If fewer people are interested in buying a new PC, then fewer investors want to own stakes in companies whose fortunes are tied to the sales of laptop and desktop machines.
That logic ruled on Thursday as Wall Street reacted to fresh evidence that PCs are turning into a dying breed of technology as consumers and businesses embrace smartphones and tablet computers as their preferred computing devices.
The stocks of PC software maker Microsoft Corp and PC maker Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) absorbed significant hits on the news that PCs suffered an unprecedented sales decline during the first three months of the year. Other firms connected to the PC industry, such as Intel Corp, also were affected, although not to the same degree as the industry bellwethers.
Microsoft’s stock fell US$1.35, or 4.4 percent, to close at US$28.93, while HP’s shed US$1.44, or 6.5 percent to finish at US$20.88. Intel shares decreased US$0.43, or nearly 2 percent, to US$21.83.
First-quarter shipments of PCs plummeted by 11 percent to 14 percent from a year earlier, according to separate estimates issued late on Wednesday by Gartner Inc and International Data Corp.
By either measure, it was biggest decrease recorded by either research firm since they began tracking PCs sales.
Count Sterne Agee’s Shaw Wu among the analysts worried about the future of Microsoft and its partners in the PC industry.
“We frankly believe [Microsoft’s] strategy of forcing user interface changes that nobody wants has proven to be a disaster,” Wu wrote in a Thursday research note.
Nomura Securities analyst Rick Sherlund also took a dimmer view of Microsoft’s future prospect as he lowered his recommendation on the company’s stock from a “buy” to “neutral.” In a Thursday note, Sherlund asserted that about half of all consumers now see little reason to buy a PC or any other device running on Windows.
Microsoft may try to lure back consumers by offering less expensive devices. It is now developing a smaller version of its Surface tablet to compete with similar-sized devices made by Apple Inc, Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which cited anonymous people familiar with the matter.
A Surface tablet with a 7-inch screen could hit the market this year, the Journal said.
Microsoft declined to comment on Thursday.
HP, the world’s largest PC maker, has been suffering sales declines with the rest of the market. Its PC shipments plunged by 24 percent in the first quarter.
The company had been hoping to bounce back with the release of Windows 8. With those hopes dashed, HP is now making a laptop that runs on the Chrome operating system. CEO Meg Whitman is also trying to expand the company’s more profitable businesses, such as business software, data analysis and consulting.
Intel, whose chips are in 80 percent of the world’s personal computers but a laggard in mobile devices, is hoping to boost its revenue with a new line of microprocessors better suited for tablets and lightweight laptops.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS