The Great Debate UK
Why we are not witnessing a tech boom
By Kathleen Brooks. The opinions expressed are her own.
The words ‘tech bubble’ have been bandied about since the Apple share price really started to climb at the end of 2011. Earlier this month, its market capitalisation hit $600 billion dollars, only the second company to see its market cap get that high. So it appears like everyone wants a bite out of the proverbial apple.
There is a dangerous precedent for markets’ believing that tech stocks can only go in one direction. The dotcom bubble back in 2000 caused havoc in the equity markets and also contributed to the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates incredibly low, one of the contributing factors to the housing crisis in 2007.
Added to this, the only other company to have registered a $600 billion market cap was Microsoft at the height of the tech boom. Today Microsoft is worth about a third of that value. So does Apple need to watch out?
We have seen the Apple share price fall quite sharply in recent days, it is down 7 percent since last week. However, it has followed the overall market lower and thus the decline may not be people getting nervous about holding Apple stock, but rather some profit-taking and a normal correction. While we certainly don’t expect Apple to continue to appreciate at the pace it has of late, good profit growth, surging sales and plenty of opportunity to expand its retail operation across the developed and developing world could help prop up the share price even at these levels.
from The Great Debate:
How Apple, and everyone, can solve the sweatshop problem
Every few years brings us another sweatshop offender. In the 1990s it was Disney, and then Nike and Gap. The 2000s brought us Wal-Mart. The past few weeks Apple has been in the crosshairs.
One question is of paramount importance: How can we use this current public conversation to finally drive a different outcome? What must companies do so that 15 years after Kathie Lee Gifford tearfully became the first sweatshop poster child, workers who make and grow products for global consumers are paid fairly, protected from danger and free to advocate for themselves without fear of reprisal?
from The Great Debate:
Jobs made Apple great by ignoring profit
By Clayton Christensen and James Allworth
The opinions expressed are their own.
Steve Jobs retires as the CEO of Apple with a reputation that will place him amongst the pantheon of history's great global business leaders. Many people have written about what makes Jobs and Apple special, but I think they’re missing what truly set him apart. Jobs has succeeded by eschewing the one thing that most people view as the raison d'être for companies -- profit.
When I left the industry to come to academia 22 years ago, it was driven by a set of questions that had troubled me for some time. Why was it that the best run companies in the world -- companies that have had incredibly smart leaders, following carefully detailed plans and with tremendous execution ability -- reliably seem to come unstuck? The answer to this question is what has become known as the theory of disruption.
from Breakingviews:
Microsoft ought to kick off search for Bing buyer
By Robert Cyran
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
NEW YORK -- Microsoft needs to concentrate on a different kind of search: finding a buyer for Bing, its online search business. The industry's distant number two is a distraction for the software giant -- and one that costs shareholders dearly. The division that houses Bing lost $2.6 billion in the latest fiscal year. Facebook, or even Apple, might make a better home for Bing. And a sale would be a boon for Microsoft's investors.
from MacroScope:
The iPod – the iCon of Chinese capitalism
Walking past Apple's sleek shop along London's Regent Street on Sunday, my wife asked me what I wanted for Father's Day.
"An iPad?" I ventured, half-jokingly.
"Are you sure you want one? Don't you care how they're made?" came her disapproving reply.
from MediaFile:
Apple and Twitter: A New Power Duo?
One big winner coming out of Apple’s developers’ conference on Monday is Twitter.
Apple announced that the Internet microblogging service will be integrated directly into future versions of the iPhone and iPad software.
from Breakingviews:
Apple needs more formal delegation of Jobs’ power
By Robert Cyran
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
NEW YORK -- Apple needs a more formal delegation of Steve Jobs' power. The tech giant's chief executive is handing day-to-day control to chief operating officer Tim Cook due to health issues. Yet he retains his CEO title. This is the third such move, and this time the handover is indefinite. However painful, a more formal transfer to an acting CEO would have been better.
CES 2011 – Consumer Geek or Future Enterprise Insight
-Danny Wootton is director of innovation at Logica. The opinions expressed are his own.-
As ever with the Consumer Electronics Show, there has been a flurry of announcements of new technology and the latest must have gadgets. However, depending on how you look at what comes out of this show and what your view is on the consumerisation of enterprise IT, then you can either think of the show a geek heaven or an insight to the technologies and tools we’ll all be using in our organisations in years to come.
from Breakingviews:
Apple still looks a bargain after $100 bln run
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
NEW YORK -- Large companies rarely grow fast due to their sheer size. Yet Apple increased sales by more than 50 percent in 2010. That sent the company's value up by an astonishing $100 billion to nearly $300 billion. The odds of the tech firm led by Steve Jobs repeating this wondrous performance are low. The shares still look a good bet, though. Apple's valuation looks oddly subdued once adjusted for its hulking cash pile.
from MediaFile:
Berners-Lee: Apple, Facebook are enemies of the web
2010 is a great time for the web. Innovation is thriving as new services and content flourish on smartphones and laptops, thanks in good part to industry leaders like Apple and Facebook.
But according to Tim Berners-Lee, - often called “ the father of the web” - the open and democratic structure of the web is threatened by sinister forces trying to redesign the web in ways that make it more closed for their own personal gain. These enemies of the web don't just include totalitarian governments. They include industry leaders like Apple and Facebook.
