Chris Woodcock monitors the markets, keeping a careful eye on the biggest technology stocks in the world. Every fortnight he brings you the latest insights on market movements and more.
This week Chris reports from Cambridge Silicon Radio’s investor day and takes us through the future for the internet of things.
Once a year most listed companies will invite investors to what is known as a capital markets day, a chance to learn more about long term strategy without the distraction of worrying about things like revenues and profits. It is another of the venerable but unglamorous city institutions that Geraint Anderson (aka Cityboy) failed to mention in his book, and usually involves being fed mini pastries in an unreconstructed meeting room whilst mid-level management deliver powerpoint presentations.
And so it was last week. No private jet to New York, just a bus to a business park in Cambridge followed by two hours in the company of the engineers at Cambridge Silicon Radio.
CSR – The Pioneers of Bluetooth Technology
CSR has an interesting history. They are a pioneer of the Bluetooth technology and for a while in the mid noughties were making a lot of hay as the sole supplier to Nokia.
Despite the problems this myopia caused them, serendipity has given them a new lease of life. Last year when Apple announced its new 8-pin connector it caused consternation amongst the makers of portable speakers, and suddenly Bluetooth was the most comprehensive answer to such arbitrary changes.
CSR argued convincingly at their capital markets day that dock speakers were already a relic and Apple’s decision was the catalyst that ushered in the era of wireless audio. Beats by Dre has followed suit and uses CSR’s audio technology for their wireless headsets, whilst Bluetooth is also pitching up in the latest automotive ‘infotainment’ systems.
Paving the way for an iWatch?
Most exciting of all, the latest Bluetooth 4.0 standards, so-called Bluetooth Smart, at last promise years of battery life for always-on, low power devices. It looks like the platform that wearable technology has been waiting for. Naturally, CSR were tight-lipped on any involvement with an iWatch but as the market leader they will be high on the list of potential partners for Apple. Suddenly CSR is in demand again.
This idea of intelligence embedded in a range of devices has come to be known as the internet of things. As you wave at your TV and click your fingers to dim the lights a robot tickles your toes whilst the fridge is feeding the cat and ordering fresh milk for breakfast; that’s broadly the idea. When McKinsey says that there could be up to one trillion connected ‘things’ by 2023 it is easy to understand why the stock market is getting excited.
The problem is that there are a lot of issues to be resolved. For one thing the protocols for cellular transmission have to be agreed. If one trillion machines are constantly reporting their status it will wreak havoc with mobile networks.
Whilst this is being hammered out Bluetooth is serving use cases that are here today. Wireless speakers, action cameras, car infotainment and wearable technology are what CSR is calling the internet of my things. It could still add up to several billion devices over time.
The dotcom bubble taught us to be wary of technologies that are too far ahead of their time. In 1999 the market knew that the internet was going to change the world, it’s just that you end up owning Pets.com rather than Google. The internet of my things looks like an interesting space to watch whilst we wait for the revolution in fridges.
Chris Woodcock has over five years experience of analysing top technology stocks, he now manages his own independent research firm Cedilla Research. He writes his markets column every fortnight at Tech City News.