent Windows Mobile) at $15/unit. It’s an aggressive price point for a mobile software license and should be subject to volume discounts but let’s assume it’s correct.
Microsoft was accused of asking more "than what Microsoft charges for a license to its entire operating system designed for mobile devices, Windows Phone 7", during the Microsoft vs Barnes and Noble lawsuit.
Recent agreements with other Android OEMs seemed to be in the one digit:
Citigroup analyst, Walter Pritchard, said he believed that two of the biggest licensees - HTC and Samsung - are paying the Redmond-based firm between $1-5 (£0.62 - £3.14) - for each Android handset sold.
I guess we'll have to take all these numbers with a grain of salt...
Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
Nokia bet the whole smartphone farm on the WinPhone OS (unproven platform), and apparently committed to a very high minimum performance in the long term, which might make any plan B quite unlikely. It's make or break.
There are several side effects: the company becomes less attractive as an acquisition target, and even valuing its IP gets tougher, as, for example, it is now partly shared with Microsoft (and Mosaid).
Microsoft has a history of investing in distressed technology companies to "rescue them" - through Nokia's agreement I believe it's make a wise business decision, as it has succeeded in both not allowing Nokia to join the Android platform, and becoming the preferred "rescuer" in case things go south, probably at a very low cost.
Data Center Related Stocks Close A Strong First Half Year [View article]
I believe DLR is the best REIT in the sector - good management, fantastic growth in the last few years. As you mentioned, they've recently developed a interesting footprint overseas, as well. Hard to say if the recent volatility has already created a buying opportunity. I am not following much the preferred, as I am usually investing in common shares only.
Axion Power Concentrator 104: May 21, 2012: Axion Power Reports First Quarter Results For 2012 [View instapost]
U.S. DOE Awards Grant to Axion Power International to Fund Commercialization Plan for PbC® Batteries In Micro-Hybrid Vehicles
Axion Power was one of 75 companies out of a total of 764 applicants to earn an award in the first phase of the DOE's program. Grant funding is expected to be available to Axion Power by late June of this year and Phase I will conclude 10 months from that date. According to DOE documents, Phase II awards will be granted to approximately 50% of Phase I awardees and will conclude in 12-15 months. Phase III will follow shortly thereafter.
A large number of patents doesn't necessarely translate into holding the best ones, but it somehow gives a sense of how much a company is innovating (trying to innovate) in the sector.
It's interesting to note that Nokia (n. 1 in the 1995/2012 time frame) was just in 10th position when considering 2011 alone. RIM scores a good 4th place in 2011.
Bottom line, haptic IS becoming a must have in several verticals, whether IMMR will be able to establish itself as the toll road to access most haptic applications is still to be proven...
>A force-feedback steering wheel. It's quite literally the stuff of racing games, and AT&T labs, along with Carnegie Mellon, is researching the possibly of throwing similar tech into your real-world whip. MIT's Technology Review recently highlighted the project, which uses 20 vibrating actuators shoved inside of a steering wheel to create a variety of patterns -- a counter-clockwise sequence could indicate a left turn, for example. As you might have guessed, one of the goals is to keep drivers less distracted by the likes of visual turn-by-turn GPS navigators and more focused on the road.
High-flying Equinix (EQIX +1.8%) rallies after Wells Fargo says its checks indicate the data center owner is gaining traction with customers providing managed hosting and cloud services, and enterprise growth (historically a laggard) is picking up. Wells adds Equinix, a beneficiary of the ongoing boom in data center construction/demand, is seeing strong demand in key markets such as NYC, Silicon Valley, and D.C., and recently "won a couple of larger deals." [View news story]
Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
I am not a believer in the stategic choice made by Elop (going with MSFT only), so I guess my opinion is somehow flawed.
Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
>annual minimum software royalty commitments [that] reflect the large volumes that we expect to ship
Nokia is a very interesting turnaround story - if successful, investors will be largely rewarded. I believe betting the whole smartphone farm on WinPhone with no plan B has made the turnaround more risky. Today's share price fully reflects this concern.
Living in Europe I have witnessed the difference in presence of the Nokia brand with retailers - you have to consider it used to be most of the phones on sales, unlike in the US (subsidized phones are not that relevant in some European markets). Today, most customers (who can't afford an iPhone) look for an Android phone, and then chose between the brands that offer the handsets they can afford. Nokia is being hurt mostly on the lower hand of the market.
We'll see if the new WinPhone will be a game changer. It is, however, unusual to hear a CEO of a company spending most of its prepared remarks speaking about the launch of another company's product, Win8 for phones... Just my two cents.
Good luck with your investment, for me it remains a story just on my radar screen untill I see an inflection point, at risk of losing a run up or acquisition.
Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
There are several fields where the two companies are cooperating today - you mentioned some, I'd add IP, through the Mosaid agreement.
Thanks to you and Leont68 for adding further data and opinions to the discussion.
Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
Here is a recent news, taken from SA market current:
Nokia (NOK) has scrapped a software project it had hoped would compete with Google's (GOOG) Android, sources say. The Linux-based software platform, code-named Meltemi, would have replaced Nokia's aging Series 40 software, but was reportedly abandoned as part of a massive cost-cutting effort.
Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
Any other suitor should consider in its offer the possibility that Microsoft sends an expensive bill...which makes, in my opinion, Nokia less appealing as an acquisition target.
Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
the $15 speculation is part of Asymco's analysis, and taken from the article I quoted:
>We also need to estimate the royalty payment structure. One figure that has been circulating for a long time is that Microsoft prices Windows Phone (and its antecedent Windows Mobile) at $15/unit. It’s an aggressive price point for a mobile software license and should be subject to volume discounts but let’s assume it’s correct.
http://bit.ly/MIkeXI
Microsoft was accused of asking more "than what Microsoft charges for a license to its entire operating system designed for mobile devices, Windows Phone 7", during the Microsoft vs Barnes and Noble lawsuit.
http://bit.ly/Nv5GOR
Recent agreements with other Android OEMs seemed to be in the one digit:
Citigroup analyst, Walter Pritchard, said he believed that two of the biggest licensees - HTC and Samsung - are paying the Redmond-based firm between $1-5 (£0.62 - £3.14) - for each Android handset sold.
I guess we'll have to take all these numbers with a grain of salt...
Thanks for your comment.
PS: nice article on Nok, by the way.
Nokia's Better-Than-Expected Cash Performance A Trap For Investors? [View article]
There are several side effects: the company becomes less attractive as an acquisition target, and even valuing its IP gets tougher, as, for example, it is now partly shared with Microsoft (and Mosaid).
Microsoft has a history of investing in distressed technology companies to "rescue them" - through Nokia's agreement I believe it's make a wise business decision, as it has succeeded in both not allowing Nokia to join the Android platform, and becoming the preferred "rescuer" in case things go south, probably at a very low cost.
Data Center Related Stocks Close A Strong First Half Year [View article]
I am not following much the preferred, as I am usually investing in common shares only.
Axion Power Concentrator 104: May 21, 2012: Axion Power Reports First Quarter Results For 2012 [View instapost]
Axion Power was one of 75 companies out of a total of 764 applicants to earn an award in the first phase of the DOE's program. Grant funding is expected to be available to Axion Power by late June of this year and Phase I will conclude 10 months from that date. According to DOE documents, Phase II awards will be granted to approximately 50% of Phase I awardees and will conclude in 12-15 months. Phase III will follow shortly thereafter.
http://yhoo.it/JcGK7C
Will Europe Break Up? [View article]
May I ask you what tool you used to generate the charts? Thanks in advance.
Credit Default Swap Spreads And S&P 500 Constituents [View article]
I have tried to resume a few links for sovereign and non-sovereign CDSs here (see FAQ n. 14):
http://bit.ly/I6Pmfh
any help to complete the effort is very welcome.
Disclosure: the link brings to a commercial product that aims at estimating CDS prices from the issuers' senior bonds value.
Nokia And RIM: A Tale Of Two Pasts [View article]
http://bit.ly/HT7HCC
A large number of patents doesn't necessarely translate into holding the best ones, but it somehow gives a sense of how much a company is innovating (trying to innovate) in the sector.
It's interesting to note that Nokia (n. 1 in the 1995/2012 time frame) was just in 10th position when considering 2011 alone. RIM scores a good 4th place in 2011.
Food for thought?
Immersion Corporation: Will Its Haptic Technology Become Part Of Most Smartphones? [View article]
http://engt.co/IQDz8x
Bottom line, haptic IS becoming a must have in several verticals, whether IMMR will be able to establish itself as the toll road to access most haptic applications is still to be proven...
>A force-feedback steering wheel. It's quite literally the stuff of racing games, and AT&T labs, along with Carnegie Mellon, is researching the possibly of throwing similar tech into your real-world whip. MIT's Technology Review recently highlighted the project, which uses 20 vibrating actuators shoved inside of a steering wheel to create a variety of patterns -- a counter-clockwise sequence could indicate a left turn, for example. As you might have guessed, one of the goals is to keep drivers less distracted by the likes of visual turn-by-turn GPS navigators and more focused on the road.
High-flying Equinix (EQIX +1.8%) rallies after Wells Fargo says its checks indicate the data center owner is gaining traction with customers providing managed hosting and cloud services, and enterprise growth (historically a laggard) is picking up. Wells adds Equinix, a beneficiary of the ongoing boom in data center construction/demand, is seeing strong demand in key markets such as NYC, Silicon Valley, and D.C., and recently "won a couple of larger deals." [View news story]
they might be reading SA:
http://seekingalpha.co...
just kidding... :-)
Gramercy Capital Corporation: An Edward De Bono Stock [View article]
>>As of December 31, 2011, 51,086,266 shares of common stock and 3,525,822 shares of preferred stock were issued and outstanding.
the number of preferred outstanding seems also in line with the company's 14/C filing:
>>As of December 1, 2011, ... 3,525,822 shares of Series A Preferred Stock were outstanding.
http://bit.ly/HwiCy8
Here is also the exact number for the preferred dividends still unpaid (10K, pg. 82):
>>As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, we accrued Series A preferred stock dividends of $23,276 and $16,114, respectively.