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Mark Hibben

Editor's Choice

  • The Consequences of Apple Losing its Ebook Trial

    By Mark Hibben - June 18, 2013 | Tickers: AMZN, AAPL | Editor's Choice

    On the face of it, the stakes in Apple's ebook trial may not seem very big. During the trial, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) executive Keith Moerer claimed that Apple has 20% of the U.S. ebook market.  That market was estimated to be worth about $1.4 billion, which means that Apple makes about $280 million a year, small compared to total iTunes revenue.  In contrast, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is more »

  • Is Netflix Still a Good Investment?

    By Mark Hibben - May 29, 2013 | Tickers: AMZN, AAPL, GOOG, NFLX | Editor's Choice

    Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) shares have been on a remarkable bull run, up over 300% since 8/1/12, and the shares have added almost half of that since the start of the year.  Investor sentiment continues to be bullish, and the P/E is a stratospheric 518.7.

    Yet there are doubters.  Rocco Pendola wrote a pair of scathing articles about Netflix: "Netflix: The Biggest Empty Promise Since Enron?" and more »

  • Apple's 4K Television Opportunity

    By Mark Hibben - May 10, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, SNE | Editor's Choice

    This month Sony (NYSE: SNE) will begin shipping its first 4K televisions that have screens with a massive 3840 x 2160 pixels, exactly 4 times the pixels of 1080p HD.  What can you watch in the 4K or Ultra HD (UHD) format?  Not much.  The race is now on to develop and deliver 4K content, and this will challenge traditional content distribution approaches as well as provide Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPLmore »)

  • The Case for Lower Apple Margins

    By Mark Hibben - April 28, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, GOOG, MSFT | Editor's Choice

    Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) latest earnings report, filed April 23, left investors and analysts yearning for the halcyon days of one year ago, when gross margin was over 47%. But even though gross margin now stands at 37.5%, I believe it needs to come down further still in order to compete effectively with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).

    Apple stereotype

    There's a certain stereotype of Apple more »

  • Don't Write Off BlackBerry Yet

    By Mark Hibben - March 29, 2013 | Tickers: BBRY, MSFT, NOK | Editor's Choice

    The Blackberry (NASDAQ: BBRY) Z10 had barely hit store shelves in the U.S. when the launch was decried by analysts as “disappointing” and “lackluster,” apparently due to the lack of a glossy advertising campaign such as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) put on for Windows Phone 8. Then BlackBerry released its earnings report for its fiscal year, and, surprise! The obituaries for BlackBerry had been premature.

    Surprising resilience

    I'll admit more »

  • Why This Apple "Fanboy" Hasn't Panicked

    By Mark Hibben - January 29, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, GOOG, MSFT | Editor's Choice

    Despite the drubbing Apple's share price took following its recent earnings release, I remain optimistic for Apple's prospects in 2013.  Apple continues to have the strongest ecosystem in the war of mobile device ecosystems currently underway between Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).  Tim Cook's statements at the conference call have convinced me that Apple will rise to the challenge of defending its more »

  • Microsoft’s Mobile Crisis

    By Mark Hibben - November 30, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, ARMH, HPQ, INTC, MSFT | Editor's Choice

    The Windows on ARM Initiatives Falter

    Windows RT and Windows Phone 8, which both run on ARM processors, were released along with Window 8 Pro for Intel systems.  Windows on ARM (NASDAQ: ARMH) was the heart of Microsoft’s thrust into Mobile, designed to take on Apple's iOS and Google's Android smart phones and tablets, all of which run on ARM processors.  Although investors may take some comfort more »

  • The Silver Lining of the Google Earnings Cloud

    By Mark Hibben - October 24, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, GOOG | Editor's Choice

    The financial analyst community reacted negatively to the Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) earnings miss, with some justification.  It wasn’t merely that Google had failed to live up to their expectations, fixated as they are on the near-term bottom line.  Since the Motorola Mobility acquisition became final in Q2 2012, costs have trended sharply up, while operating income has gone in the opposite direction, as the chart below shows.  

    Since Google more »