Problem at Sand Hill Road.. is it really a problem?

I don't have insider scoop on these high level things.. However, I honestly don't believe or let me put it this way.. I am not really supporter of such things or law suits.. In my view.. it is free country and free world.. nobody is bonded labor or slave..

If some of the allegations were true and if they would have included her in the trips or outings or whatever they were, then she could have sued her for sexual harassment or something like that.. Moreover, if you have relationships and break-up with your colleagues or bosses then there is no sanctity in your work ethics.. and come on.. are we talking about stone age or what.. nobody can force you to do something.. it is your choice.. if someone is trying to force you then, you have a choice.. either to accept it or walk out of it.. bullshit..

If you think you are paid less, then go find another job which will pay you more or even if another job is not paying you, what you think is your worth, then it is time to start your own business and earn your worth.

After being so well educated and working such a high flying jobs, you can't complain about glass ceiling.. it does actually a damage to great institutions like Harvard and Princeton..

Instead of earning your own money right way you are trying to extract money by suing the employer. Go find another one or start your own venture.. In my view, it is cheap strategy and way to earn money quick and easy way..


Here is the link for the story:
http://business-news.thestreet.com/mercury-news/story/john-doerr-defends-kleiners-track-record-diversity/1

PARTNER’S LAWSUIT

Kleiner says discrimination allegations ‘without merit’

By Dana Hull

dhull@mercurynews.com 

In his first public statement since venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers was hit with an explosive discrimination lawsuit, partner John Doerr defended the firm’s track record on diversity Wednesday and said the allegations are without merit.

“The last several days have been a difficult time for me and my partners at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a firm I’m proud to have been a part of for 32 years,” Doerr said in a statement released Wednesday via Twitter. “It is not easy to stand by as false allegations are asserted against the firm, especially because legal constraints prevent us from responding fully at this time. But we have been heartened to hear from so many people — including many women — who have reached out to convey their support.” 

---

Doerr 

Kleiner Perkins partner Ellen Pao, who studied electrical engineering at Princeton before earning both a law degree and MBA at Harvard, filed a gender discrimination lawsuit earlier this month alleging that female partners, by design, earn less than their male peers. Pao also alleges that male partners at the firm retaliated against her after she ended a sexual relationship with a male colleague. 

Pao’s highly detailed, 19-page complaint, which is the talk of Sand Hill Road, has reignited an ongoing debate about the culture of the valley’s largely male venture capital community. Sources say Pao still works at Kleiner and has been coming to the office every day. 

Doerr said the firm hired an independent investigator to conduct an inquiry, and the report “concluded that the allegations are without merit and that our firm does not discriminate on the basis of gender.” Doerr’s statement went on to highlight Kleiner’s “pioneering track record in diversity.” 

“Our firm today is one of the most diverse in gender, age and ethnicity, as is our equally diverse network of great entrepreneurs,” read the statement, which noted that women founded or lead portfolio companies like Genomic Health and Rent the Runway. “Most importantly, we’re backing them not because they are women, but because they are the best at what they do. That is the same reason we have a dozen female partners at our firm — the most of any leading venture capital firm — including women who are leaders across our Digital Growth Fund, our newest venture fund, our Life Sciences Venture Team, our Human Capital Team, and our Marketing and Communications and Finance functions. They are outstanding executives and leaders.” Lynne Hermle, the attorney Kleiner has hired to represent the firm in the Pao case, was traveling Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. Alan Exelrod, Pao’s attorney, declined to comment. The next legal step in the high-profile case will be for Kleiner to file an official response in San Francisco Superior Court. 

Contact Dana Hull at 408920-2706. 

Facebook Phone with fOS or Fboid?

Seems that we might have new competitor for iPhone and our beloved Samsung and other Android phones.. There could be fOS or FABoid or  something like that coming soon. or Blackberries or blueberries could be become Face-berries or book-berries :-)  or even Nokia could be Fokia.. Just kidding..

 I am in lighter mood today so all this crap.. But there is some reality to this news and it does make sense from one angle...

FB is getting hit hard by their mobile strategy where they are felling little lonely.. lot or most of the users access their FB account thru their smart phones which are currently being controlled by apples, oranges, berries and goggles of the world.. Poor FB is left with free service on them without any revenue gain.. They can hardly show anything to users on these fruit ninja phones..

So here they come back.. armed with 16 Billion dollars in their bank account.. they go for investment cum shopping spree.. Off course, their senior leadership has to take bigger risks and make better futuristic strategies.. You never know.. they may hit jackpot or just blow off all the IPO money and relegate FB to Yahoo status.. problem is, that if they don't act now and act totally differently, they will be Yahoo in next 5-7 years any how (or may be faster)..

Some how I don't buy into all this crap of mobile issue.. I would rather work on making it more easy to use on mobile and even on tablets so users can more easily access and enjoy their tool. Also, they need to come up with something like Google's ad-sense platform where even user benefits if user creates content and they try to sell users targeted adds based on the content users have created.

