{"id":24136,"date":"2011-09-28T13:30:37","date_gmt":"2011-09-28T17:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/fx\/2011\/09\/28\/will-apple-boost-this-semiconductor-company\/"},"modified":"2011-09-28T13:30:37","modified_gmt":"2011-09-28T17:30:37","slug":"will-apple-boost-this-semiconductor-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/2011\/09\/28\/will-apple-boost-this-semiconductor-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Apple Boost This Semiconductor Company?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.investmentu.com\/2011\/September\/will-apple-boost-marvell-tech.html\">Will Apple Boost This Semiconductor Company?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>by <a title=\"Justin Dove Archives\" href=\"http:\/\/www.investmentu.com\/investment-experts\/justin-dove-archive.html\" target=\"_blank\">Justin Dove<\/a>, <em>Investment U<\/em> Research<br \/>\nWednesday, September 28, 2011<\/p>\n<p>Last Friday, <a href=\"http:\/\/arstechnica.com\/apple\/news\/2011\/09\/support-for-quad-core-arm-cpu-shows-up-in-apples-xcode-but-why.ars\" target=\"_blank\">Ars Technica reported<\/a> that an <strong>Apple<\/strong> (Nasdaq: <a title=\"Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AAAPL\" target=\"_blank\">AAPL<\/a>) developer tool included support for the new quad-core Armada XP processor made by <strong>Marvell Technology Group<\/strong> (Nasdaq: <a title=\"Marvell Technology Group (Nasdaq: MRVL)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AMRVL\" target=\"_blank\">MRVL<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s no confirmed reason for including support for Marvell&#8217;s chip, but there&#8217;s plenty of speculation. A few possible scenarios include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Scenario #1 &#8211; Apple is evaluating the quad-core chip in comparison to a future Apple-designed quad-core processor. Apple&#8217;s first processor, the A4, was a single core. The subsequent A5 that debuted in the iPad 2 is a dual-core. And it&#8217;s likely that Apple is developing a quad-core down the road for a future iPhone or iPad, which may be in an evaluation stage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Scenario #2 &#8211; As Ars Technica postulated, maybe Apple is kicking the tires on the Marvell quad-core itself for the iPad 3 or the next generation MacBook Air. <strong>NVIDIA<\/strong> (Nasdaq: <a title=\"NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/finance?q=NASDAQ%3ANVDA\" target=\"_blank\">NVDA<\/a>) should be shipping its quad-core Tegra 3 processor in Android-based phones sometime next year. Maybe Apple wants to beat Android to the punch with Marvell&#8217;s Armada XP.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Scenario #3 &#8211; Apple is planning on using the Marvell chip in some other iOS device, such as the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.investmentu.com\/2011\/July\/apple-television-industry.html\" target=\"_blank\">rumored iTV<\/a>. As Paul McWilliams of Next Inning Technology Research wrote, &#8220;I think we have to assume that if Apple in fact releases a TV under its brand name it will be quite different from what we&#8217;re used to seeing.&#8221; McWilliams sees the television having a touchscreen remote, possibly similar to what <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slashgear.com\/vizio-tablet-review-06168819\/\" target=\"_blank\">Vizio recently released<\/a>. Additionally, it would likely have solid computing potential and video capabilities &#8211; maybe enough to garner such a powerful processor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Even if the first scenario is the closest to reality and Apple doesn&#8217;t plan on using Marvell&#8217;s chip, it implies that Apple sees the Armada XP as a strong product worthy of a benchmark. And while Marvell would certainly benefit from Apple using its chips in one of its products, it&#8217;s not necessarily critical.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Marvell Is No Small Fry Without Apple<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With a $9-billion market cap, Marvell is no small fry. Marvell ships over one billion chips a year and was recently named &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/Cisco-Names-Marvell-2011-prnews-4063577079.html?x=0&amp;.v=1\" target=\"_blank\">2011 Supplier of the Year<\/a>&#8221; by <strong>Cisco<\/strong> (Nasdaq: <a title=\"Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/finance?q=NASDAQ%3ACSCO\" target=\"_blank\">CSCO<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Marvell&#8217;s leading technology innovation and great service to Cisco deserves this recognition,&#8221; said Prentis Wilson, Vice President, Global Supplier Management, Cisco. &#8220;Marvell&#8217;s tireless effort to ensure continuity of supply, even after the tragic tsunami disaster in Japan, makes it an award-winning partner.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At roughly $15 per share, Marvell&#8217;s stock has a P\/E of 12.32 compared to an industry average of 30.06. It&#8217;s about 32 percent below its 52-week high of $22.04 per share, due to the slumping semiconductor market. Therefore, the beta is relatively high at 1.39 and the stock has lost almost 12 percent over the past year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Marvell Tech&#8217;s Bottom Line<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While Apple would certainly give Marvell&#8217;s stock a much-needed boost, the company should survive comfortably without it.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s had a rough second half, but so have most stocks, and certainly most semiconductor stocks. Marvell might be a nice feather in the cap of a contrarian who feels this market is a buy-low opportunity. <strong>Broadcom<\/strong> (Nasdaq: <a title=\"Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/finance?q=NASDAQ%3ABRCM\" target=\"_blank\">BRCM<\/a>) certainly <a href=\"http:\/\/www.investmentu.com\/2011\/September\/semiconductor-mergers-and-acquisitions.html\" target=\"_blank\">jumped on the slumping semiconductor market<\/a> to acquire <strong>NetLogic<\/strong> (Nasdaq: <a title=\"NetLogic (Nasdaq: NETL)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/finance?q=NASDAQ%3ANETL\" target=\"_blank\">NETL<\/a>) earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>Good investing,<\/p>\n<p>Justin Dove<\/p>\n<div>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/InvestmentU?a=a3UtisjXRrg:3Cj6_SEZuTY:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/InvestmentU?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/InvestmentU?a=a3UtisjXRrg:3Cj6_SEZuTY:V_sGLiPBpWU\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/InvestmentU?i=a3UtisjXRrg:3Cj6_SEZuTY:V_sGLiPBpWU\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/InvestmentU?a=a3UtisjXRrg:3Cj6_SEZuTY:qj6IDK7rITs\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/InvestmentU?d=qj6IDK7rITs\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/InvestmentU?a=a3UtisjXRrg:3Cj6_SEZuTY:gIN9vFwOqvQ\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/InvestmentU?i=a3UtisjXRrg:3Cj6_SEZuTY:gIN9vFwOqvQ\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/InvestmentU?a=a3UtisjXRrg:3Cj6_SEZuTY:F7zBnMyn0Lo\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/InvestmentU?i=a3UtisjXRrg:3Cj6_SEZuTY:F7zBnMyn0Lo\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/InvestmentU\/~4\/a3UtisjXRrg\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Article by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.investmentu.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Investment U<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Will Apple Boost This Semiconductor Company? by Justin Dove, Investment U Research Wednesday, September 28, 2011 Last Friday, Ars Technica reported that an Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) developer tool included support for the new quad-core Armada XP processor made by Marvell Technology Group (Nasdaq: MRVL). There&#8217;s no confirmed reason for including support for Marvell&#8217;s chip, but &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/2011\/09\/28\/will-apple-boost-this-semiconductor-company\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Will Apple Boost This Semiconductor Company?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24136\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}