Author Archives: Scalper1

Apple, Samsung Need Complex Chips, Antennas To Juggle Airwaves

Apple ( AAPL ), Samsung and other smartphone makers will need more advanced chips and antenna components as wireless service providers combine multiple radio-frequency bands to improve network capacity and data speeds, says a Citigroup report. AT&T ( T ), Verizon Communications ( VZ )and Sprint ( S ) are among the wireless firms turning to “carrier aggregation,” a term for combining two or more frequency bands to provide a single communications channel with more bandwidth. This juggling act requires more complex radio frequency chips, says Citigroup. It forecasts a growing market opportunity for chipmakers Qualcomm ( QCOM ), Broadcom ( AVGO ),  Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ),   Qorvo ( QRVO ), Murata and others. Wireless firms are using carrier aggregation as mobile video traffic surges.  “Carrier aggregation is like adding more lanes to widen the highway and creating more space for more cars to travel on the highway at the same time,” says the report. While Apple designs its own antennas, there’s still a market opportunity for Amphenol and AAC Technologies to supply China-based smartphone brands, says Citigroup. Apple’s iPhone 6S series supports 23 frequency bands and the number is expected to keep growing in future devices, says Citigroup. Xiaomi’s new Mi 5 supports carrier aggregation to double its data download speeds, says the report. In the U.S., AT&T was the first to move to carrier aggregation for 4G LTE-A network upgrades, followed by Sprint and Verizon, analysts say. “According to Cisco ( CSCO ) (Systems), mobile data traffic is expected to grow more than 50% in the next five years,” said Citigroup. It expects more “world” phones to be built, with the ability to roam on 4G LTE networks as subscribers travel.

Questions Remain After Feds Quit Apple iPhone Hack Case

The Justice Department’s decision to withdraw its demand that Apple ( AAPL ) help it hack an iPhone in a criminal case is seen as a victory for civil liberties and data security. But the government’s actions late Monday raise a host of questions. The U.S. Department of Justice told a federal judge that it no longer needed to compel Apple to help unlock the password-protected iPhone 5C used by Syed Farook, one of the two now-deceased shooters in the San Bernardino, Calif., massacre. The DOJ said that the FBI was able to access data on the iPhone with the assistance of an unidentified outside party. Unanswered questions include: Who unlocked the iPhone for the FBI? How did they do it? Did they find anything useful for the investigation? Is data vulnerable on all iPhones because of the hack? Is the FBI telling the truth about the iPhone hack, or did it just want to back out of the court battle with Apple to save face? Will the feds pursue court action against Apple in other criminal cases? How will Congress address smartphone security amid law enforcement demands for access? “This case should never have been brought,” Apple said in a statement. “Apple believes deeply that people in the United States and around the world deserve data protection, security and privacy.” Apple said that a court order forcing it to write software to bypass its own security protections would have set a dangerous precedent. If it created a “back door” for the government, the data of all iPhone users would have been vulnerable to hackers, criminals and spies, the company said. A U.S. magistrate on Feb. 16 ordered Apple to assist the FBI in hacking Farook’s iPhone. Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, shot and killed 14 people on Dec. 2. The radicalized Muslim couple, described in press reports as supporters of terror group ISIS, died in a gun battle with police. Fight for the Future, a digital rights group known for organizing online protests to support Internet freedoms, called the FBI’s decision to back down in the case a victory for the public. “Fortunately, Internet users mobilized quickly and powerfully to educate the public about the dangers of back doors, and together we forced the government to back down,” Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future, said in a statement. Image provided by Shutterstock .

Yahoo Bidders Get April 11 Deadline, Must Unveil Financial Details

Yahoo ( YHOO ) is facing interest from as many as 40 groups and has set an April 11 deadline for any preliminary bids on its core Internet business and Asian assets, according to media reports Tuesday. Yahoo is sending letters asking suitors for bids, said a report in the Wall Street Journal. Bidders reportedly are being pressed on financing details along with conditions for a deal, including tax implications for separating Yahoo’s Alibaba Group ( BABA ) and Yahoo Japan assets from the core. Some buyers may be only interested in Yahoo’s core Web business in whole or in pieces, the report said, and some might bid for Yahoo’s 15% stake in China e-commerce giant Alibaba   or Yahoo’s holdings in Yahoo Japan. Yahoo wants to thin the field to serious potential buyers, the WSJ said. Yahoo is under pressure to get an auction process moving before this summer, when its shareholders will vote on whether to sweep out Yahoo’s current nine-member board and replace them with a slate proposed last week by activist investor Starboard Value. The hedge fund launched a proxy battle after criticizing Yahoo’s financial performance and slow movement toward a sale. Meanwhile, “any bids for Yahoo’s core business will show a discounted price target, and may not want to include Yahoo Japan assets if it’s from a domestically focused company,” wrote Rosenblatt Securities analyst Martin Pyykkonen in an industry note Tuesday. He added that “potential private equity buyers would seek a lowball price, with the plans of splitting the company even more so than just the core Yahoo assets from the stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan.” This week, reports said  Microsoft ( MSFT ) might put up “significant” financing in a bid for Yahoo. Microsoft executives are in talks with potential investors about providing funds to buy the troubled Internet company , Re/code reported. A Reuters report said those talks are in the early stages. Microsoft and Yahoo have a longstanding search and ad partnership, and Microsoft is focused on preserving that relationship, it said. Private equity firms interested in Yahoo have approached Microsoft, Reuters said. In 2008, then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer tried to buy Yahoo for about $45 billion. But Yahoo’s core business has since weakened, Pyykkonen wrote. “Fast forward to today, and there are declining fundamentals in Yahoo’s core business, which include user and usage year/year declines and a write down of a portion of Yahoo’s Tumblr business,” he said, as Facebook ( FB ) and Alphabet ( GOOGL )-unit Google both have more revenue concentration from mobile advertising. “Based on yesterday’s closing prices, Yahoo’s core business and its minority stake in Yahoo Japan were valued at $3.43 billion, based on the majority of Yahoo’s market cap being in its Alibaba stake (16% = $30 billion). We see any potential sale of Yahoo’s core business as being a long and protracted process (due diligence, price negotiation, proxy battle, etc.) through much of this year and with limited upside, if any, from the current stock price,” said Pyykkonen. Yahoo stock was up 2.5% in midday trading in the stock market today , near 36. Shares of Alibaba, Facebook, Alphabet and Microsoft were all up about 1% midday Tuesday.