But for now, If I could, I would be short on FB stock.. I may be wrong (many times I have been wrong, otherwise, I would have been writing blogs full time instead working for someone else)..

Enjoy the news or I should say rumor..  you never know it may change the face of the world again....

http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_20728939/facebook-hoping-release-smartphone-by-next-year

HIGH-TECH CROSSOVER

Facebook may revive smartphone

Social network has hired former iPhone engineers as it explores future in hardware, sources say

By Nick Bilton

New York Times

Can a software company build its own smartphone? We may well find out soon.

In the past week, Google completed its acquisition of the hardware maker Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, which could lead to the search giant making its own smartphone. And another software titan might be getting into the hardware game as well: Facebook.

Employees of Facebook and several engineers who have been sought out by recruiters there, as well as people briefed on Facebook’s plans, say the company hopes to release its own smartphone by next year. These people spoke only on condition of anonymity for fear of jeopardizing their employment or relationships with Facebook.

The company has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone, and one who worked on the iPad, the employees and those briefed on the plans said.

This would be Facebook’s third effort at building a smartphone, said one person briefed on the plans and one who was recruited. In 2010, the blog TechCrunch reported that Facebook was working on a smartphone. The project crumbled after the company realized the difficulties involved, according to people who had worked on it. The website AllThingsD reported last year that Facebook and HTC had entered a partnership to create a smartphone, code-named “Buffy,” which is still in the works. 

Now the company has been going deeper into the process, by expanding the group working on “Buffy,” and exploring other smartphone projects, too, creating a team of seasoned hardware engineers who have built the devices before. 

Meeting with chief 

One engineer who formerly worked at Apple and worked on the iPhone said he met with Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s co-founder and chief executive, who then peppered him with questions about the inner workings of smartphones. It did not sound like idle intellectual curiosity, the engineer said; Zuckerberg asked about intricate details, including the types of chips used, he said. Another former Apple hardware engineer was recruited by a Facebook executive and was told about the company’s hardware explorations. When asked Friday, Facebook did not deny or confirm that a project to build a smartphone existed, but pointed to a previous statement it gave to AllThingsD last year that said in part, “We’re working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers and application developers.” 

For Facebook, the motivation is clear: As a newly public company, it must find new sources of revenue, and it fears being left behind in mobile, one of the most promising areas for growth. “Mark is worried that if he doesn’t create a mobile phone in the near future that Facebook will simply become an app on other mobile platforms,” a Facebook employee said. 

Facebook is going to great lengths to keep the phone project a secret, specifically not posting job listings on the company’s job website, but instead going door-to-door to find the right talent for the project. 

But can a company that is wired as a social network learn how to build hardware? Mixing the cultures of hardware and software designers is akin to mixing oil and water. With the rare exception of Apple, other phone makers aren’t very good at this. 

The biggest names in consumer electronics have struggled with phone hardware. Hewlett-Packard tried and failed. So did Dell. Sony has never done very well making phones. 

“Building isn’t something you can just jump into,” explained Hugo Fiennes, a former Apple hardware manager for the first four iPhones who has since left Apple and is starting a new hardware company, Electric Imp. “You change the smallest thing on a smartphone and you can completely change how all the antennas work. You don’t learn this unless you’ve been doing it for a while.” 

He added, “Going into the phone business is incredibly complex.” 

Facebook also faces hurdles, often of its own making, on mobile. Twitter, for example, is fully integrated into the Apple iPhone and allows people to seamlessly send Twitter messages with photos or article links. Facebook, which has had a contentious relationship with Apple, is still not integrated into iOS. 

One Facebook employee said the phone project had been rebooted several times because Facebook originally thought it could figure out hardware on its own. The company has since learned that it needed to bring in people with previous phonemaking experience, several people said. So it is hiring hardware engineers to work with a phone manufacturer and design the shape, style and inner workings of a Facebook phone. 

Easy market entry? 

Despite the difficulties, Facebook seems well positioned in certain ways to enter the smartphone market. It already has an entire operating system complete with messaging, calendar, contacts and video, and an immense app store is on its way, with thousands of highly popular apps. There’s also that billion-dollar camera app, in the form of Instagram. If Facebook fails with its own team of engineers, it could buy a smartphone maker. The company took in $16 billion from its bumpy IPO. It could easily scoop up an infirm company like Research In Motion, which is valued at less than $6 billion, and drop a beautifully designed Facebook operating system on top of RIM’s phones. HTC is upset with Google for buying Motorola, which is worth about $11.8 billion and becoming cheaper by the day. Facebook would not necessarily challenge Apple if it enters the smartphone marketplace. Instead, it could be Facebook vs. Google, which makes the Android operating system, with both companies going after a huge number of buyers of lowerpriced smartphones. 

For Facebook, the motivation is clear: It must find new sources of revenue, and it fears being left behind in mobi le . 

