Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Speculating in Takeover Targets -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jack Hartmann who wrote (499)	11/23/2004 7:49:53 PM
From: richardred	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7265

Although I'm not comparing apples to Apples. <G> IMO-It seems a foreign buyer is more likely. Just the way the US TV market went. If I remember right. Zenith went to LG of Korea. Ted might get tired of waiting for a turnaround. BTW my computer is a Gateway. It's 5 years old, and needs to be replaced. I'm a shopper this year. My daughter has a new Dell. Would I buy another Gateway? I'm not sure yet. The company owned store I ordered it from, is closed. I liked the close support. How about Samsung Electronics-or even LG? One of the world's largest microchip makers, Samsung Electronics is also South Korea's top electronics company. It makes many kinds of consumer devices, including DVD players, big-screen televisions, and digital cameras; computers, color monitors (#1 globally), LCD panels, and printers; semiconductors such as DRAMs (#1), SRAMs (#1), and flash memory (#1); and communications devices ranging from wireless phones (#3) to networking switches. The company, which is the flagship member of Samsung Group, also makes microwave ovens (#1), refrigerators, air conditioners, and washing machines.

To: Jack Hartmann who wrote (499)	11/30/2004 6:34:27 PM
From: richardred	Respond to of 7265

RE:GTW SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) - Personal computer stocks were mostly in the red Tuesday after technology research firm Gartner said it expects three of the top 10 PC makers to quit the business by 2007. Gartner (IT: news, chart, profile) Vice President Leslie Fiering said slow growth rates and thinning profit margins will likely lead to consolidation in the PC market in coming years. Fiering estimates that PC unit shipments will average 5.7 percent annual growth from 2006 to 2008, half the 11.3 percent average of 2003 to 2005. Fiering said the current PC replacement cycle should still lead to strong growth in 2005, but leaner times lie ahead. "The end of the replacement cycle is likely to strain viability for even the largest PC vendors in 2006 and beyond," Fiering said. Fiering said Dell Inc. (DELL: news, chart, profile) is the only PC maker to consistently turn a profit with its PCs in the past few years. In her report, Fiering estimates that the PC divisions of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ: news, chart, profile) and IBM (IBM: news, chart, profile) "are vulnerable to being spun off if their drag on margins and profitability are deemed too great by their parent companies." Gartner ranks Dell as the world's top PC maker, followed by H-P, IBM, Fujitsu (FJTSY: news, chart, profile)/ Fujitsu Siemens, Toshiba (TOSBF: news, chart, profile), Acer, NEC (NIPNY: news, chart, profile), Legend, Gateway Inc. (GTW: news, chart, profile) and Apple Computer (AAPL: news, chart, profile). Gartner's PC outlook comes on the heels of a September report in which the company estimated that 40 percent of the current semiconductor companies could leave the market within 10 years. See full story. Among PC stocks, Dell, Apple, IBM and H-P all posted losses Tuesday. Gateway, however, climbed more than 10 percent to a 52-week high of $6.81. The company continued to benefit from Monday's Piper Jaffray report in which analyst Les Santiago raised his price target on Gateway to $8 a share from $7. Santiago also said Gateway appeared close to adding a retail partnership with Wal-Mart's (WMT: news, chart, profile) Sam's Club stores or with Circuit City (CC: news, chart, profile) in the next two months. cbs.marketwatch.com;

To: Jack Hartmann who wrote (499)	12/3/2004 1:56:12 AM
From: richardred	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7265

I think you can now count out IBM as a possible pc buyer. IBM Puts Its PC Business Up for Sale -NYT Friday December 3, 1:43 am ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp. has put its personal computing business up for sale in a deal that could be worth as much as $2 billion, the New York Times reported on Friday. IBM, now the No. 3 PC maker behind Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., is likely to include all of its desktop, laptop and notebook computers in the sale, which could earn it between $1 billion and $2 billion, people close to the negotiations told the newspaper. Lenovo Group Ltd., China's top PC maker, and at least one other company are said to be in talks with IBM, the Times reported. There have been media reports that Lenovo, which controls more than a quarter of China's PC market, was poised to set up a joint venture with IBM. Gartner Inc., a leading research firm, forecasted earlier this week that three of the top 10 personal computer makers would exit the market by 2007, citing slower growth rates and narrower profit margins. It did not name any companies. Despite its large size relative to smaller competitors, Gartner added that IBM and HP's PC divisions were vulnerable to being spun off "if their drag on margins and profitability are deemed too great by their parent companies." IBM could not be reached immediately for comment. biz.yahoo.com