Here are some things going on this morning in your world of tech:
Shares of Apple (AAPL) are up $6.11, or 1%, at $568.40, following a report this morning in Want China Times, without a byline, that manufacturing partner Foxconn Technology Co. Ltd. (2354TW) is producing television sets for Apple “on a trial basis,” with the article citing unnamed “insider sources.” The article has been picked up elsewhere, including by Zack Whittaker at CNET.
The stock is also getting a lift from a research note put out by RBC Capital’s Amit Daryanani, who reiterated an Outperform rating and a $700 price target, writing that the stock has several catalysts in coming months, including the “iPhone 5,” the rumored television set, and a refresh of the MacBook line of laptops.
Daryanani’s colleague at RBC, Mark Sue, also weighed in on the fate of Research in Motion (RIMM), whose shares are up 8 cents, or 0.8%, at $10.68, following rumors the company is preparing for substantial job cuts.
A report this morning by Reuters‘s Aftab Ahmed recounts that RIM may cut its workforce by 6,500 people by “early next year,” citing two unnamed people. Charles Arthur of the U.K.’s The Gaurdian paper picked up on the report and hs the headline this morning that the company is “preparing for a massive restructuring.” A piece yesterday by Canada’s Globe and Mail’s Omar El Akkad noted that the company’s chief legal officer Karima Bawa, has resigned after 12 years, joining a parade of departing executives.
To all of that, RBC’s Sue writes that the fiscal Q1 that ends this week was probably “a tough one,” with “executive departures, media reports on layoffs, potential inventory write downs and soft sell-through” suggesting that “it looks increasingly challenging for RIM.”
Sue reiterated a $13 price target on RIM shares.
Apple gets more competition in the smartphone market this week, as Samsung Electronics‘s (005930KS) “Galaxy S III” phone goes on sale in Europe, Reuters’s Miyoung Kim and Paul Sandle report. The device was greeted by lines of 50 or 100 people in some cases, in Berlin and Frankfurt, the duo report. There is still no word on U.S. availability of the S III, according to Jake Smith of 9 to 5 Google this morning.
Shares of Facebook (FB) opened down another 43 cents, or 1.3%, at $31.48, and are deepening their decline, currently down $1.73, or over 5%, at $30.18, despite an initiation of the stock at Buy this morning by CLSA-Asia Pacific Markets.
There’s a swirl of rumors, too, that the company is preparing a smartphone of its own. Nick Bilton of the New York Times‘s Bits blog on Sunday wrote that Facebook employees and outsiders briefed on Facebook’s intensions say the company hopes to release a smartphone of its own by next year.
That has prompted take-out talk regarding Opera Software (OPERA.OL) of Norway, whose shares today were up 20%. Opera makes a popular Web browser used as an alternative on multiple different computer platforms, but especially on mobile devices.
An article by Jachim Dagenborg and Balazs Koranyi on Reuters claims the company might cost Facebook $1 billion to buy, citing a number of analysts views on the matter.
One broker, Arctic Securities, tells the reporters that buying Opera would help Facebook better monetize its mobile offerings.
Shares of Dell (DELL) are up 17 cents, or 1.4%, at $12.63 following reports on Friday and today that the company may be looking to acquire Quest Software (QSFT), the maker of IT management programs.
An article Friday morning by Serena Saiito and Aaron Ricadela of Bloomberg claimed Dell was looking to make a competing bid to Insight Venture Partners‘s offer in March to take Quest private for $2 billion, citing unnamed sources. A report later in the day by Nadia Damouni and Poornima Gupta of Reuters citied multiple unnamed sources as saying Dell might offer $23 to $26 a share for Quest. Quest stock was down 31 cents, or 1.2%, at $24.84 this morning.
In a note to clients, Mizuho Securities USA’s Abhey Lamba wrote that the transaction “would be beneficial to Dell,” as it “could help Dell jump start its software business and would be margin accretive.” Lamba has a Neutral rating on Dell shares and a $15 price target.
Shares of camera sensor maker OmniVision Technologies (OVTI) are up 58 cents, or 4%, at $14.77, following an article on DigiTimes by Mavis Hong and Jessie Shen stating that the company has secured orders for its parts from Apple for the next model of the iPhone, as well as the iPad, citing unnamed “market sources.”
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