This only affirms my faith further in true religion - Science, Knowledge & Self-Introspection

These type of news further confirms my faith in knowledge "God" or even more importantly, it confirms my faith about "God is their in every one.. you just need to ask your own God right set of questions" or "there is no better or bigger God than one in yourself"

All these so called "Men of God" are pure agent of money making machinery.. which sadly is fueled by lack of thinking and self introspection by ourselves.. If we think and introspect our self properly, we will be able to find all answers.. there is no better judge than yourself about your own actions.. just need to use it properly..

Unfortunately, due to our ignorance or even more importantly, our "Fear" and "Greed" drives these type of institutions in every part of the world.. every corner of religion.. every corner of every nation.. amazing.. isn't it??  We all know that this is purely a fraud.. still we keep on fueling this fraud!!!

Don't know if it will ever stop.. I hope that people will realize some day that this all !@#$%^

don't know the complete story or saga behind the scenes.. but in my view the poor butler was actually better person than any of these figure heads.. he was serving humanity better than most of his other bosses..


Pope’s butler arrested in breach

Man detained after leak of confidential Va t ic a n d o c u m e n t s

By Rachel Donadio

New York Times

ROME — A mysterious source named Maria. A room furnished with a single chair, where sensitive Vatican documents are turned over to an investigative journalist at regular meetings. The arrest of the pope’s butler. Perhaps the greatest breach in centuries in the wall of secrecy that surrounds the Vatican.

An on-again, off-again scandal that the Italian press has called VatiLeaks burst into the open Friday with the arrest by Vatican gendarmes of a man, identified in news reports as Paolo Gabriele, the pope’s butler, who the Vatican said was in possession of confidential documents and was suspected of leaking private letters, some of which were addressed to Pope Benedict XVI. The arrest follows by a day the ouster of the president of the Vatican Bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, amid conflicts over how to bring the secretive institution in line with international transparency standards and days after the publication of a sensational book, “Your Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI,” in which the journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, aided by “Maria,” discloses a huge cache of private Vatican correspondence, many with allegations of mismanagement at the Vatican bank and cases of corruption and cronyism.
The letters, which have made their way into the Italian news media in recent months, draw a portrait of an ancient institution in chaotic disarray behind its high, stately walls, where various factions vie for power, influence and financial control in the twilight years of Benedict’s papacy.

“Of course there are problems, big problems,” said Andrea Tornielli, a Vatican expert for the Italian daily La Stampa and its website, Vatican Insider. “What is happening now shows that there’s a crisis.”

It was not clear whether the bank president’s ouster and the arrest of the man found with confidential documents were directly related, although Nuzzi’s book includes various memos from Gotti Tedeschi about the Vatican bank.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, declined to identify the person who was arrested, saying only that he was not a priest or member of a religious order and that he had been detained for further investigation.

But Italian news media reported that he was Gabriele, 40, and a butler in the papal household. Some publications even showed images of him holding a white umbrella above the pope and pouring him wine at dinner.

The twist that “the butler did it” was fully worthy of a whodunit that began earlier this year when documents began appearing in the Italian press. In one, a Sicilian cardinal, writing in German in order to be more stealthy, said he had heard in China about a bizarre plot to kill the pope. At the time, Lombardi called the accounts “delirious and incomprehensible.”

In another letter from 2011 that appeared in the Italian press this year and is also published in Nuzzi’s book, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, then the deputy governor of Vatican City, wrote directly to Benedict. In it, he argued that transferring him to another post would impede his efforts to fight “corruption and abuse” in various Vatican offices, sending the wrong signal about his efforts to rein in cronyism in the awarding of contracts for construction work at the Vatican.

---

ALESSANDRO BIANCHI/REUTERS

The Pope's butler, Paolo Gabriele, bottom, was arrested Friday in connection with an investigation into leaks of confidential documents.

FB Bloodbath continues..

Sad but there is no stopping to bloodbath stemming out of FB IPO fiasco...These type of smaller losses are going to come up more in next couple of days or weeks..

I hope FB is able to recover from this and continues to growth part..

FACEBOOK

Citigroup reportedly loses $20M on IPO

Citigroup’s Automated Trading Desk had trading losses of about $20 million stemming from Facebook’s botched initial public offering on Nasdaq OMX’s U.S.

exchange, a source with knowledge of the situation said Friday.

ATD’s losses come on top of claims at market makers Knight Capital and Citadel Securities of $30 million to $35 million each in losses. UBS was the other large market maker involved in the Facebook IPO on May 18.

Finally it is done Deal!!!

I think this will start new era in space age.. powered by American ingenuity and Capitalism!! I hope it will kick start another round of innovation in space age which will have obvious benefits to US and the world in general...

Amazing win for all the Earthlings!!!

At the same time it also reminds me of movie "Avatar" where private entities go to another extreme to extract natural resources from our other parts of solar system. I hope I won't be alive to see that and next generation will be intelligent to not let it happen!!

This is great news in terms of win for entire humanity!! At the same time it also reminds me of abject poverty issues in majority of world's population.. I wish private sector would have benefited by some program where they could benefit out of some kind of system if they are able to get rid of poverty as well.. I am sure, spread of knowledge and power of internet will continue to evolve and sooner or later remove extreme poverty from planet earth!!

