It’s every investor’s dream to find the “next Apple” or “next Google.”
But in their zeal to find the next garage startup, investors too often overlook the already established giants.
And that can be a costly oversight, because the profit potential of a well-run heavyweight can be huge – particularly in the coming wearable tech revolution.
We’re predicting just that kind of upbeat outcome for our third bonus opportunity: Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC).
That’s right: The world’s largest chipmaker is focusing on wearable tech.
And we love its game plan.
The company’s “Make It Wearable” initiative is providing cash grants to developers, entrepreneurs and designers who are targeting the wearable market’s billions in potential revenue. Shrewdly understanding that one impediment to wearable devices is their clunky, un-chic designs, Intel is partnering with fashion industry leaders like Barneys, the
Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), and global fashion retailer Opening Ceremony to develop products that are appealing… as well as functional.
And with its technology behind products like the “smart onesie” Mimo for babies, micro-wireless devices aimed at the health care market and consumer products like “smart headphones,” Intel is demonstrating a willingness to deploy its wearable know-how across different markets.
With revenue north of $50 billion and profits of $10 billion a year, this is a company with the financial heft to own a huge chunk of the wearable tech market.
Remaking Intel From the Inside Out
And its genius wasn’t limited to tech. With its still-remembered“Intel Inside” campaign and the creation of the “Pentium”name, the company branded an otherwise mundane bit of hardware: the microchip.
Rarely is there a computer that we plunk ourselves down in front of that doesn’t have an Intel sticker on it.
Intel isn’t just “inside.” It’s everywhere.
Or almost everywhere.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based firm dialed the wrong numbers with the mobile wave – and got muscled aside – because chips made by rival ARM Holdings PLC (NasdaqADR: ARMH) were smaller, cheaper, and used less power than Intel’s offerings.
But Intel is using its heft to fight back: It is spending more than $10 billion a year in R&D in a bid to gain a beachhead in wearable and mobile devices – while remaining competitive in PCs.
Intel Puts New Wearables on Display
But we’re OK with that because it’s clear to us that Intel isn’t going to fail.
At the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, Intel Chief Executive Officer Brian Krzanich devoted most of his keynote to wearable tech – even showing off prototype devices.
Intel’s entry to wearables revolves around Edison, a Pentium-class computer the size and shape of a Secure Digital (SD) card. Despite its small size, Edison has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.
The beauty of Edison is its smallness, which gives product developers the option to use it almost anywhere.
The highlighted prototypes included a smartwatch, smart earbuds, a smart earphone headset called Jarvis, and a charging “bowl” that offers consumers a “drop-in dead/pick-up charged” convenience for all of your gadgets.
Krzanich also showed off Mimo, the “smart onesie” that can track Junior’s vital signs and signal the kitchen when it’s time to warm the bottle for the midnight feeding.
Intel says its wearable technology prototypes are “reference designs” to help third-party device makers develop new products.
But just as likely that Intel’s developers want plenty of hands-on experience with wearable devices to ensure that the chips they design for this market are viewed as the new standard. And that will help the company recover some of its “Wintel”-era market power.
This new emphasis on wearables is crucial because it marks a departure for Intel. Rather than compete as a “me too” mobile-chip supplier or smartphone maker, Intel is driving change in the industrywide bid to make all your appliances, gadgets and even your clothes talk to each other – the Holy Grail of the IoE.
Doubling Down on Wearables
And with its late-May buyout of Basis Science Inc. – the maker of smart wristbands for health and fitness –Intel added new muscle to its wearable push.
It helps that Basis focuses on the market that’s probably the most promising for wearable tech firms like Intel.
I’m talking about health care.
Basis’s smart wristbands monitor health data such as heart-rate patterns, sleep stages, motion and burned calories. The company’s focus is health-based devices, which will be the most compelling segment in wearable tech.
“We sought to build the next generation of health trackers that would know more and do more for your health than existing products could,” Basis said in a blog post announcing the deal with Intel.
It also explains why the other suitors for Basis included Apple,
Google, Samsung and possibly even Microsoft.
With its buyout of Basis – as well as its focus on development, setting standards and getting into the mobile game – Intel has clearly found a formula that will push it into the lead in this critical new market.
Cash for Wearable Designs
Reinforcing the notion that many of the greatest ideas are now brought to market by outside designers via its wearable platforms and prototypes, Intel announced the “Make It Wearable” challenge to encourage innovation with its technology.
The global effort calls on the smartest minds to consider factors affecting the proliferation of wearable tech, such as practical uses, aesthetics, battery life, security and privacy.
The challenge will award more than $1.3 million in cash to winners.
Make It Wearable proves Intel is anything but a slow-growth legacy tech company. New sources of revenue from wearables and its aggressive approach toward the Internet of Everything will turn Intel back into a profitable opportunity for investors who understand this new market.
Best of all, we’re talking about a big potential upside – and not much downside.
Intel has roughly $20 billion in cash, giving it plenty of firepower to drive innovation – as well as financing dividends and buybacks.
According to my analysis, investors are valuing Intel’s wearable initiative at pretty close to zero.
In fact, the IoE segment has already shown strong profitability. Revenue jumped 32% on a year-over-year basis to almost $500 million with an 80% surge in operating income.
Intel’s shares trade for just 14 times earnings, and the company’s 3.4% dividend makes it one of the highest yielding large-cap stocks you’ll find. Intel also spent $2.44 billion to repurchase shares in 2013.
Here we have a $130 billion Goliath ready to devote a mammoth portion of its resources to the newest frontier of computing. You don’t often get a chance to invest in an entirely new industry. But Intel offers you a chance to do so with a low-risk/high-profit formula you’re not likely to find anywhere else.
By Michael A. Robinson, Defense + Tech Specialist, Money Morning
No comments:
Post a Comment