Tyco buys ADC

Last week was a momentous week for the ICT industry in South Africa, with three significant events.

NTT acquired Dimension Data; MTN made an important BEE announcement; and Naspers invested in Digital Sky Technologies. The last one, in my view, is the most strategic deal.

On the international ICT front, the market was dominated by the takeover of ADC Telecommunications by Tyco Electronics.

* A positive trading update from Datatec.
* NTT acquired Dimension Data for £2.1 billion, in a move that sees the former significantly increase its overseas revenue and bolsters its footholds in both Europe and the US. It is also the first substantial direct inroad into the African continent by a major Japanese player.
* Investec Bank made a 45% acquisition of Leo Baxter's stake in MB Technologies.
* Naspers made a $388 million+ (28.7%) investment in Digital Sky Technologies (Russia), an Internet company that already has interests in Facebook; Groupon, a social commerce company; Zynga, an online games company; and ICQ, and instant messaging service that it bought from AOL in April.
* Amazon is opening a service centre in Cape Town in October.
* MTN announced its R8.1 billion BEE deal that will see 4% of the group and 29.1% of its South African operation in the hands of black individuals and groups.
* Telkom SA has finalised the proceedings against it by Telcordia that go back to 2001. Telkom has accepted the $80 million arbitration ruling in favour of Telcordia.
* Emma Murray was appointed country manager of Software AG South Africa.
* The resignations of Leo Baxter, chairman of MB Technologies; Fred Brady, country manager of Software AG South Africa; Hansie Fourie, CEO of Ingram Micro SA; and Beverly Ngwenya, acting CEO of Sentech.

* The Eassy undersea cable has gone live and will be formally handed over to the West Indian Ocean Cable Company this week.
* Globacom (Nigeria) has received an operating licence for Gambia. Earlier this year, Globacom was awarded an operating licence in Senegal, and with this latest one, it now has six licences in West Africa.

Naspers made a $388 million+ investment in Digital Sky Technologies.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

* Accenture purchased Acceria, a French industrial consulting firm.
* Apple bought Canada-based Poly9, a mapping company.
* Google acquired Metaweb, an Internet information database start-up, in a move intended to improve its core Internet search business.
* HP purchased Motionbox's video technology platform.
* ON semiconductor bought Sanyo's loss-making chip unit for $373 million.
* Tyco Electronics purchased ADC Telecommunications for $1.24 billion, as the electronics component manufacturer seeks to bolster its portfolio of communications gear.
* Excellent quarterly results from AMSL Holding NV (back in the black).
* Very good quarterly figures from Intel (back in the black).
* Good quarterly numbers from Google and Tata Consultancy Services.
* Satisfactory quarterly results from Fairchild Semiconductor and Sony Ericsson (back in the black).
* Mixed quarterly figures from Infosys Technologies, with revenue up but profit down; and Polycom, with revenue up but profit down.
* Quarterly losses from AMD.
* Guy Berruyer was appointed CEO of Sage (UK).
* Paul Walker resigned as CEO of Sage (UK).
* A planned IPO in September by EVN Telecom, Vietnam's CDMA mobile operator, when 19% of the shares will be sold to the public and 30% to a strategic investor.
* An excellent IPO from RealD, a provider of 3D technology systems.
* A good IPO on Nasdaq by Qlik Technologies, a provider of business intelligence software.
* A satisfactory IPO on Nasdaq by Smart Technologies, a maker of interactive whiteboards.
* A subdued IPO on NYSE by KKR, one of the world's leading private equity companies.

International:
* Intel buying Infineon's wireless chip division.
* Nokia Siemens Networks buying the telecommunications equipment arm of Motorola.

Africa:
* The possible acquisition by Orascom Telecom of Polkomtel (Poland) and/or Telekom Srbija (Serbia).

South Africa:
* The sale by Cell C of its 50% stake in Virgin Mobile SA.

* Over 90% of the shipments of all-in-one PCs in 2010 will be manufactured by Taiwanese players, according to Digital Research.
* The five-billionth mobile subscription was signed last week, reports Ericsson.
* The worldwide PC market in Q2 grew over 20% to more than 80 million shipments, according to both Gartner and IDC. HP remained number one, but Acer and Dell battled it out for the number two slot (with Acer winning), and Asus and Toshiba for the number five slot, with Lenovo remaining at four.

* JSE All share index: Up 0.9%
* Nasdaq: Down 0.8%
* Top SA share movements: African Cellular Towers (-9.1%), Datatec (+11.1%), Dimension Data (+30.6%), ISA (-12.7%), Labat Africa (+72.9%), MICROmega (-16%), Telkom SA (-10.1%) and Zaptronix (+50%)

The US publication 'The Street' has recently been quoted as saying investors are sick and tired of the big technology companies and would love to sink their teeth into some new and exciting companies. In this context, it named five privately owned firms that fit this bill:

* HTC (Taiwan), the cellular phone manufacturer.
* Facebook.
* Twitter.
* Pandora, a company that 'plays the music you want to hear'.
* Swype, a company that makes a touch-screen typing application that lets you drag your finger from key to key rather than tap out the letters. It supplies most of the cutting-edge superphone makers.

HTC is listed in Taiwan, and the owners of Facebook and Twitter have resisted recent calls for them to go public. The next few months could be very interesting to watch!