So IBM Wants to Buy Sun....

Francis McInerney — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:03:49 -0400

New York — IBM wants to buy Sun and is prepared to pay a hefty premium. Whatever this deal’s value to IBM, it cannot be anything to do with Sun’s operational integrity because that has declined as markedly over the last decade as IBM’s has improved. The chart tells the story.

Lee Scott's Legacy

Francis McInerney — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 11:35:19 -0500

New York — Lee Scott will retire as CEO of Wal-Mart on February 1, and what a legacy he leaves. Sales up 2.4 times, on a $167 billion dollar company. Inventory days down 23% to 34. Receivable days as close to zero as you can get, and payables never higher than a manageable 39 days.

Auto Industry Crash

Francis McInerney — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:08:15 -0400

New York — Some of the world’s biggest companies are about to blow
one of the most exceptional growth opportunities in history. Seventy
million light vehicles are sold annually, demand is rising steadily
worldwide, the industry is in the beginning of a huge replacement cycle
to green vehicles, but, most of today’s suppliers will not be around to
benefit.

The Media Blues

Francis McInerney — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:11:09 -0400

Tokyo — NBC’s Beijing Olympics coverage was over
the top, with more coverage over the air, on its cable networks, and
online than in all the years since the 1960 Olympics, combined. But
here’s the shocker: despite streaming most of this — thousands of hours
— over nbcolympics.com, the Games drew less than $6 million in online
advertising revenues. That’s a tiny fraction of the $1 Billion NBC
recouped on legacy media toward what it spent to acquire American
broadcasting rights.

Microsoft and Apple

Francis McInerney — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:13:41 -0400

New York — Talk about asymmetric innovation, today the big story was Microsoft hiring comedian Jerry Seinfeld for $10 million to help rebuild its stodgy image in what the Wall Street Journal called its “Battle to Beat Apple.” While the blogosphere chattered away about how Seinfeld used Macs on his show and once appeared in an Apple ad, the real story is in this chart.

Innovation in The Air

Francis McInerney — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:29:13 -0400

Sharp Miscalculation

Francis McInerney — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:31:00 -0400

Demand Management Failure

Francis McInerney — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:47:28 -0400

A Tale of Two Innovators

Francis McInerney — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:30:31 -0400

Taking Advantage of Motorola

Francis McInerney — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:02:18 -0400

Tokyo – I’m often asked here what it would take to become a top player in the $400 billion global market for cellphones.