Cheers!!!!

A HISTORIC MOMENT FOR COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT

NASA HAS COMPANY

Musk’s SpaceX becomes the first private firm to conduct a supply mission in orbit, marking a new era where business heads to stars

By Marcia Dunn

Associated Press

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The private company SpaceX made history Friday with the docking of its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station, the most impressive feat yet in turning routine spaceflight over to the commercial sector.

It marked the first time a business enterprise delivered a supply ship to the space station.

“There’s so much that could have gone wrong, and it went right,” said an elated Elon Musk, the billionaire behind SpaceX and the CEO of Tesla.

“This really is, I think, going to be recognized as a significantly historical step forward in space travel — and hopefully the first of many to come.”

SpaceX still has to get its Dragon back next week with a load of science gear; the retro bellshaped capsule is designed to splash down into the ocean, in the style of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. But Friday was the crucial step, Musk noted, and NASA agreed the next SpaceX mission could come as early as September. After a three-day flight from Cape Canaveral, the Dragon closed in on the space station as two control centers — NASA in Houston and SpaceX in Hawthorne — worked in tandem. A problem with the capsule laser-tracking system prompted SpaceX controllers to order a temporary retreat, but the problem quickly was resolved.

NASA astronaut Donald Pettit used the space station’s 58-foot robot arm to snare the gleaming white Dragon as the two craft soared 250 miles above Australia, a day after a practice flyby.

“Looks like we’ve got us a dragon by the tail,” Pettit announced once he locked onto Dragon’s  docking mechanism.  

1HOLDING STEADY

---

2SNATCHED FROM SPACE

---

3DOCKING SUCCESS!

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NASA PHOTOS VIA REUTERS 

The SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft is seen with part of the International Space Station in the foreground, marking a first for a private business.

NASA’s controllers applauded. In contrast, their SpaceX counterparts — including Musk — lifted their arms in triumph and jumped out of their seats to exchange high-fives. 

The company’s youthfullooking employees — the average age is 30 — were still in a frenzy when Musk took part in a televised news conference a couple hours later. They screamed with excitement as if it were a pep rally and chanted, “E-lon, E-lon, E-lon,” as the 40-year-old Musk, wearing a black athletic jacket with the SpaceX logo, described the day’s events. Alcohol was banned from the premises during the crucial flight operation, Musk noted, “but now that things are good, I think we’ll probably have a bit of champagne and have some fun.” The crowd roared in approval. 

Although cargo hauls have become routine, Friday’s linkup was significant in that an individual company pulled it off. That chore was previously reserved for a small, elite group of government agencies.

Not only that, the reusable SpaceX Dragon is designed to safely return items, a huge benefit that disappeared with NASA’s space shuttles. It is the first U.S. craft to visit the station since the final shuttle flight last summer. 

“I think you know it, but you made history today,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told the space station astronauts and everyone else involved in Friday’s docking. “It was an effort that will revolutionize the way we carry out space exploration.” 

NASA provided seed money for SpaceX — $381 million going into Tuesday’s launch, a small portion of the more than $1 billion that the company has invested in the effort. 

Two hours after the capture, the crew attached the Dragon to the space station as the congratulations poured in. 

“Everyone who is working to push forward the space frontier recognizes that such a mission is a massive challenge, and I join the world in lauding this important accomplishment,” said Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic, a space tourism company that is holding a seat for Musk aboard its Space-ShipTwo. 

“Nearly 43 years after we first walked on the moon, we have taken another step in demonstrating continued American leadership in space,” said Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin, the second man to step onto the moon. 

The capsule — 19 feet tall and 12 feet across — is carrying 1,000 pounds of supplies on this unprecedented test flight. The crew starts unpacking Saturday and will have just under a week to unload the food, clothes and other contents. 

After this test flight, SpaceX — officially known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp. — has a contract to make a dozen delivery runs. It is one of several companies vying for NASA’s cargo business and a chance to launch Americans from U.S. soil. 

Rival Orbital Sciences Corp. is shooting for its own supply run by year’s end. 




NASA VIA REUTERS 

Officials clap in NASA’s International Space Station control room as the Dragon docks successfully. 

Is it time to buy MSFT?

Seems that our friends in upstate Washington are working hard to get back to track of lost glory. Off the late I started liking their products and more importantly their strategy and innovation they are working on.. all these news seems to be good for all the consumers both retail and enterprise. As long as they don't fumble Windows8 as they did Vista, they should be golden.

Across the board I am hearing good news.. on cloud side I heard that their new hypervisor (Hyper-V) product is really good and finally it is ready to compete with VMware.. Their Cloud drive seems to be great. Windows8 looks promising.. Windows Mobile phone with Nokia is doing well.. So if everything falls back properly, they should be back to good growth after long time..


