Seth Gilbert, 08-21-2008
Apple’s broken sales records in many of their recent quarters including the last but when forecasts were given for the current quarter, Apple was particularly conservative. Citing a “product transition” widely believed to involve Macbook notebooks, the company forecast only a Q4 earnings result of $1 per share on sales of $7.8b. Analysts were looking for $1.24 a share on sales of $8.3b. Midway through the quarter, some analysts are now starting to set out projections that turn Apple’s conservatism upside down.
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Seth Gilbert,
Yahoo’s proxy fight is over, the board seats have been filled, and the disruption of Microsoft’s bid seems past, but there continues to be some attrition at senior roles. The report today is that Yahoo’s senior vice president Todd Teresi, who’s headed the Publisher Channel for the last year, will jump ship to join Web site metrics firm Quantcast.
At Yahoo, Teresi was responsible for managing off-network partnerships. He was at Yahoo for about ten years. Prior to joining Yahoo!, he was a founding member of the high-technology mergers and acquisitions practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
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Seth Gilbert,
Convergence is the keyword and just about every media and technology company with a chip in the game is betting on it through some form of technology or content integration. Wednesday at the Intel Developers Conference, the biggest news among many announcements was the surprise pitch that Intel and Yahoo are joining together in a tie-up aimed at grabbing one of the biggest prizes: the marriage of Internet interactivity and traditional TV. They’re calling the offering “Widget Channel.”
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Seth Gilbert, 08-20-2008
When watching old movies, there’s always a prominent credit for Technicolor. When future generations look back on movies from our era, they may be shown a similar credit for Intel. The company known for being “Inside” our computers appears to be working just as diligently “behind”the scenes of Hollywood to advance the cause of 3D-Movie Making.
At the Intel Developers conference Wednesday, the 800lb Gorilla of the chip industry reaffirmed their deal with DreamWorks Animation. Jeffrey Katzenberg, the co founder and CEO of the studio was on hand to demonstrate what their joint venture is yielding.
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Seth Gilbert,
Wednesday was a busy day for Sony. The company’s gaming division used the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany to reveal a number of new hardware offerings.
Topping the list was a new SKU for the Playstation 3 platform. With Sony’s focus evolving more and more toward connected entertainment, “PS3 owner’s are demanding more storage capacity,” said Jack Treton, President and CEO of SCEA. Sony will try and answer the call with a 160GB capacity PS3.
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Seth Gilbert, 08-19-2008
Picture it, it’s nearing October and the Red Sox and Yankees are meeting at Fenway for a final showdown. The pennant is potentially on the line (or at least a playoff appearance). Tensions are high. Mariano Rivera is on the mound. David Ortiz is at the plate. Tie game. Bottom of the 9th. Bases loaded. Full count. Two outs. Rivera just got off the disabled list and his shoulder may be troubled. Ortiz has had his number all season but he’s been slumping lately too; fatigued from the season and a lingering wrist injury. One pitch will set the teams fates. Win or lose. Here it comes.
Now adjust your screen. The same scenario is actually playing out in a video game on your PS3 or Xbox 360. The video game is mirroring reality. You’re playing a friend for bragging rights and beer. Same playoff race. Same scenario, right down to the injuries and fatigue.
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Seth Gilbert, 08-18-2008
The gloves came off today in Electronic Arts protracted hostile takeover effort to acquire Take Two but in a surprise twist, it wasn’t an escalation but rather a move toward a possible handshake and reconciliation.
EA announced they will allow their Tender Offer to expire tonight at midnight as planned. Take Two, in turn, will include EA in their discussions about “Strategic Alternatives.” As part of that dialogue, Take Two will provide EA with a formal presentation that includes non public product pipeline and financial projections.
The two companies talking amicably opens the door to the prospect of a possible friendly acquisition.
Timing is everything.
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Apple’s broken sales records in many of their recent quarters including the last but when forecasts were given for the current quarter, Apple was particularly conservative. Citing a “product transition” widely believed to involve Macbook notebooks, the company forecast only a Q4 earnings result of $1 per share on sales of $7.8b. Analysts were looking for $1.24 a share on sales of $8.3b. Midway through the quarter, some analysts are now starting to set out projections that turn Apple’s conservatism upside down.
