Tech wrap: Microsoft still into Yahoo
Microsoft Corp is considering a bid for Yahoo Inc, resurfacing as a potential buyer after a bitter and unsuccessful fight to take over the Internet company in 2008, sources close to the situation told Reuters on Wednesday.
Microsoft joins a host of other companies looking at Yahoo, which has a market value of about $18 billion and is readying financial pitch books for potential buyers, they said. Those companies include buyout shops Providence Equity Partners, Hellman & Friedman and Silver Lake Partners, as well as Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Russian technology investment firm DST Global, the sources said.
Rival smartphone makers could exploit a rare letdown by Apple in the launch of its new iPhone 4S model, which failed to wow fans, and grab a bigger share of the most lucrative part of the phone market.
In a sign that even Facebook is not immune to market volatility, the WSJ reports that the price of shares for the social network has slowed on secondary markets, falling 8 percent since July.
India launched what it dubbed the world’s cheapest tablet computer Wednesday, to be sold to students at the subsidized price of $35 and later in shops for about $60.
Reuters blogger Felix Salmon, who has had an ongoing spat with Business Insider founder Henry Blodget, had this to say about Blodget ringing the opening bell at the NYSE: “Blodget’s VIP status on the floor of the NYSE today shows how far he’s come from the dot-bust days of his disgrace.”
YouTube’s mythbusters: When blogs attack
It’s taken a while but YouTube is officially pushing back at the various estimates on how much money it costs parent Google by satisfying our collective hunger for million of video clips every day. Google paid $1.65 billion for YouTube in 2006, when it bought the site from Chad Hurley and former CTO Steve Chen (pictured).
Various YouTube executives we’ve spoken to privately over the last year have bristled at the idea that they are an expensive experiment for Google without a clear profit-making business model. Google CEO Eric Schmidt took the first step in a change of communications strategy in an group interview with reporters at the Sun Valley conference two weeks ago, and to more listeners on the Google earnings call on Thursday. His central point was that everyone’s favorite video site is on the path to profitability.
On Monday, two of YouTube’s PR executives hit back at some of the myths about YouTube’s business with a blog titled “YouTube myth busting.” These include claims that it only features short-form, grainy user-generated content when in fact it has deals with Hollywood partners and features HD content. They also said more than 70 percent of AdAge Top 100 marketers ran campaigns on YouTube in 2008.
But two disputed myths that raised the hackles of the tech blogosphere were related to 1) estimates of YouTube’s cost structure and 2) the “oft-cited” stat that YouTube only monetizes 3-5 percent of the site, which the PR execs said was “old and wrong.” The bloggers wanted some numbers and they didn’t get any from this YouTube’s blog
Here’s Henry Blodget of Business Insider:
Enough already. We’re glad that YouTube has not turned out to be a disaster. (We weren’t among those who thought it would be). But we can’t stand this attitude. If Google is tired of people “picking any number to fit any theory,” then they should just publish the facts.
Peter Kafka of AllThings Digital calls it ‘modest boasting‘:
Icahn helps himself to some Yahoo
Activist investor Carl Icahn helped himself to some early Thanksgiving turkey, buying more shares in Yahoo on Wednesday.
Here’s Silicon Alley Insider’s Henry Blodget with the basics:
Well, don’t accuse Carl Icahn of cutting and running. After losing $1 billion on his massive Yahoo bet–he bought 69 million shares last spring at about $25–Carl Icahn has (figuratively speaking) doubled down.
In the past three days, the raider has bought another 6.7 million shares of Yahoo for about $65 million, bringing his total to 75.6 million shares. At today’s closing price of $10.58, Carl’s stake is worth $800 million, about $900 million less than he paid for his original position. The 76 million shares amount to 5.4% of the company.
The Associated Press explains why this could be important:
Yahoo is looking for a new leader after co-founder Jerry Yang said earlier this month that he will step down as chief executive as soon as the company’s board finds a successor.
Icahn has been among the loudest voices arguing for a new direction at Yahoo. He threatened to nominate a new slate of directors after the Sunnyvale, California, company rejected a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft this summer. Yahoo gave him a seat on its board and two other slots for members of his choosing.
