The Surprise of CES: Qualcomm and Steve Ballmer?
Microsoft (NAS: MSFT) had been headlining CES since 1999, but shocked the tech world in late 2011 when it announced that 2012 would be its last year keynoting the technology conference. However, fast-forward to this year's CES keynote, and we once again saw a familiar face bounding onto the stage: Steve Ballmer.
Why did Ballmer surprise attendees to make another appearance? Well, although Microsoft has said it wanted to leave CES because its product launches weren't lined up with the event's early January timing, this year it falls at a critical time for promoting Windows 8 ultrabooks, convertibles, and tablets. Beyond Windows 8, Windows Phone itself is also looking for promotion and greater market acceptance.
However, a chance for Ballmer to promote Windows is a win-win scenario for another company: this year's keynote speaker Qualcomm (NAS: QCOM) . Qualcomm has little market share in tablets in spite of its dominance in smartphones, and announced its high-end new Snapdragon 800 series aimed at both Windows RT-powered PCs and tablets. For Qualcomm, any PC sales are a nice boon to its high-end processor line as the PC continues to morph into a more portable, connected device.
Some could read Ballmer's appearance as Microsoft passing off the torch to a leader of the new mobile age. Another way to look at it is that Microsoft is just one of many players in a world of connected devices. In that case, Qualcomm's the kingpin that profits no matter who wins.
To see analyst Eric Bleeker's full thoughts on Ballmer appearing onstage at Qualcomm's keynote, watch the video below.
What's inside Supernova?
Mobile has been a driving investing theme for Motley Fool Co-founder David Gardner, helping lead his stock picks to gains of more than 122% in our Stock Advisor service since it launched in 2002. Those returns have beaten the market by more than 90%. David has managed to trounce the market by always being on the lookout for revolutionary stocks and recommending them before Wall Street catches on to their disruptive potential. If you're interested in how David discovers his winners, click here to get instant access to a personal tour of David's Supernova service.
The run-time of this section is between 2:40 and 4:04.
The article The Surprise of CES: Qualcomm and Steve Ballmer? originally appeared on Fool.com.
Eric Bleeker, CFA has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft and Qualcomm. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
