Fiorina ousted as HP simmers

Carly Fiorina`s departure from HP dominated the international and local ICT markets last week. Everything else by comparison was of lesser interest.

* Carly Fiorina was ousted from HP. The situation at the top of HP has been simmering for some while and although changes were expected, Fiorina`s departure was not envisaged. There is a strong view that the Compaq merger did not bring the benefits expected and that this was one of the key reasons behind her departure. The market reacted positively to the move and the rumours re a spin-off of its imaging business, which includes the printers/printing operation, have resurfaced once again. The short-list of possible CEOs to replace Fiorina includes Michael Capellas, ex-CEO of Compaq and now running MCI, as well as Mike Zafirovsky, president of Motorola. Two internal HP executives are also in the frame.

* Sharp has bought Fujitsu`s LCD operations. Sharp is already the largest maker of liquid crystal displays in Japan and is also one of the world`s largest makers of television LCD panels.

* The future of MCI: following the SBC/AT&T deal, the focus has now moved to MCI with both Qwest Comms and Verizon Comms having made bids of some sort for the former. The timing of the HP CEO situation could be fortuitous for Michael Capellas with MCI up for grabs and likely to be swallowed up in the near future.

* Confirmation from Mandla Langa, ICASA chairman, that Tata Group Africa will be the other shareholder (26%) in the second national operator and that a licence should be granted by June 2005.

* Good quarterly results from Datacraft Asia, a company 52% owned by Dimension Data and Net 1UEPS Technologies (ex-Aplitec).

* Enterprise Connection purchased a 25.1% shareholding in nVisionIT, a Microsoft business solutions provider.

* Securicom purchased Elexir Computer Services, a business unit of Elexir Technology Holdings.

* Positive trading updates from Pinnacle Technology Holdings and VenFin.

* Negative trading updates from Beget Holdings and Dimension Data and a downgrading of the latter`s stock.

* A job loss announcement from Cell C.

* MTN said its African subscriber base has increased by over 20% since 30 September 2004 to nearly 14 million subscribers.

There is a strong view that the Compaq, HP merger did not bring the benefits expected and that this was one of the key reasons behind her departure.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

* SAP AG`s agreement in principle to sell 25% of its local operation to an empowerment shareholder. Additionally, the African and South African operations are to be restructured with SAP Public Services incorporated into a new entity, SAP SA, which will include the remainder of the South African business; and SAP Africa Region housing the operations for sub-Saharan Africa, which will be owned independently by SAP AG.

* A management buy-out at Stonewall, the Cape Town-based digital marketing and design agency.

* The appointment of Sean O`Connell as MD of Software Futures KKM.

* The resignation of Tami Sokutu, chairman of Elexir.

According to Informa Telecoms & Media, Africa is the world`s fastest growing mobile market and the number of mobile subscribers as at the end of June 2004 stood at 64.1 million.

* The appointments of Mark Aslett as CEO of Enterasys Networks, Donald Bossi as CEO of Aegis Semiconductor, Ronald Buschur as CEO of Powerwave Technologies, James Costanzo as president of Logical Net, Patricia Dunn as chairman of HP, Bruce Edwards as chairman of Powerwave Technologies (was CEO), Dev Ganesan as president and CEO of Intelliworks, William O`Brien as chairman of Enterasys Networks, Rick Spurr as CEO of Zix, John Shackleton as CEO of Open Text (as of 1 July), John Swainson as CEO of Computer Associates, Robert Wayman as interim CEO of HP, and William Weyand as chairman and CEO of MSC Software.

* The resignations of Alan Baratz, CEO of Versata; Tom Jenkins, CEO of Open Text (as of 1 July - stays on as chairman); and John Ryan, CEO of Zix (but stays on as chairman).

* A job loss announcement from Matsushita Electric.

* Planned IPOs from Rackable Systems, a provider of high-density servers and storage systems.

* Satisfactory IPOs by Russian telecoms and consumer-business conglomerate, AFK Sistema; Syniverse Technologies, a provider of integration technology services; and Valor Comms, a provider of telecoms services.

* A disappointing IPO from Gravity, an online games developer.

* The outcome of KLA-Tencor`s approach to merge with August Technology, which is supposedly merging with Nanometrics.

* Elexir`s continued listing status on the JSE since it now no longer complies with the relevant requirements.

* The details of the black empowerment deal by Fujitsu in SA that is due next month.

* The disclosure of Datatec`s empowerment partner that will take a 25% stake in its local operations.

* Demand for LCDs and plasma televisions are expected to reach $35.7 billion in 2005, according to market researcher ISuppli, up from an estimated $21.4 billion in 2004.

* The worldwide IT services market grew 6.7% in 2004 to $607.8 billion, according to Gartner, with IBM having the largest share with 7.6% and EDS in second place with 3.4%.

* JSE All share index: Up 0.6%

* Nasdaq: Down 0.5%

Top SA share movements:

AST (+6.4%)
Dimension Data (-5.5%)
Elexir (-20%)
Faritec (+12.1%)
Infowave (-7.9%)
Pinnacle (+15.7%)
RA Hold (-6.4%)
Spescom (-10.2%)
Y3K (+7.3%)
Zaptronix (-25%).

In keeping with the changes happening worldwide within the telecoms environment, it`s not surprising that European Business Magazine`s Hot 100 has several technology entries including UK`s Telecom Plus at number one and France`s Illiad SA, a telecoms company, at number six.