MICROSOFT

Office said to be coming to Android, iPad devices

By Michelle Maltais

Los Angeles Times

It looks as if fall could be a very busy season for Microsoft. The software maker appears poised to release Office for iPad and Android tablets and an Outlook Web app for iOS this fall, according to reports.

Although officially Microsoft has no comment, reports have surfaced that the full suite of Office apps will have a November release, according to website BGR. And the app is said to look almost identical to the leaked images from a few months ago, according to BGR’s source. The source also claimed the app’s loading screen read “Office for iOS,” suggesting iPhone and iPod Touch could have the software in their future as well. The App Store may see yet another Microsoft offering ahead of it. An Outlook app known as “OWA Mobile Client for iOS” is reportedly in the works for devices running iOS 5 or later, according to AppleInsider.

Microsoft is currently planning for both Outlook Web App and the new Lync to debut on the iOS App Store before the end of October, a person familiar with the upcoming software revealed. Both will be native iOS applications that render Web content with the same tiled Metro user interface style that can be found on Windows Phone.

FB IPO - Illustrates fundamental Character differences between Mark & Larry/Sergey

Though it is too early to predict about long-term future of Facebook but the way IPO was handled clearly shows extreme greed as the key driver in Facebook founder/s. This is simply case of extreme greed. Which is fine but definitely buy a big question mark on future of FB. It is truly great product and I have personally love it. But as Investor, I would be seriously skeptical of investing in it even if they consistently perform well on stock market.

I think there is way too much personal ambitions and pride in top management of FB, there should be some but at the same time there has to be due respect for others. It is important to treat average investor as now perception is big thing.

Whereas if we look at Google's IPO, they were the first one to open up IPO to general public and now looking back, it was fairly prices. They didn't kept on raising offering price till the last moment and kept on off-loading founder's stocks..

I am not expert in Finance or legal matters.. but this definitely leaves bad taste and will result in further cutting of my Facebook's face time :-(

Here is the link for full story..


http://www.siliconvalley.com/ci_20705548/facebook-could-face-huge-damage-claims-from-ipo

FACEBOOK STOCK SALE

Tipoff at root of IPO uproar

Social media giant could be at risk if its bankers got alert that others didn’t

By Troy Wolverton and John Boudreau

Staff writers

Facebook could be on the hook for $1 billion or more in damages if plaintiffs lawyers can prove allegations that the company and its bankers misled investors in its initial public offering.

The Menlo Park-based social networking company and its banking partners face a slew of lawsuits in the aftermath of its bungled IPO last week, which raised $16 billion for Facebook and company insiders.

The suits accuse the company of misleading investors by failing to share with them information it passed on to select Wall Street analysts — a warning that its current quarter financial results weren’t going to be as rosy as expected.


“There appears to be a good argument that it is misleading,” said Mercer Bullard, a securities law professor at the University of Mississippi. “That’s definitely a potential problem for Facebook and the underwriters.”

If plaintiff’s lawyers can show that the warning wasn’t included in the offering documents Facebook filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and that it was “material” — meaning it could have a significant impact on a company’s stock price — then Facebook could face huge damages, said John Coffee, a securities law professor at Columbia University.

Securities experts say the company could be liable for investors’ losses on the stock after it plunged on the second and third days of trading. One of the lawsuits asks for damages of $1 billion or more, but the potential payout could be much bigger.

“Facebook has plenty to fear,” Coffee said. “It’s up to a jury to determine what’s material, (but) if the case survives a motion to dismiss, it’s likely to settle — and to settle at a dear price.”

Facebook has vowed to defend itself against the charges. Morgan Stanley, its lead underwriter in the IPO, also denies any wrongdoing.

At the heart of the controversy are alleged discrepancies between what Facebook said in a document filed May 9 with the SEC and what company officials told select analysts soon afterward.

Buried deep within that filing was a warning to potential investors that Facebook’s number of average daily users was continuing to outpace the number of advertisements it was delivering to them.

That potential revenue problem had first come up in the previous quarter’s results and was due in part to a growing number of users accessing Facebook through its mobile site and applications, which generally don’t include ads. Elsewhere in the document Facebook vaguely warned that the shift in usage to mobile devices might “negatively affect” its financial results, but didn’t acknowledge that it already was affecting revenues or say by how much.

After Facebook published the document, one or more company officials contacted a select number of Wall Street analysts, according to published reports. According to those reports, the officials warned analysts, including at least some who worked for the banks underwriting Facebook’s offering, that they needed to cut their forecasts for the company’s current quarter.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley and those from at least three of the other underwriters of Facebook’s IPO followed that advice, according to Reuters. It’s highly unusual for a company’s underwriters to cut their forecasts in the run-up to an IPO, and apparently that information was shared with only a small number of their major clients.

The updated forecasts led at least some of those in the know either to not participate in the IPO or to dramatically scale back their purchases, according to the reports.

Despite the flagging demand from some big investors, the IPO not only went forward, but the initial price and the number of shares sold were raised in the days immediately before the offering, reportedly on strong demand from individual investors.

