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Posted on 09.29.06 by Nikhil @ 4:25 pm
There is a transition taking place among wireless carriers, and Motricity, based out of Research Triangle Park, N.C., is in the middle of it. Until recently, U.S. carriers such as Verizon (nyse: VZ - news - people ), Sprint Nextel (nyse: S - news - people ) and Alltel (nyse: AT - news - people ) have been notorious for guarding how their wireless networks are used and what kinds of content their subscribers can see. By doing so, they have been able to differentiate themselves from one another. The content made available to their subscribers could easily be found on a cellphone’s “deck.” Filed under: Stock Watch and Applications and Cutting Edge Comments: Comments Off |
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Posted on 09.28.06 by Nikhil @ 5:57 pm
Shares of Novatel Wireless (NVTL) fell more than 18% last week. The reason: Nokia (NOK) and Intel (INTC) announced that the two companies would work together to make notebook computers able to access cellular networks through high speed downlink packet access technology (HSDPA). The idea is to have product out in 2007. Nokia plans to make the cellular module while Intel would embed the module into a platform and handle sales and marketing to notebook vendors. Shares of Novatel were hit hard because Novatel dominates the sale of embedded wide area wireless modems. These are the radios that go inside a laptop, such as one from Dell, that are then activated by a wireless carrier, such as Verizon or Cingular, for use on their high speed data network. For Novatel, this is a growing part of its business. Of course, when you have a big opportunity like this and you hear that not just one Goliath, but two are coming into your turf, it’s not good news. It means that Novatel will now have a new competitor in the marketplace – one that could be very tough. Besides that, Intel was not considered a real threat, prior to this announcement. After all, in June Intel took steps to reduce its exposure to wireless, selling some of its wireless business to Marvell Technology Group (MRVL). Now, Intel is coming back strong with Nokia. Let me say, however, that right now, all this is nothing more than announcements. Intel and Nokia have not announced any particular product yet and obviously have no customers. They have just stated their intent. Shares of NVTL have fallen because investors are discounting the stock for a less competitive environment. This may, however, not be all bad news. With Intel now entering this market for wireless laptops, can Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) be far behind? If so, from where will AMD get its radios? It could be from a number of companies including Novatel or from others such as Sierra Wireless (SWIR) or Motorola (MOT). Enabling wireless laptops promises to be a big business worth half a billion dollars or more. I believe there will be room for many players. I’ll continue to watch this company and update readers of Forbes Wireless Stock Watch. Filed under: Stock Watch and Infrastructure and Components and Cutting Edge Comments: None |
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Posted on 09.28.06 by Nikhil @ 1:55 pm
MVNOs (mobile virutal network operators) hold the promise of giving advertisers a highly targeted audience. But last week, Disney’s seven month old Mobile ESPN service decided to call it quits. The service has had trouble attracting enough subscribers to make it worthwhile to the company. I’m a little surprised by Disney’s decision. Reason: it doesn’t seem like Disney really gave Mobile ESPN much of a chance. The service was never available over a significant holiday period. And it wasn’t around during a football season, when demand may have picked up. Also, it’s not that easy for new subscribers to switch to a new service. They need time to get out of their long term contracts. The problems that this service faced are not, I believe, a bad sign for MVNOs in general. I think the problems here were specific to Mobile ESPN. The service was expensive and it didn’t own enough proprietary content. It seems that ESPN could have solved these problems. Now, it’s possible that the service will be acquired by a carrier. Meanwhile, Disney isn’t giving up on MVNO’s completely. The company is still pushing ahead with Disney Mobile -a cellphone service for kids that gives lots of control to Mom and Dad. Mobile ESPN will take on no new customers, and will continue to remain active to existing customers at least through the end of this year. If you have the service and you want to discontinue it, you can with no penalty. If you bought a Mobile ESPN phone, you can get a full refund. Filed under: Applications and News Comments: None |
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Posted on 09.20.06 by Nikhil @ 2:12 pm
I found this news from Alltel Wireless interesting and innovative. Alltel said this month that it would partner with a company called JumpTap, which specializes in the development of innovative, carrier-centric mobile search and advertising. The plans is for the two companies to work together to develop a mobile search system so that Alltel subscribers can search for information from a host of different mobile, local and web-based providers. Alltel says that these new capabilities will be offered to its subscribers at no additional cost. The search technology will let Alltel customers quickly search for things like ringtones and wallpapers, maps and directions, news and sports, flight updates, weather, white pages, stock quotes, chat services, and any mobile website included in JumpTap’s Mobile Search Index. Filed under: Stock Watch and Applications and Cutting Edge and News Comments: None |
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Posted on 09.19.06 by Nikhil @ 2:23 pm
Today, Motorola announced that it will acquire Symbol Technologies in an all cash deal for $15 per share - or $3.9 billion. You may wonder why Motorola would want anything to do with this maker of bar code scanners. The company, after all, has been less than a star performer over the past few years and its business has lost ground to more nimble competitors. But Motorola sees a silver lining: A way to boost its own business in the enterprise with Symbol’s radio frequency indentification technologies (RFID used in bar code scanners) as well as its mobile software aimed at businesses. Its a big market and as more companies turn to wireless technologies to boost producitivity of their employees, Motorola can make inroads into warehousing companies and manufacturing companies that need the technology to track inventory. The acquisition, of course, must receive regulatory approval. If all goes through, the deal will be finalized at the end of this year, or in the early part of 2007. Shares of Motorola (MOT) are off a little on the news, but shares of Symbol Technologies (SBL) soared 15% on Monday over speculation about the acquisition. Filed under: Stock Watch and Infrastructure and News Comments: None |
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Posted on 09.15.06 by Nikhil @ 2:21 pm
Earlier this month, Motorola announced that it will acquire Symbol Technologies in an all cash deal for $15 per share - or $3.9 billion. You may wonder why Motorola would want anything to do with this maker of bar code scanners. Sumbol, after all, has been less than a star performer over the past few years. But Motorola sees a silver lining: A way to boost its own business in the enterprise with Symbol’s radio frequency identification technologies (RFID used in bar code scanners) as well as its mobile software aimed at businesses. It’s a big market and as more companies turn to wireless technologies to boost productivity of their employees, Motorola can make inroads into warehousing companies and manufacturing companies that need the technology to track inventory. The acquisition, of course, must receive regulatory approval. If all goes through, the deal will be finalized at the end of this year, or in the early part of 2007. Shares of Motorola are off a little on the news, but shares of Symbol Technologies soared earlier, over speculation about the acquisition. Filed under: Stock Watch and Mergers/Acquisitions Comments: None |
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Posted on 09.11.06 by Nikhil @ 5:06 pm
Last month, I spoke with David Storey, chief executive of Relm Wireless, and Bill Kelly, the company’s chief financial officer. “We’re executing,” said Storey. “We’re growing at about 40%, and we want to grow faster. In ten years, we’ll have 10% of the market for two-way land radios.” If Relm can make that happen, the company will still be a relatively small player, but with sales close to $1 billion, up from $28.5 million in 2005. It looks like Relm (amex: RWC - news - people ) could be on its way. The company has carved out a very nice business for itself as a low price, high margin manufacturer of two-way land mobile radios. The radios that the company makes for the business and industrial markets differ significantly from the ones used for public safety, because businesses do not demand the same level of specifications that public safety officials want. For example, a business may not care if its radios have the longest battery life possible or if they can interoperate with other kinds of two way radios. With companies, radios generally operate off a single network, so businesses are usually happy with analog radio systems. Click Here for the rest of this story. Filed under: Stock Watch and Applications and Infrastructure and Cutting Edge Comments: None |
