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To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (26165)	11/7/2005 11:41:05 AM
From: Bill Harmond	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 57684

Could be nothing, but if Dell wants an edge with the performance crowd (gamers) they need an AMD-based system. Their arrangement with Intel is so interdependent, it's hard to imagine breaking the exclusivity.

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (26165)	11/7/2005 9:43:38 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 57684

Yahoo! buys Softbank stake _____________________________________________ by Martin Foster in Tokyo and David Shabelman in San Francisco TheDeal.com Posted 04:46 EST, 7, Nov 2005 Hoping to spur growth in its European operations, Yahoo! Inc. on Monda, Nov. 7, said it will pay $500 million to buy out Softbank Corp.'s 30% stakes in subsidiaries in the U.K., France and Germany and a 33% holding in the Internet giant's unit in South Korea. Yahoo! spokeswoman Joanna Stevens said the transaction was a "straight-forward" business decision that helps simplify the Sunnyvale, Calif., company's overseas operations. "It gives us more operating flexibility so we can make strategic decisions regarding those businesses," she said. "It also means the tax structure and the legal structure is much easier, and we should see some cost savings as a result as well." Yahoo!'s European units offer similar portal, search and shopping services to the Internet company's offerings in the U.S. Its largest investment in the region came in 2004, when it spent $580 million to buy Kelkoo SA, a Paris-based comparison shopping Web site. In October, Yahoo! acquired London-based Whereonearth Ltd., a local search and advertising company. In 2002, the company closed five of its auction sites in Europe after it was unable to mount a challenge to auction juggernaut eBay Inc. of San Jose, Calif. In the third quarter, revenue from Yahoo!'s international operations totaled $407 million, a 62% increase from the $252 million reported in the year-ago period. The company's overseas revenues for 2004 were $921 million, compared with $270 million in 2003. But Yahoo! has faced increased competition aboard, particularly from rival Google Inc. In a research report released Monday, J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. analyst Imran Khan bumped Yahoo! shares off the banking firm's list of top stock picks in part because of the subpar performance of the company's international operations. Khan said Yahoo! has been losing ground in the Internet search sector for several consecutive quarters and that the losses "have been most pronounced in the international markets," where Mountain View, Calif.-based Google dominates. According to research firm comScore Networks Inc. that Khan cites, Yahoo!'s share of the global search market declined from 26.4% in the third quarter of 2004 to 21.3% in the third quarter this year. Google, meanwhile, saw its share of the search market rise to 55.6% at the end of the third quarter of 2005, from 47.8% a year earlier. According to comScore, Yahoo! commands roughly 16% of the query market outside the U.S., compared with 30% of the domestic market. "We think Yahoo!'s strength in the U.S. search market, which monetizes at a much higher rate, has benefited the company tremendously in prior periods," Khan wrote. "However, given Yahoo!'s more limited exposure internationally, we think the company will have difficulty growing query volumes at the same pace as Google." David Garrity, director of research with Investec Inc. in New York, said removing Softbank will ease Yahoo!'s management of those units. "It's safe to say that having Softbank removed as a partner in those markets will allow Yahoo! greater degrees of freedom in terms of executing a strategic play," he said. Tokyo-based Softbank said it will book ¥53.3 billion ($450.7 million) in profit in its fiscal third quarter from selling the assets to Yahoo! Tokyo-based Yahoo! Japan will remain a consolidated subsidiary of the Japanese telecommunications and Internet investor, Softbank spokesman Noriyoshi Seki said. Softbank held a 41.8% stake in Yahoo! Japan in its fiscal year ended March 31, 2005. The Japanese company also held about 4% of Yahoo! at the start of the year and has no plans to shed the holding, Seiki said, adding that Yahoo! initiated the deal. Seki declined to reveal whether Softbank hired financial advisers. Yahoo! did not use a financial adviser in connection with the transaction. Softbank began last year to shift its investment focus from the Internet industry to the telecommunications sector, agreeing in May 2004 to buy Japan Telecom Co. Ltd. from New York buyout firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC in a deal that valued the target at $3 billion. Softbank posted a loss of ¥60 billion on sales of ¥837 billion in the year ended March 31, 2005, compared with a loss of ¥107 billion on sales of ¥517 billion in the previous year. Its shares rose 5.6% to ¥7, 180 Monday.