Under a regulation that was put in place during the dot-com boom, public companies are generally prohibited from sharing material information with some investors but not others. However, there’s a loophole in the regulations for nonpublic companies, even those that are about to go public, securities law experts said. So even though investors may feel mistreated, such selective disclosure probably wasn’t illegal.

“In every roadshow there tends to be information revealed that’s likely material but that does not get given to the ordinary investor,” Coffee said.

The key question for Facebook, the banks and its investors is whether the information company officials shared with the Wall Street analysts was significantly different from what the company was telling investors in the documents, securities law experts said.

Under the securities laws, companies don’t always have to disclose material information to investors or potential investors, Bullard said, but they do have to make sure that what’s in their regulatory documents isn’t misleading.

Facebook and its partners could face other problems as well. Congress, the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority have all said they plan to investigate the IPO, which was also marred by glitches in the Nasdaq’s trading system. Such investigations could lead to civil charges by the SEC. Although the SEC tends to levy only minor fines against security law violators, a settlement with the SEC can often aid plaintiffs who have filed private lawsuits.

“Given the high-profile nature of Facebook, and given the massive number of small retail investors investing in it, the regulators would like nothing more than to make a high-profile example out of Facebook” should they find wrongdoing, said Andrew Stoltmann, a securities attorney.
Contact Troy Wolverton at twolverton@mercurynews.

com or at 408-840-4285.

“Facebook has plenty to fear. … If the case survives a motion to dismiss, it’s likely to settle — and to settle at a dear price.”

— JohnCoffee, securities law professor, Columbia University 

True test of Capitalism!!

If you have read history of flying in early part of 1900s.. and then you read these news.. lot of similarity.. That time it was huge amount of excitement and big investment by rich and famous.. However, Wright bros took the challenge with minimal resources.. This time, though NASA and other government agencies have monopolized earlier part of space age.. but I think, real innovation in Space age will come now.. not only it will make it more cheaper but it will result in much more innovative ways of traveling space and much beyond that..

This will be a big test of Capitalism as private sector takes lead into space age.. Greed can drive lot of innovation but at the same time it can take nasty turn. So far it seems that private entrepreneurs are going in right direction.  But it is too early to predict the final outcome. This one in particular was actually more of NASA hand-holding but big step and risk taken by private sector.

Hope these guys will work harder so I can possibly take affordable commercial flight to space!!


Private race to space for profits

First capsule hired to deliver commercial cargo

By Seth Borenstein

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A privately built space capsule that’s zipping its way to the International Space Station has also launched something else: A new forprofit space race. The capsule called Dragon was due to arrive near the space station for tests early Thursday and dock Friday with its load of supplies. Space Exploration Technologies — run by Tesla Motors CEO and PayPal co-founder Elon Musk — was hired by NASA to deliver cargo and eventually astronauts to the orbital outpost. And the space agency is hiring others, too. Several firms think they can make money in space and are close enough to Musk’s company to practically surf in his spaceship’s rocket-fueled wake. There are now more companies looking to make money in orbit — at least eight — than major U.S. airlines still flying.Private space companies have talked for years about ferrying goods and astronauts for NASA, but this is the first time one is actually in orbit and about to make a delivery for the space agency. “Dragon is not the only entrant in commercial cargo,” said Jeff Greason, president of XCOR Aerospace, which specializes in the also-busy suborbital marketplace. “They have competitors nipping at their heels.”Still, Dragon’s launch is “the spark that will ignite a flourishing commercial spaceflight marketplace,” said Michael Lopez-Alegria, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and a former astronaut.

Hiring Musk’s SpaceX and other private companies is a key part of NASA’s plan to shift focus. Instead of routine flights to the space station with the now retired space shuttles, NASA is aiming farther out to places like asteroids and Mars. After this test flight, SpaceX has a contract with NASA for a dozen delivery runs.

The idea is to “let private industry do what it does best and let NASA tackle the challenging task of pushing the boundary further,” NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said last week.

NASA has given seed money and contracts to several companies to push them on their way. But eventually, space missions could launch, dock to a private space station or hotel and return to Earth and not have anything to do with NASA or any other country’s space agency.

Earlier this month, Hawthorne-based SpaceX signed an agreement with Bigelow Aerospace of Nevada, which is designing inflatable space stations for research and maybe even tourists. SpaceX and other companies will provide the transportation — like airlines — and Bigelow the place to stay. There are already eight different licensed spaceports in the U.S. where companies can launch from and most of them have no connection to NASA.

Another space launchand- tourism company, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, is working separately from NASA and the space station.

If NASA isn’t involved, there is one federal agency that is. The Federal Aviation Administration has a commercial space office that licenses private space missions and works with NASA to set safety standards.

An update on some of the closest competitors to SpaceX:

■ Orbital Sciences of Dulles, Va., is in the cargoonly business, but it is closest to launch. It has a NASA contract for $1.9 billion for eight cargo flights to the space station once its rockets succeed.

