donzelion

Will Intel's New Processor Be a Game-Changer?

Hmmm..."hard things can be done quickly and really difficult things become reasonable to attempt." Such as?

'Hard things' like rendering HD video, which will appeal to a few hundred thousand people? Or what? Running Vista a bit faster? Opening documents and sending emails? It's very hard to see that many applications for this kind of power - at this point. Of course, perhaps someone will provide the new killer app that will drive a whole new universe of growth in the sector...

That said, I see Intel as a long haul investment - the GE of the 21st century (er, that is, GE sans GE Capital). They execute well, they engineer well, they pay a reasonable dividend. For the foreseeable future, there's nobody who can touch them in their main field of competence, and their main field of competence is imminently desirable business to be in.

Downside? Hard to see how they might double in the next three years. After all, just how many computers do you need?

Nvidia's Fourth Quarter: As the Semiconductor Bellwether Turns

Cisco will tell you more about big-ticket macro developments; nVidia will tell you more about consumer tastes and spending capabilities.

I share your ill-ease with investor response to Intel's $7 billion plan for investment in U.S. manufacturing. Of course, since many of the banks that were screaming "buy buy buy" during the peak are now screaming "sell sell sell" - one ought to take them with a grain of salt (as for me, I prefer to just change the channel and go with what common sense suggests - Intel is a powerful company without peer...)

As for nVidia v. Intel - I see Intel's moves towards GPUs as a backup strategy in case it grows too cost prohibitive to continue with the die shrink portion of their tick tock strategy. It's not that Intel is somehow more methodical than other semis - it's that they are strong believers in backup plans after Pentium literally burned them. Besides, Intel wants nVidia to stick around (albeit, perhaps in an ever shrinking niche).

The Street Is Nervous Anticipating Intel's Earnings

Nervous? Personally, I hope Intel drops below $10 so I can buy a big chunk more. Intel will earn money steadily until either (1) we stop using computers, or (2) chip technology stagnates indefinitely. But I can see investors worrying that Intel will serve as a canary in a coal mine (as if there weren't a few hundred other companies that could better serve such a role...).

Top Ten Tech Surprises in 2009: Low Probability, High Consequence Edition

Some more intriguing possibilities:

Yahoo merges with Ebay
Amazon buys New York Times
Taiwan Semiconductor Buys AMD