Cisco offers $3bn for Tanberg, the video conferencing company$

Cisco has offered to buy Tandberg, the Norwegian video conferencing company, for $3 billion in cash as part of its attempts to dominate the market for virtual business meetings.
Cisco said it wanted to add to its high-end TelePresence video meeting service for executives and its WebEx meeting tool used by millions of office workers. The deal, Cisco’s first acquisition of a public company outside the US, accelerates its push in video conferencing long championed by John Chambers, its chief executive.
The video meeting market has received a boost from the recession as companies have cut travel budgets. Videoconferencing sales at both companies rose last year as customers bought more equipment. Cisco said last month that TelePresence sales rose 97 per cent from the previous year, without disclosing revenue.
Tandberg’s board has recommended the Cisco offer to its shareholders. Fredrik Halvorsen, the chief executive, told investors that large shareholders had voiced support for the offer of NKr153.50 a share. Mr Halvorsen will continue to lead the unit if the acquisition goes through.

Cisco’s approach could trigger offers from rivals including Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, according to analysts.
TelePresence provides an “immersive experience”, using furniture, cameras and giant screens to make users feel they are meeting in the same room. Some systems can cost more than $250,000.
Tandberg has a range of gear, including high-definition video systems, that can sit on desks or be used with personal computers. The company also provides sales, support and other services in more than 90 countries.
Cisco estimates the market, from online video chat to high-end virtual business meetings, to be worth $34 billion. Oslo-based Tandberg, which has 1,500 employees, had $808.8 million in sales last year.
Shares in Tandberg, which had almost doubled in value this year on takeover speculation, were 11 per cent higher at the offer price of NKr153.5 by late afternoon, having traded at up to NKr156 earlier in the day. Cisco shares closed down nearly 2 per cent. JPMorgan is advising Tandberg and Lazard is advising Cisco.
Martin Hoff of Arctic Securities said Cisco had offered a good price. “But the bid will stand for four weeks and there might be other offers,” he added.
Nordea Markets analyst Andre Adolfsen said there was a small chance of competing bids, including from Cisco’s rival Hewlett-Packard.

Cisco offers $3bn for Tanberg, the video conferencing company$

Cisco has offered to buy Tandberg, the Norwegian video conferencing company, for $3 billion in cash as part of its attempts to dominate the market for virtual business meetings.
Cisco said it wanted to add to its high-end TelePresence video meeting service for executives and its WebEx meeting tool used by millions of office workers. The deal, Cisco’s first acquisition of a public company outside the US, accelerates its push in video conferencing long championed by John Chambers, its chief executive.
The video meeting market has received a boost from the recession as companies have cut travel budgets. Videoconferencing sales at both companies rose last year as customers bought more equipment. Cisco said last month that TelePresence sales rose 97 per cent from the previous year, without disclosing revenue.
Tandberg’s board has recommended the Cisco offer to its shareholders. Fredrik Halvorsen, the chief executive, told investors that large shareholders had voiced support for the offer of NKr153.50 a share. Mr Halvorsen will continue to lead the unit if the acquisition goes through.

Cisco’s approach could trigger offers from rivals including Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, according to analysts.
TelePresence provides an “immersive experience”, using furniture, cameras and giant screens to make users feel they are meeting in the same room. Some systems can cost more than $250,000.
Tandberg has a range of gear, including high-definition video systems, that can sit on desks or be used with personal computers. The company also provides sales, support and other services in more than 90 countries.
Cisco estimates the market, from online video chat to high-end virtual business meetings, to be worth $34 billion. Oslo-based Tandberg, which has 1,500 employees, had $808.8 million in sales last year.
Shares in Tandberg, which had almost doubled in value this year on takeover speculation, were 11 per cent higher at the offer price of NKr153.5 by late afternoon, having traded at up to NKr156 earlier in the day. Cisco shares closed down nearly 2 per cent. JPMorgan is advising Tandberg and Lazard is advising Cisco.
Martin Hoff of Arctic Securities said Cisco had offered a good price. “But the bid will stand for four weeks and there might be other offers,” he added.
Nordea Markets analyst Andre Adolfsen said there was a small chance of competing bids, including from Cisco’s rival Hewlett-Packard.

Hewlett-Packard sees signs of stability

Hewlett-Packard (HP) reported a drop in profits but pointed to signs of
stability in the market.

The world’s largest PC maker said its profit dropped 19 per cent in the latest
quarter, dragged by ongoing weakness in sales of personal computers,
software and printer ink.

But the company said that consumer spending on PCs was improving, helped by
price cuts. HP has been branching out aggressively into other areas, like
technology services and computer networking, but the PC business still makes
up nearly a third of its revenue.

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PC-maker Dell’s profits slump 63%

Dell has seen its latest quarterly profits decline by almost two-thirds as the worldwide recession continues to hit sales of computers.

The world’s second-largest maker of personal computers made a net profit of $290m (£182m) in the three months to 1 May, down 63% from $784m a year ago.

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Goodbye Intel

Intel Corporation is the company that makes about 80% of the world’s computer micro-processors. Craig Barrett, the outgoing chairman, has held every top job in the company during his 35 years there, including those of chief executive officer and president. Peter Day talked to him to reflect on three and a half decades of extraordinary change.

Intel likes ‘Moore’s Law’.

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Chinese PC giant to cut workforce

One of the world’s largest computer manufacturers, Chinese-based Lenovo, says it is to cut about 2,500 jobs around the world.

Lenovo blamed the cuts, which amount to nearly 11% of its total workforce, on the global economic downturn and a fall in demand for PCs. Read more

Laptop sales jump helps HP profit

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has reported a 21% jump in sales of laptops for the August to October period and a 99% rise in revenue from technology services.

The increase in services revenues follows HP’s acquisition of Electronic Data Systems (EDS). Read more

Dell sees quarterly profits slip

US computer maker Dell has seen its quarterly profits slip 5%, as customers worldwide bought fewer computers.

Dells profits in the third quarter were $727m (£492.3m), down from $766m in the same period last year. Read more

HP’s profits exceed expectations

The world’s biggest PC maker, Hewlett-Packard (HP), has beaten forecasts by posting a better-than-expected net profit in the fourth quarter.

HP said it made a $1.03 (£0.68) net profit per share excluding charges, 3% higher than the Wall Street analysts expected. Read more