And with the uncertainty of the online ad market, it's unclear how these services will earn a profit. There's no doubt, the company has excellent wireless technology, that could have many applications around the world. But there are uncertainties. For instance, it's unclear whether Qualcomm's standard for the next-generation of wireless will be as popular as its current flavor of wireless technology. It's also unclear whether its royalty fees on future versions of wireless standards will be as fat as what it has now.
Investors pile into and out of the stock trying to anticipate the inevitable chip cycle.
My advice on Intel for the common investor is not trying to time the cycle. It's a solid long term hold and foolish to try to treat it as anything other than that. Some on Wall Street are afraid that upstart like Transmeta will eat Intel's lunch. Transmeta makes a chip that supposedly uses less power and thus can make batteries in laptops run longer. Transmeta makes a solid chip.