ERII, A Battered BUY

According to report published by SRI Consulting Process Economics Program titled “Reverse Osmosis for Seawater Desalination,” large-scale seawater reverse osmosis growth rates will increase at rates of more than 15% annually in China and the U.S. after 2015. The researcher expects that by that time, these two countries will have established both the financial and political models needed to be able to pursue large-scale plant projects. The current market conditions, however, are making it tough for countries to put money toward high-investment desalination projects.

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Intuit Performs Despite SMB Woes

Small and medium-sized businesses in the U.S. are rather pessimistic about the current economic conditions. In a recent survey of 1,719 CEOs of SMBs, 31% of the respondents surveyed expect the performance of the country’s economy to improve over the course of the year. A quarter ago, that number stood at nearly 50%. Most CEOs are worried about the lack of consumer demand, which is leading them to delay investment in plants, equipment, and people. Fifty-two percent of those surveyed confirmed plans of holding back on permanent hires and compared with 48% a quarter ago, and 42% of those surveyed said they planned to invest in new plants and equipment. Despite the dim outlook, accounting and tax software solutions provider Intuit (Nasdaq:INTU) continued to deliver strong business results driven by their continuous expansion into the SMB sector.

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Newly Public Zillow Shines In Otherwise Damp Sector

According to market reports, the total market for local real estate listing is expected to be worth $6 billion annually. Online real estate listing services provider Zillow is hoping to tap into this market. The company recently went public, and unlike other Internet companies, which are having a tough time keeping up their valuations in the current market conditions, Zillow seems to be finding the task relatively easy.

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Zynga In Facebook’s Pocket?

Zynga did not disappoint analysts, who were expecting it to file for an IPO earlier this summer. With IPO documents filed in July of this year, Zynga plans to raise $1 billion at a valuation of $15 billion to $20 billion. Researcher eMarketer has projected online gaming revenues in the U.S. to grow to $1.1 billion this year from $0.86 billion last year. Surely Zynga is hoping to cash in on this growth.

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Groupon Following Yahoo-esque Strategy – A Bad Move

In June of this year, Groupon filed their S-1, ending speculation about their IPO plans. However, since then, not only has the company been impacted by unfavorable news, but the present volatile market conditions has also raised doubts on the feasibility of an IPO that was expected to raise $750 million at a valuation of $20 billion. Groupon’s IPO was expected in the fall of this year.

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Facebook Overvalued, But Excellent

A few months ago, I mentioned how I believe Facebook’s valuation of $65 billion was unjustifiable. But the valuation continues to grow. According to recent estimates, the company is now valued at close to $100 billion. Given that Facebook’s revenue model remains largely unchanged, my lack of resonance with such high valuations persists. Many ask at Silicon Valley parties these days: Is there a bubble? Well, yes, there is. That doesn’t change the fact that Facebook is an excellent company. It is, however, overvalued.

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Reiterating: Dell Needs To Acquire RIM

Declining PC sales have pulled down the quarterly forecasts of all major PC manufacturers, and Dell was no exception. In the recent quarter, Dell’s market share slipped from 23.6% last year to 22.6% this year. The market conditions have recently led to the announcement of HP’s plans to spin off its PC segment, although that decision also comes from HP’s new CEO Leo Apothekar’s DNA mis-match with hardware businesses. The news seemed to bolster the rather depressed Dell stock. Analysts believe that Dell will be able to gain market share by attracting customers from HP. The market had shown a similar trend when Dell had gained IBM’s and Compaq’s customers when IBM sold their PC business to Lenovo and when Compaq was acquired by HP.

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HP Trying To Become A Software Company

According to recent IDC and Gartner reports, global personal computer shipments in the second quarter increased less than the percentage anticipated because of sluggish economies and a shift toward smartphones and the iPad media tablet. Worldwide PC shipments increased 2.6% compared with 2.9% projected earlier by IDC. While HP remained the market leader in PC sales, PC shipments fell 0.6% over the year in the second quarter and Dell saw a bigger decline with number of units sold declining 10.2% over the year. Apple, however, continued to gain market presence, with annual shipments increasing 15% over the year driven by iPad sales. Meanwhile, declining PC sales led HP to consider spinning off their PC segment, a move I thought had made sense years ago when IBM spun its off and sold it to Lenovo.

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Taleo Expands In Europe

Over the past two years, there has been tremendous M&A activity in the talent management sector as companies like SuccessFactors (NASDAQ:SFSF) and Taleo (NASDAQ:TLEO) look to provide end-to-end talent management solutions and fill the gaps in their portfolio. Taleo in the last quarter announced its plans to acquire European vendor Jobpartners for $38 million. Let’s take a closer look.

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Major Near-Shoring Projects At Indian IT Outsourcing Firms

Some analysts believe that growth in the $76 billion Indian outsourcing industry has begun to slow because of Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating and the troubled economies in Europe. But this may not be the case. Ignoring the market conditions, the bigger players in the market are all gearing to expand their near-shore presence, a trend that they have realized cannot be ignored.

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