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Posted
Sep 29 2008, 11:32 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Tech stocks are getting killed today, with Apple falling a shocking 16% to $107.17. That's because there's a lot of talk going around about how the current economic turmoil might squash demand for electronics, both at the consumer and the big business level. On the business side, analysts are worried that Hewlett-Packard and Dell could suffer as companies rein in spending. H-P shares are down 5% today to $45.50 and Dell shares have dropped 4% to $16.28. On the consumer side, Google hit a two-year low and is down 9% to $392.99.
Apple fell to a 52-week low after analysts downgraded the stock. A Morgan Stanley analyst thinks that people will shift to the sub-$1,000 price range for computer purchases, and Apple only has one computer in that range.
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Posted
Sep 05 2008, 10:24 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Dell is trying to sell its computer factories around the world. It's the final nail in the coffin of the build-your-own-PC business model that was favored by business and corporate customers. These days, sales growth is at the consumer level, and people are buying laptops, not desktops. And they like to buy them in person, at places like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. So Dell shelved its custom-made business and is working on getting preassembled machines into retail channels. Now, it wants to sell its factories and outsource production -- a move that will cut operating costs significantly.
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Posted
Sep 03 2008, 07:08 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The good thing about the Apple iPod is that the company has sold 160 million of them. That is the bad thing about the device as well. Apple ships about 10 million units a quarter, and that figure is no longer going up very fast.
It does not seem right to say that too many people have iPods but it is starting to look that way. Apple has to come up with a new reason for consumers to walk into store with iPods on their minds. Mac and iPhone sales have been good, but the little MP3 player is what makes Jobs run.
Apple is supposed to say something important about the iPod at a September 9th conference. That is a rumor, but it might be true.
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Posted
Feb 28 2008, 04:09 AM
by
Robert Walberg
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Like the former high-school baseball star in the Springsteen song, Michael Dell knows how glory days can pass you by in the wink of a young girl's eye. His company, Dell, delivered yet another earnings disappointment last night. The former king of the PC industry cited higher-than-expected costs for the earnings shortfall. The excuse may be new but falling short of estimates has become old hat to Dell.
Not that long ago, Dell rode its cheap cost structure, build-to-order model and aggressive market campaign to the top of theh PC world. But after years of management missteps, the company finds itself looking up at Hewlett-Packard much the way General Motors finds itself trailing Toyota. About the only category in which Dell surpasses HP these days is in restructuring announcements. According to Mr. Dell, the current plan, which calls for more staff reductions and improved operating efficiencies, is apt to adversely impact near-term earnings growth. No kidding.
But I'll tell you what the restructuring plan isn't going to do -- it's not going to resolve the company's long-term problem any more than the dozen or so turnaround efforts have resurrected GM. And the reasons are much the same -- both management teams are too focused on the bottom-line and not focused enough on the big picture. Dell's problem isn't that the call center in Canada is overstaffed, it's that the company no longer possesses a significant cost advantage over the competition. Dell was never a very innovative company -- its strength was in the cost savings produced by the model. That cost benefit doesn't exist any more and simply adding new channels to sell product that's priced about the same as Toshiba, Acer and HP just isn't going to get it done.
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Posted
Feb 20 2008, 08:48 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Hewlett-Packard turned in one of the best performances of the earnings season. Net income rose 38%. Revenue rose 13% to $28.5 billion. The computer company raised guidance and its shares moved up 5%.
HP is probably the best tech bellwether in the U.S. It not only sells PCs and printers, it has a large software and server operation. It has tremendous businesses outside the U.S., especially in Asia.
Shipments from the company's PC operations were up 27% in the quarter. That has to be good news for chip companies AMD and Intel. Because HP is No.1 in global PC market share, it is also likely a boost for sales of Microsoft's Vista.
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Posted
Dec 18 2007, 08:52 AM
by
Robert Walberg
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Remember when it was cool to own/buy a Dell computer? Not that long ago it was Dell, not Apple, that had the laid back young kid starring in commercials that resonated with consumers. "Dude, it's a Dell," was the stuff of genius. Dell's were cool, they were cheap and they were everywhere.
Yet in little less than five years Dell has gone from cool to ice cold. Its share of the PC market has eroded due to misguided retail practices, poor customer service and outdated design. The company has also lost its price advantage. Despite the cheap prices you see on the company's web site, or in the flyers that arrive in the mail, once you configure the computer to match even the most basic of needs, the price ends up being as high or higher as PCs from Toshiba, Hewlett Packard and Acer.
Quite simply there's nothing that sets the company apart anymore -- at least nothing positive. Its abysmal technical service group certainly set it apart, as waiting on the Dell help desk was an exercise bordering on cruelty. To its credit, Dell's management team has begun to address this issue by adding staff, but once you get a bad reputation it can be very hard to change consumer perceptions. Dell has a lot of making up to do and some blunt talk from its back-in-the-saddle CEO, Michael Dell, just might help remake its image. Let's face it, Apple was left for dead a few years back and look at what the return of Steve Jobs did for that company.
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