■ Alliant Techsystems, headquartered in Arlington, Va., isn’t funded by NASA’s commercial space program but has developed the Liberty rocket and passenger spacecraft system. Most of the rocketry and capsule systems have been tested. A key structural test of the rocket’s second stage is scheduled for early July.

■ Boeing of Chicago has nearly $113 million in NASA commercial crew funding and just finished its second parachute drop test in the Nevada desert. It has completed 46 of 52 milestones needed before flights, spokeswoman Susan Wells said. A landing air bag test is targeted for fall. n Sierra Nevada Corp. of Sparks, Nev., with nearly $106 million from NASA, is building a mini-shuttle crew vehicle called Dream Chaser with a first flight targeted for 2016 or possibly 2017. The company this year finished landing gear tests and has a full-scale ship for flight testing attached to a helicopter this fall in California.

■ The most secretive of the companies, Blue Origin of Kent, Wash., is run by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and has received $22 million from NASA. Its crew and cargo vehicle, called New Shepard, would also take tourists to suborbit. Its shell passed wind tunnel tests and its engines are now being test fired at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.

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PIERRE DUCHARME/REUTERS

The SpaceX Falcon 9 test rocket lifts off Tuesday at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

This better be true - Larger screen for iPhone5

it has been long time we are getting this rumor. This time it better be true.. It would be really awesome to have bigger iPhone.. I think it has reached more or less perfection on usability scale. I am more or less fine with all the usability aspects other than screen size. Though, I am fine with current 3.5 inc screen as well.. but would love to have bigger..

Now there are tens of other rumors floating about iPhone 5. I strongly suspect that Apple purposefully float these rumors to build excitement around new release. I hope that they will still put their max focus on testing and intuitiveness of the design instead of all these gimmicks (if they are doing it). No body can replace Steve in terms of dedication to details of product but still I hope the trend will continue and new management will take wise decisions on it..

to fuel this rumor mill further.. here are some more images you can also find by searching iPhone 5..

Next iPhone may have larger screen

Reports say sixth generation’s display will be 4 inches

By Salvador Rodriguez

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — The sixth-generation iPhone is expected to have a larger screen, and several iOS developers say they would receive that change with a warm welcome. Rumors began earlier this month saying the next iPhone, expected to arrive in October, could come with a 4-inch screen. Since its launch in 2007, Apple has never messed with the 3.5-inch size of its phone screen. But reports of the coming large-screen phone keep growing stronger, with some even saying Steve Jobs directly worked on this version of the phone.

And if the reports are indeed accurate, a 4-inch screen iPhone would be a welcome upgrade.

A bigger screen means more real estate for developers and a bigger playground for users, said David Marino, co-founder of Hidden Variable Studios, which developed the smartphone game BagIt.

“When people are playing apps on their iPhone you always have the danger of including too much information on-screen where it can’t fit,” he said. With a larger screen “you can convey more information, but it seems like it’s more spread out.”

And while a half-inch may not seem like much, Marino said, in reality that’s a huge upgrade.

“If you actually have it in your hand, it’s a pretty noticeable difference when you’re playing it,” he said, adding that the extra space allows game developers to add another row of icons or gameplay area.

“It feels like you have a more powerful device,” he said. “You have a better experience.”

It also adds more opportunity to make money. Robert Jackman, executive chairman of ooVoo, a video calling service, said a larger screen could make advertising on mobile easier for app developers.

“Currently, it’s hard to offer advertisements on mobile devices because the smaller screens make it more difficult,” he said. “Having a larger screen allows you to do a little bit more in terms of advertisement.”

Jackman also said that even if a larger-screen iPhone forced iOS developers to make two apps — one for the new one and one for previous generations — that wouldn’t be an issue.

Most iOS developers already went through that when the iPad was introduced, and many of them have several versions of their apps for the many different kinds of Android phones.

“Android is actually in many ways more difficult to develop for than iOS because ... there’s so many Android devices,” he said.

One reason that has been thrown out for the larger screen is to bring back the “wow” factor to the iPhone. If a larger screen means more people buy iPhones, then Jeremy Wacksman, vice president of marketing and mobile for Zillow, welcomes it. More people are using mobile to connect to the Internet, so if more people are getting smartphones, that’s helpful to app developers, Wacksman said.

“We want to be in as many people’s pockets as we can,” he said.

And if the change really does come, Wacksman said, based on previous experience with new iPhone and iOS features, he thinks it will go over smoothly.

“We’ve had a really good experience working with the iOS ecosystem,” he said. “We’ve been really happy every time it’s evolved.”

Silicon Valley's IPO momentum continues..

Even though we are waiting for most prized IPO of the decade (yet), smaller start-up continues their march and momentum towards IPOs.. making it close to dot.com boom time.. 

Which is good and can be seen in local economy. This is one of the best example, what rest of the US should be doing.. Innovate!!! and just create atmosphere for Innovation.. rest of the things will fall in place automatically.. 

That is much more easier said than done though. Many countries/states have tried to replicate and boot strap their local silicon valley or its equivalent.. but with hardly any major success But this doesn't mean that they should stop.. Ultimately, it is going to benefit them and rest of the world.. It will never backfire for sure.. 

