Video Conferencing’s Unrealized Potential

I recently did an interview with Bob Hagerty, CEO of Polycom, which I strongly suggest you read. My earlier post on the company as one of the online video beneficiaries is available here.

Here’s an update on its earnings for Q3 2007 and some analysis of the stock. >>>

Will Mark Hurd Write a Book?

On November 19, Hewlett Packard Co (NYSE:HPQ) posted its Q4 earnings that beat all estimates. Revenue went up 15% y-o-y and 11.4% q-o-q to $28.3 billion. GAAP operating profit was $2.6 billion and GAAP diluted EPS was $0.81, up from $0.6 in Q4 2006. For full fiscal 2007, net revenue was $104.3 billion (up 14%), GAAP operating profit was $8.7 billion, and GAAP diluted EPS was $2.68, up from $2.18 in fiscal 2006.

Segment wise, Personal Systems Group (PSG) revenue grew 30% y-o-y and 13.5% q-o-q to $10.1 billion. PSG had exceptional growth in emerging markets especially China where it saw more than 100% growth. For fiscal 2007, PSG grew $7.2 billion in revenue. Within the segment, with the continuing trend toward mobility, notebook revenue grew 49% y-o-y, while desktop revenue grew 15% y-o-y. >>>

Dell’s Turnaround: Not Bad

On November 29, Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) reported results for its third quarter of fiscal year 2008 ending 2 November, 2007. Earlier posts are available here and here. Revenue was $15.6 billion, up 9% y-o-y. Operating income increased 13% to $829 million and EPS was $0.34 (up 26% y-o-y) driven by strength in mobility, solid demand in enterprise products and a favorable component-cost environment.

Mobility products revenue went up 19% y-o-y and 22% q-o-q to $4.7 billion. Desktop revenue decreased 1% y-o-y and 5% q-o-q to $4.8 billion, with the industry shifting towards mobility. Revenue from both servers and storage increased 8% y-o-y. Enhanced services revenue increased 7% to $1.4 billion. Software and peripherals revenue increased 11% y-o-y.

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IBM’s Portfolio Rebalancing

I recently wrote about IBM just before its earnings were released. Here’s an update.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) released their earnings for Q3 on October 16. Total revenues were $24.1 billion, up 6.6% y-o-y. Diluted earnings were $1.68 per share, up 16% y-o-y.

Segment-wise, Global Business Services had revenues of $4.6 billion, a y-o-y increase of 15.9% driven by growth in core consulting and application management services. Global Technology Services segment revenues were $9.1 billion, up 12.8% y-o-y. Total Global Services revenues went up by 14% y-o-y. In Q3, IBM signed services contracts for a total of $11.8 billion, up 12% y-o-y. Long-term signings were up 29%, while short-term signings were down 5%. >>>

iPhone’s Competitors: Que Pasa?

In my earlier posts, I have written on the exclusive carrier of iPhone, AT&T and its rivals Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile. This post will look at these companies wrt each other and the impact of iPhone on their business after a full quarter of iPhone sales. >>>

Nokia’s 28% Sales Growth Underscores Strong Execution

In this post, I will look at recent developments in Nokia and Motorola. Earlier posts were featured in the iPhone series are available here and here. For the record, I own Nokia in my portfolio, as part of my convergence device bet along with RIMM, which I just bought as well. >>>

Good Time to Buy SanDisk

On August 31, just around the time I wrote my last post on Sandisk, it announced the introduction of Memory Stick Micro (M2) flash memory cards that would be mainly used in Sony Ericsson mobiles. The price is $149.99 for 8Gb and $99.99 for 4Gb.

On October 18, SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) released its third quarter earnings. Revenue for the quarter increased 38% y-o-y to $1.037 billion. GAAP net income was $85 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, down 17% y-o-y and up 203% sequentially. Product revenue was $919 million, up 36% y-o-y and 28% sequentially. License and royalty revenue was $119 million, up 52% y-o-y and 11% sequentially. >>>

Samsung’s Convergence Device Prospects Remain Strong

I recently covered Samsung, a major vendor of iPhone’s components which also has the manufacturing and design capabilities to become the iPhone’s major competitor in the future. This post will take a look at the company since its earnings release on 12 October.

For the third quarter ending Sept. 30, 2007, Samsung reported revenues of 16.68 trillion won or $18.16 billion, a y-o-y increase of 9.6% and a sequential increase of 14%. Net income was 2.19 trillion won or $2.38 billion, up 1% y-o-y and 54% sequential increase after three consecutive quarters of losses.

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