Tag Archives: MSFT

Nokia’s Turnaround Underway As Lumia 521 Sells Out In Wal-Mart

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By Jacob Steinberg:

In the latest aggressive attempt of Nokia (NOK) and Microsoft (MSFT) to gain significant market share in the US, Wal-Mart (WMT) stores started to offer Nokia’s cheapest Lumia model (Lumia 521) for a low price of $129. The phone is being sold as “unlocked” which means that the buyers are able to use their phone with a carrier of their choice as long as the carrier company accepts the phone. Even though it will be unlocked, the phone will be sold under T-Mobile and the buyers can take the company’s $30/month plan which comes with unlimited calling, texting and doesn’t require a contract. The initial reports suggest that the phone was sold out within one hour after appearing on Wal-Mart’s website.

Phone Specifics

The phone runs on Windows Phone 8 operating system, carries a 5 megapixel camera with auto focus, is able to record HD video at 720p


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Apple: Too Far, Too Fast?

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By Bill Maurer:

It has been a couple of weeks now since Apple (AAPL) reported its fiscal second quarter results, which included a huge announcement on its cash return plans. I promised investors that I would be back in a couple of weeks with an update on Apple, and here I am today.

Apple has certainly enjoyed a nice run recently. The stock is up $75 from its 52-week low, of which $55 has been since the earnings report. While that has been a nice rally for those already in the name, those that don’t have a position have missed the rally. That gives me pause, as my goal here is to also look out for those that are looking to enter a name, not just those already in it. Today, I’ll detail why I think Apple has run a little far, too quickly, and why a pullback may be in order.


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Smartphone Operating Systems – Third Place Will Go To BlackBerry

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Byjaberwock:

There can be no doubt that the two leading smartphone operating systems are Google’s (GOOG) Android and Apple’s (AAPL) iOS. However, there is room in the market for at least one more player, and the battle for third place is being fought between BlackBerry (BBRY) and Microsoft (MSFT) Windows8.

Nokia (NOK) manufactures a range of Windows phones, from the low cost Lumia520 to the flagship Lumia920, which competes at the high price level with the Blackberry Z10 and Q10. HTC (HTCKF.PK) sells its 8 and 8X series of Windows phones, and Samsung (SSNLF.PK) makes the ATIV phone with the Windows operating system

BlackBerry introduced its new touchscreen Z10 phone with a phased launch starting in the UK at the end of January and launching in the U.S. at the end of March. The keyboard version (the Q10) launched in Europe this week, and is expected in the U.S. later this


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Don’t Buy Apple Or Google, Invest In What They Are Going To Buy

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By Devon Shire:

What a difference a decade makes. Back at the turn of the century the technology giants were the ONLY companies that investors wanted to own. These companies sported Price to Earnings ratios that implied that they would grow at high rates for decades to come.

Fast forward to today and these same companies are now the slow growth behemoths that put investors to sleep. Price to earnings ratios that were once sky high are now below the valuation multiples assigned to average companies.

Most of these companies (excluding Apple) lost any investor hopes of a return to growth years ago. Microsoft (MSFT) is the poster boy for this as the stock price has gone perfectly sideways for more than ten years:

(click to enlarge)

While the titans of technology aren’t as in favor as they once were, there is no dispute the financial clout of this group of companies.

Consider


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Intel And Microsoft Speed Up Windows RT’s Death

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By Ashraf Eassa:

I have been an ultra, uber, perma-bear on Windows RT. Windows RT is quite literally Windows 8 but with fewer features, but ships on devices that have no cost advantage over Windows 8 equivalents. See, if I could go out an buy a 7″ Windows RT tablet for $200, then sure, that makes sense. But the problem is that ARM (ARMH) based chips aren’t any cheaper than the Intel (INTC) Atom chips, and Windows 8 costs Microsoft (MSFT) no more to produce and sell than Windows RT. In fact, if anything, they’re robbing themselves of a potential “Office” purchase by selling RT. Anyway, it looks like Windows RT is on its way to the morgue, especially with some of the latest developments that we’ve been seeing.

Windows RT’s Only Chance Is On 7″- 8″ Tablets

Windows RT is basically Windows 8, but it won’t run any legacy


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The PC Industry’s Powerful New Weapon Against Tablets Is About To Be Unleashed

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By Sneha Shah:

The whole PC industry has been under siege due to the consumer shift from PC/laptops to smartphones and tablets. PC unit shipments declined by a staggering 14% in the first quarter of 2013 as tablet shipments increased at a rapid pace. PC stocks like Dell (DELL), Hewlett Packard (HPQ), Intel (INTC), Microsoft (MSFT) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) saw a sharp stock decline when IDC announced the Q113 PC shipment data. The decline of the PC industry is nothing new with shipments declining by 3% in 2012. Advancements in tablet hardware and software are taking place at a breathtaking pace with major technology companies like Google (GOOG), Apple (AAPL) and Samsung (SSNLF.PK) directing massive marketing and research resources into tablets.

The sale of cheap $100-200 Android tablets is powering the >50% growth of the tablet industry. The leaders of the PC industry are fighting back strongly to stem


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Best Windows Laptop? MacBook Pro!

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By J. M. Manness:

Soluto’s PC Purchasing Guide for Small Businesses has just been released and the surprising result – culled from hard data from 150,000 PCs: the best Windows PC is the MacBook Pro 13 by Apple (AAPL). Yes, that is correct, the best PC on which to run Microsoft (MSFT) Windows, is made by arch rival Apple.

In the study, the MBP 13 received a score of 1.05 besting Acer’s Aspire E1-571 at 1.12, and Dell (DELL) XPS 13 at 1.28. Apple’s MBP 15″ Retina model came in #6 with a score of 2.51, while #10 was the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon with a score of 3.2. In all, they evaluated 47 currently available models.

Macs run Windows?

I think that most people know by now that Macs have the capability of running the Windows operating system. There are emulator programs such as VMWare (VMW) Fusion and Parallels Desktop that allow


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Advanced Micro Devices Does Something Incredibly Right

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By Ashraf Eassa:

I like Rory Read and the team he is putting together at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). He comes off as an honest, no-nonsense individual and quite frankly is a breath of fresh air after former CEO Hector Ruiz left an indelible mark on the name “AMD”. It’s easy to see why Mr. Read took the job of running AMD: if he actually pulls it off, he’ll go down in the history books as an executive genius. While the jury is still out on whether Rory will be able to pull this off, I would like to highlight one of the incredibly smart moves that the company – under his leadership – is making.

Kabini – Getting An Edge On Intel and ARM

Intel (INTC) owns the high end PC processor space; the firm’s high end products simply cannot be beaten on a raw performance and, more importantly, performance


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