http://blog.PlatformConcepts.com Bridging the chasm between business leaders and techies Sat, 18 Apr 2009 07:39:30 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I occasionally trade LEAPS and straddles. A couple weeks ago (Sep 22) I attempted to close out my last short position (a bear price spread on Goldman Sachs) after having a very heavy short bias in my option portfolio the past couple years. That is unfortunate because last ... http://blog.PlatformConcepts.com/2008/10/05/inefficient-markets-%e2%80%93-shorting-the-vix-and-unintended-consequences/ Xilinx recently put out a press release publicizing their partnership with Sun Microsystems. The frustrating part of the release is it accentuates Xilinx inability to articulate its platform strategy. An excerpt from EE Times (a pretty techy organization) coverage of the press release illustrates this. Xilinx said in a ... http://blog.PlatformConcepts.com/2008/09/22/xilinx-ill-communication/ From the blogesphere to the traditional news media everyone seems ecstatic about Google's new browser, Chrome. Some are even proclaiming that it will overtake Windows and be the next major operating system. When so many smart people fall over themselves to hype a product still in development I tend to ... http://blog.PlatformConcepts.com/2008/09/03/googles-browser-chrome-a-realistic-perspective/ As the Washington Post reports and many predicted the 3G iPhone has some major "phone" issues. As a small form factor computing device it is without peers. Unfortunately, Apple overlooked that the two most important features for any mobile phone are call quality and battery life. Apple chose to ... http://blog.PlatformConcepts.com/2008/07/27/the-3g-iphone-has-some-kinks-to-resolve/ The past two days Xilinx and Altera have each reported quarterly results for their June quarter. The market reacted much more positively to Altera's results sending the company's shares up 12% yesterday. This is largely due to Xilinx long-term strategy still being fairly opaque. Overall both company's ... http://blog.PlatformConcepts.com/2008/07/17/altera-xilinx-the-battle-continues%e2%80%a6/ Yesterday, Cash America (CSH), the leading pawn retailer and one of the leading cash advance merchants, dramatically raised its Q2 2008 guidance sending the stock up 16%. Cash America "expects second quarter 2008 earnings per share to be between 51 cents and 54 cents. The Company's updated expectation for the second ... http://blog.PlatformConcepts.com/2008/07/08/cash-america-a-recession-resistant-stock/ A funny thing happened to me on the way to the Apple store. I picked up the latest copy of Information Week magazine and read an article about the HP Voodoo Envy 133. Long story short, I'm no longer going to the Apple store. I'm waiting for ... http://blog.PlatformConcepts.com/2008/06/22/a-kink-in-apples-armor/ I was pleased that Seeking Alpha published a summary of my paper on the Next Generation of Semiconductor Design and honored that they made it an Editors Pick. Over the past couple years I've find Seeking Alpha to easily be the best source for investment ideas. On my ... http://blog.PlatformConcepts.com/2008/06/22/next-generation-semiconductor-design/ The platform aspects of Xilinx and Altera's business model do not require that the companies offer the best of breed technology; although they often do. The PLD (programmable logic market) market is not prone to the extreme price competition seen in the ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), generic processor, ... http://blog.PlatformConcepts.com/2008/06/16/semiconductor-design-platforms-conclusion/ In the previous two posts on why semiconductor solutions are converging and why this is a great opportunity for FPGAs. I explained this was occurring because of increasing semiconductor complexity and physical barriers. Below are two new end market opportunities as a result of increased digital IC complexity ... http://blog.PlatformConcepts.com/2008/06/08/programmable-logic-new-markets/