By Ian Sherr

People don’t have tablet fever; it seems they simply have a mania for iPads.

The latest evidence: Hewlett-Packard Co. is dropping the price of its TouchPad tablet by 20% little more than a month after it hit stores, as the computer giant tries to goose sales of its answer to Apple Inc.’s iPad.

H-P, Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd. have all jumped into the tablet market this year, trying to close the gap with Apple.

The electronics giant created a multi-billion-dollar business last year when it launched the iPad—and has since seen its profits and market value swell as others have tried to keep pace.

Rivals have been routed so far. Motorola cut the price of its Xoom tablet after its February launch, released a cheaper model and warned shipments will decline this quarter. RIM’s PlayBook was delayed until April and still isn’t being offered for sale by the two biggest U.S. wireless carriers.

Samsung Electronics Co., which was the quickest to market an iPad rival and has shipped millions of tablets based on Google Inc.’s Android software, is now embroiled in a patent dispute with Apple that threatens sales of its Galaxy Tab in most of Europe.

Apple, meanwhile, says it is having difficulty keeping up with demand and selling every iPad it can manufacture. Five months after its release, its iPad 2 can be hard to find in retail stores. The company said it shipped 9.3 million iPads in the June-ended quarter.

To read the rest of the story, either contact me directly or read more online at the WSJ: here. (subscription required)

(Originally published Aug. 12, 2011 in the Wall Street Journal.)

By Ian Sherr

Three-dimensional televisions are getting another “D” — discount.

Just a year ago, many 3-D TVs cost $1,000 more than regular sets. But during the recently ended holiday season, the gap halved and is set to shrink further.

Now, television makers, many of which had hoped 3-D would boost sales, are sandwiching the technology into their premium televisions while accepting a smaller premium for it. Like thinner displays, energy efficiency and high-definition, 3-D is becoming a “me-too” feature.

“Prices for 3-D TVs will definitely go down this year,” Skott Ahn, chief technology officer and president of LG Electronics Inc., said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Mr. Ahn said LG would cut the premium it charges for 3-D TVs by 20% this year and build the technology into all of its new models by 2012.

The muted expectations for 3-D television mark a U-turn from last year’s enthusiastic embrace of the technology. Television makers rushed to bring the third dimension into living rooms after witnessing the success of the movie “Avatar.” Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN unit launched sports broadcasts in 3-D. Even Gucci Group N.V. designed stylish eyeglasses for 3-D viewers, hoping to cash in on the expected popularity of the televisions.

To read the rest of the story, either contact me directly or read more online at the WSJ: here. (subscription required)

(Originally published January 6, 2011, at Dow Jones Newswires and on WSJ.com.)

By Ian Sherr

To read the rest of the story, either contact me directly or read more online at the WSJ: here. (subscription required)

(Originally published Oct. 26, 2010, in the Wall Street Journal.)

By Ian Sherr

(Reuters) – Advanced Micro Devices Inc may make some of its largest inroads into the fast-growing laptop computer market thanks to a new generation of power-efficient chips to be unveiled next week.

People familiar with the matter who work for AMD said the company’s latest microprocessors are expected to be included in 109 mainstream laptop models in the coming months, the company’s best showing during the crucial back-to-school sales season. Last year, AMD’s chips were available in 40 laptop models.

“This is the first time we’ve seen this much attention to our notebooks,” the source said, referencing the company’s laptop chips.

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By Ian Sherr

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Stellar results from Intel Corp could signal brighter tech earnings results in coming weeks, but analysts warn stocks themselves may be stuck in a short-term correction.

Intel shares fell more than 3 percent even after analysts from Credit Suisse, Raymond James and JMP Securities, among others, raised their price targets on the stock. JMP Securities and Thinkequity raised their ratings to “outperform” and “buy” respectively.

The broader market was down on Friday as losses from JP Morgan Chase & Co helped drag the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite down 1.24 percent.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Patrick Wang expected a short-term correction for Intel and many other semiconductor stocks as Wall Street locks in profits after a solid fourth-quarter showing from the world’s largest chipmaker.

“Buy on the rumor, sell on the news,” he said, adding that semiconductor stocks have had a good run when put in the perspective of downgrades from both Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch before Intel reported stellar earnings.

“There’s no rhyme or reason behind the weakness here except that expectations are up and people are taking profits,” Wang said.

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By Ian Sherr

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 12 (Reuters) – GlobalFoundries plans to merge its operations with recently acquired Chartered Semiconductor, creating a single contract chipmaker with more than $2 billion of revenue to take on market leaders TSMC and UMC.

GlobalFoundries, a joint venture of Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Abu Dhabi-backed Advanced Technology Investment Co, is already beginning to work with suppliers and partners as one company, GlobalFoundries Chief Executive Doug Grose told Reuters in an interview.

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By Ian Sherr

CHICAGO (Reuters) – ANALYSIS – When the U.S. housing market was booming earlier this decade, lumber prices were too. When the housing market went into a slump so, too, did lumber.

Now, with nascent signs of a housing recovery, it’s natural to assume lumber prices will follow suit.

But experts say that it may be years before lumber recovers in any substantive way, thanks mostly to conservative production mixed with unpredictable demand.

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