Apple will sell about 20 million iPads in 2011, according to a Barclays Capital analyst, with HP and Dell competing fiercely for their own share of the growing tablet PC market. The analyst sees HP as being able to replicate Apples iPad model via its Palm acquisition, but Dell risks being left behind unless it makes a big strategic move. – Apple will sell 20 million iPads in 2011, predicts a new
research note from Barclays Capital, as manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard
and Dell try to catch up in the burgeoning tablet PC space.
“We project that media tablets (which are not currently in
our PC unit model) the most significant of…
Microsoft will pay Yahoo some $150 million by June 30, as opposed to giving out an annual $50 million over three years, if the search-and-advertising agreement between the two companies closes by June 30, 2010, according to reports. Meanwhile, a Yahoo executive claimed during a speech at Barclays Capital Global Technology Conference that Yahoo was already preparing certain engineers to be transferred over to Microsoft, per the agreement.
– Microsoft will pay Yahoo some $150 million in expenses once the two companies
search-and-advertising deal finally closes, according to reports circulating
online, while a Yahoo executive suggested that his company is already deciding
which engineers will be shifted over to Microsoft.
Yahoos i…
Analyst Tim Luke at Barclays Capital is speculating that AMD and Intel could settle their contentious lawsuit before it gets to trial in March 2010. Both AMD and Intel would benefit by ending the lawsuit, which has cost each company millions of dollars in legal fees. For Intel, it also would help end some uncertainty at a time when the company is under scrutiny from regulators in the United States and overseas.
– Despite the wave of antitrust litigation crashing in on Intel, one analyst reportedly is predicting that the private lawsuit between the chip maker and rival Advanced Micro Devices could be ending soon.
In a research note Nov. 10, Barclays Capital analyst Tim Luke said
that a settlement would be b…
Japan saw unemployment levels reach a six-year high last month, with job availability at a new low, official figures have shown.
The jobless number increased by 830,000 in June, or 31.3% from a year before, to 3.48 million. The unemployment rate was 5.5% up from May’s figure of 5.2%.
For every 100 people seeking work, there were 43 jobs.
Separate data showed core consumer prices, excluding food costs, fell 1.7% in July year-on-year, a new record.
"The core Consumer Prices Index data was largely within expectation and is expected to stay [negative] until mid 2011 as domestic demand is weak with this severe jobs market and income situation," said Kyohei Morita, chief economist at Barclays Capital.
A fall in household demand, as consumers seek to tighten their belts, has compounded the problem of falling prices.
Azusa Kato, and economist at BNP Paribas, said: "The problem is that price falls are spreading to various categories such as food and household items. "
"Consumers increasingly are leaning towards low prices. In other words, deflationary expectations are taking hold in both businesses and households."
On the upside, separate data on Friday showed Japanese factory output added 8.3% in the three months to June from the quarter before – the biggest rise since 1953.
This came after a fall of 22.1% in the quarter to March – a record decline.
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By Simon Atkinson
Business reporter, BBC News
<img src=”http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45137000/jpg/_45137352_cebe1752-8d30-43d2-a1ef-457852a3716a.jpg” align=”left” width=”226″ height=”170″ alt=”File with Goldman Sachs written along spine” border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>
When Goldman Sachs unveils its latest results, they are are widely expected to reveal a hefty profit.
Reports suggest it will have made more than $2bn (£1.23bn) between March and June – pretty staggering given that just six months ago it was seeing its first quarterly loss since going public in 1999.
Along with its rivals, it had been battered by an economic crisis not seen since the Great Depression and the Wall Street institution was forced into taking $10bn in federal aid.
That loan, under the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP), has now been paid off as Goldman begins to operate free from state shackles.
"It is, in many respects, business as usual at Goldman"
Roger Freeman, Barclays Capital
Conspiracy theories abound about how it has managed to turn things around.
But after a fairly successful first three months of the year, it seems that it has continued to capitalise on the turmoil in the markets – making bets in the right direction on commodities and volatile currencies as well as shares – and profiting handsomely.
And its share price, while still well off its high, has gained about 75% in 2009.
"It is, in many respects, business as usual at Goldman," Barclays Capital analyst Roger Freeman told The Boston Globe.
Too much risk
But while the business model and the tales of success may be familiar, the context in which it is trading is quite different.
While once there was little but applause for huge returns, Goldman and its rivals are operating in a different sphere from 18 months ago.
Today, if profits are too good, the bank is likely to be criticised for taking too much risk – gambles that may have paid off this time but which could have left them vulnerable.
There will be complaints too that they are now operating in a much smaller marketplace – that the likes of Lehman Brothers were allowed to fail, while other institutions could prosper and now profit thanks to the taxpayer.
However investors – who have come to expect Goldman to outwit its rivals – are unlikely to be impressed if they see profits as being too low.
"They are between a rock and a hard place," said Walter Todd, of Greenwood Capital Associates, which owns shares of rival Morgan Stanley.
Headline grabbing
There is also inevitably going to be a backlash form those who saw their investments crumble because of the actions of big banks, especially when it comes to bonus time.
Analysts have estimated that Goldman is going to split about $18bn between its 28,000 employees – something that it would have struggled to do had it not got approval to exit the TARP scheme – after raising cash through the sale of debt and equities.
And if that is not controversial enough, there has been plenty of other publicity in recent weeks – including allegations of employee theft and an unflattering feature of the firm in Rolling Stone magazine accusing it of playing an important role in market bubbles.
All this ensures that while JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America will also be revealing more about their financial performance in the coming days, it will be Goldman that is likely to grab the headlines.</p
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