16 July 2014
Apple and IBM in the Enterprise: Joined at the Apps
Apple and IBM announced they will be partnering on providing solutions to the mobile enterprise based on iPhone/iPads devices and IBM’s MobileFirst technology and service offerings. Although this is a win-win situation for the vendors, the market effects will be more limited overall, and will primarily impact IBM’s installed base of enterprise solutions.
13 June 2014
The Enterprise PC: Not Quite Dead Yet…
The PC is dead. That’s what some pundits have been saying as the market for tablets has been expanding dramatically. But Intel begs to differ. It just released an advisory increasing its expected quarterly and yearly revenues and gross margins, and said, “The change in outlook is driven mostly by strong demand for business PCs.” So perhaps the PC market isn’t quite dead yet, to quote Monty Python.
28 May 2014
Intel’s Rockchip to China
Intel and Rockchip have announced a strategic partnership making Intel’s x86 architecture chips and 3G modems (based on SoFIA) available to the mass Chinese market for lower end tablets (and potentially smartphones). This is a win-win strategy, giving Intel a massively expanded sphere to sell chips to (via Rockchip) in the explosively growing low end tablet market. And Rockchip gets to leverage Intel’s extensive IP.
20 May 2014
Microsoft Re-Surfaces the Pro
Rather than the speculated downsizing, Microsoft has announced a new larger format and more powerful version of its Surface Pro tablet. Its bigger screen size (12 inches), Windows 8.1 OS and full capability Intel Haswell processor makes it destined to be an enterprise play and not one targeted at the highly competitive consumer and/or BYOD market. This is a smart strategy, clearly differentiating Microsoft’s product from other tablets and the best hope for Microsoft to finally have impact in this space.
14 April 20
ARM-ing the Enterprise
The ARM ecosystem is the king of mobility, with the vast majority of smartphones and most tablets being powered by ARM based devices. And while enterprises are adopting ARM powered devices through BYOD, vendors creating solutions to meet enterprise challenges are increasingly broadening the scope and breadth of products. This will expand dramatically over the next 2-3 years as ARM gets serious about enterprise solutions beyond its current niche.
20 February 2014
The “Enterprise of Things”
Enterprise mobility is maturing into a mainstream offering for most organizations. But the next wave of mobility, the “Enterprise of Things”, is about to dramatically alter the way companies think about operations and conduct their business.
28 January 2014
The Battle for Mobile Chip Supremacy
A battle is simmering in the mobile device chip market, and all the vendors are trying to out maneuver each other for a leadership role.
15 January 2014
The Year of Mobile Chips
2013 turned out to be a milestone for the chip industry in many ways. From a more competitive posture against the behemoth of PCs and servers, to a move to increasing reliance on the ARM architecture by the many new contenders, to an abandonment of a revolutionary architecture now past its time, the year reflects on the growing dominance of mobility and sweet spots in the market.
18 October 2013
BlackBerry Goes for a Triple Play
BlackBerry has been attempting to make a major recovery from its difficult market position. Its share of Smartphone devices has fallen drastically, and its user base is shrinking, although modestly so far. It is clearly in turn-around mode. But can the creator of the first ubiquitous smartphone communications devices find new footing and become a credible market force once again? Does it have a solid strategy to do so?
3 September 2013
Microsoft’s Finish Line
Microsoft announced they are buying the devices business of Nokia. While there have been rumors circulating to this effect for many months, especially once Stephen Elop took over as Nokia CEO, it nevertheless surprised me, mostly because I believe Microsoft already had the best of both worlds the way things were.
21 June 2013
Nvidia’s Preemptive Strike!
Nvidia has announced that it will begin licensing its most valuable assets – its graphics processing IP. We see this as a bold (and necessary) move by Nvidia, and one that could reap major rewards.
5 June 2013
Why Microsoft is Failing with RT (and what it can do about it)
Rumor has it that Microsoft is thinking about dramatically reducing prices on Windows RT tablets to stimulate sales. Considering the fact that RT hasn’t sold well against the competition, this is not surprising. But I believe this is a wrong approach for Microsoft to pursue for longer term success in tablets
2 May, 2103
Intel Names New CEO – And Points to New Course
We’ve all been waiting for the announcement of Intel’s replacement CEO for the retiring Paul Otellini. The pundits have debated whether they should promote from within or go outside for new blood. Well, this morning the anticipation ended when Intel named its new CEO and I see some interesting ramifications in this choice.
5 January 2013
The Legacy Trap – Getting Caught by the Innovation Curve
Many have speculated whether or not Apple can maintain its leadership, whether Microsoft can recapture its momentum, whether BlackBerry of Nokia can once again be market leaders. All have come face to face with the hazards of the Innovation Curve. What does this mean for their futures?
18 December 2012
RIM and Nokia – Not Quite Dead Yet. But Moto May Be
It’s the best of times (not so much) and the worst of times (not totally). This may sum up the survival chances of former high flying mobile companies: RIM, Nokia and Motorola. All were early pioneers in the cellular (Nokia, Moto) and smartphone (RIM) markets. But over the past few years, the market has simply “blown by” these companies. They simply didn’t innovate quickly enough to keep pace. Can they recover?
9 August 2012
Is HP Getting Ready for a Really Big Move?
HP announced that it is merging two of its big divisions: the Personal Systems Group (PSG) and the Imaging and Printing Group (IPG), with the resulting group being lead by Todd Bradley (current GM of PSG). Between them, these two groups represent approximately 50% of HPs revenues. Is this a first step in some greater strategic initiative being implemented by the new executive administration of Meg Whitman or something less dramatic?
9 August 2012
AMD Takes to Sea
AMD announced it is acquiring SeaMicro, a company concentrating on very low power multi-CPU servers optimized for web services and similar large I/O centric cloud services. While the low power server space is growing dramatically as more web- oriented and cloud-based companies come on line, we believe the results of this acquisition is a mixed bag for AMD. It gains AMD some much needed new technology to exploit, but ultimately it may hurt its bottom line more than it helps.