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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Rieman who wrote (41104)	5/14/1999 6:46:00 PM
From: Peter V	Respond to of 50808

0.18 equipment - CYMI still got pounded today anyway.

To: John Rieman who wrote (41104)	5/15/1999 7:44:00 AM
From: Maya	Respond to of 50808

Here's the article that was quoted by Frank Palardy from 'AOL', again from Forbes Are Europeans courting C-Cube? By Om Malik Indexes (May 14, 1999 05:00 PM) DJIA 10913.00 -194.00 -1.75% S&P 500 1337.8 -29.76 -2.18% NASDAQ 2527.86 -54.14 -2.10% NEW YORK. 10:20AM EST—For the past three days, the market has been buzzing with the news that Intel Corp. (nasdaq: INTC) was looking to scoop up at least a piece of C-Cube Microsystems (nasdaq: CUBE). But that speculation might remain just that since it seems that European chipmakers STMicroelectronics (nyse: STM) and Royal Philips Electronics (nyse: PHG) are also looking at C-Cube. The two European giants are making a strong move into the set-top box and digital television space, two vertical markets where C-Cube is a powerhouse. C-Cube sells graphic encoders and decoders to set-top boxmakers like General Instrument (nyse: GIC) and Scientific Atlanta (nyse: SFA). The European interest can be traced back to this morning's announcement that America Online (nyse: AOL) is building an interactive TV platform using Cyrix (nyse: NSM) hardware in partnership with Royal Philips Electronics NV, Network Computer, General Motors Corp.'s (nyse: GM) Hughes Electronics and DirecTV. Network Computer, a software maker majority-owned by Oracle Corp. (nasdaq: ORCL), will provide the software, while Hughes Network Systems will sell advanced dual-mode satellite receivers made by Philips. DirecTV is one of the biggest customers of C-Cube's Divicom division, and DirecTV decoders use C-Cube chips. A Philips bid for C-Cube would not be out of character since the company recently made a billion dollar hostile bid for VLSI Technology (nasdaq: VLSI). On the other hand, STMicroelectronics has made it clear that it wants to be a dominant player in the digital video space and wants to provide chips to the emerging markets for set-top boxes, digital television and high-definition television. The courting Europeans might add a new wrinkle to the C-Cube equation. For the past four trading sessions, the volume of C-Cube shares traded has risen sharply. On an average day, 450,000 C-Cube shares change hands. But more recently, the daily volume has topped 1.5 million shares. In addition, the stock is up $6.50, or 29%, this month alone. On Tuesday, C-Cube stock closed at $28.63, largely on speculation that Intel is interested in the company. The speculation about C-Cube and Intel is not surprising, given that Intel has plans to make a play for the set-top box market. According to sources, Intel has 100 engineers working on set-top box-related chips in its Chandler, Ariz. facility. While Intel insists that it does not plan to make set-top boxes, it could come up with a design specification that uses low-powered versions of x86 or strongARM chips. However, Intel could be looking for some help in the encoding and decoding aspect of the set-top box business, a market where C-Cube is a major player. Analysts believe that Intel is looking for a software decoding/encoding solution instead of the silicon products offered by C-Cube. Consequently, they see little synergy between C-Cube and Intel. But the rumor mill is likely to keep C-Cube stock up. forbes.com