So another question.. what is next big thing for silicon valley or high tech. Currently, it is era of Cloud, mobile, Social Collaboration (almost peaked, or may be not), Big Data and "Internet of Things" are most hot commodities in Valley.. What is next? 

Valley IPOs exceed expectations

Hot but Kwel Silicon Valley!!

Investors show faith in profitability of emerging startups

By Jeremy C. Owens

jowens@mercurynews.com 

Two Silicon Valley companies found success on Wall Street in their initial public offerings Thursday, with a Mountain View-based company that makes processors for Apple’s iconic iPhone bringing in the most capital.

Audience, a 12-year-old company that makes processors that improve audio quality on mobile devices, priced its initial offering of shares higher than expected, but still found investors willing to pay more for the stock. Meanwhile, San Mateo-based WageWorks priced its stock lower than expected, then saw the price bounce above the range it expected to reap. Audience derives a large part of its business from Cupertino tech giant Apple, which uses the company’s technology in its popular mobile products. In Securities and Exchange Commission filings ahead of its IPO, the company said that 85 percent of its revenue in 2010 came from Apple; that percentage dropped to 75 percent in 2011, when Samsung stepped up its purchases from the company and accounted for 20 percent of its business. Many recent Silicon Valley IPOs have found success on Wall Street despite failing to post profits, with investors betting that revenue growth can push the startups to profitability. Audience, however, has shown revenue growth and profit recently. The company posted profits of $4.8 million and $8.3 million in 2010 and 2011, respectively, and made $4.2 million in the first three months of 2012. Annual revenue grew from $5.7 million in 2009 to $47.9 million in 2010 to $97.7 million in 2011, the company reported, and revenue for the first quarter of 2012 was $31.1 million.

The company sold 5 million shares at $17 apiece after initially filing at a range of $14 to $16 a share; existing shareholders sold another 270,000 shares at the same price. The sale netted a total of $89.6 million, with $85 million of that going to the company, before expenses, which it will use for general business purposes, according to the SEC filing.

Once the stock reached the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ADNC, investors pushed the price up higher. Shares began selling Thursday morning for $19 apiece and never fell lower than $18.96 on the open market while rising as high as $20.20. The stock closed its first day of action at $19.08, 12.2 percent higher than the IPO price.
“Audience is really alone out there within a very good market niche and that’s what has been required in past tech offerings that have really worked well,” Scott Sweet, senior managing partner at IPO research firm IPO Boutique, told Reuters on Wednesday.

San Mateo-based software company WageWorks also had a strong first day of trading Thursday, with its stock rising 40 percent from the IPO price after the company dropped the price just before the offering. The company had planned to go public more than a year ago, but put off the process due to market uncertainty.

WageWorks, which offers cloud software to manage employee benefits, sold 6.5 million shares at $9 apiece after originally aiming for a range of $10 to $12, bringing in $58.5 million before expenses. The stock then debuted Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol WAGE for $9.99 and began to rise. Shares traded in a range from $9.75 to $12.60, with that high price coming at the very end of the session and representing the closing price.

While the stock closed at $12.60, a 40 percent increase from the IPO price, it was trading for less than $11 a share just 5 minutes before the market closed and dipped back sharply in after-hours trading, when shares were selling for closer to $11.

The two successful IPOs continue a strong run for Silicon Valley stock debuts in the run-up to Facebook’s highly anticipated public stock launch, expected May 18.

An official with the Nasdaq stock exchange said Thursday that he doesn’t expect the rate of successful Silicon Valley IPOs to end any time soon.

“Facebook is obviously the most anticipated IPO in history and once that IPO comes out, I’m sure we’ll see several companies look to take advantage of that market,” Bruce Aust, executive vice president of Nasdaq’s Global Corporate Client Group, said in a New York presentation to analysts, according to Reuters.

“I go (to Silicon Valley) pretty much every other week because it is a huge opportunity when we look at what’s going on with social media, what’s going on with Apple and the applications and the ecosystem that is being created by that, and the gaming industry that is being created by social media. There is just tremendous opportunity and we’re meeting with 20 or 30 companies a week,” he said.
Contact Jeremy C. Owens at 408-920-5876; follow him at Twitter.com/mercbizbreak.

Is this the beginning of the end of EU?

Can European Union (EU) survive this voter backlash in two of most powerful countries.. First one (France) has real economic clout and power to change the destiny of EU. Second (Greece) is powerful due to the super mess of economic mismanagement created by its own government.

On one hand we have Germany, who has really gained in last decade after surviving brutal losses earlier from re-unification. Some say that Germany did gained at the expense of rest of the Europe... Though I disagree with this theory and strongly believe every nation has their own destiny in their own hand. You can't blame other country or regime for your own losses. Germany did well due to hard work and sacrifices they made after re-unification. I still remember during 2003-4 time frame reading multiple reports on Germany's problems and ticking time bomb about retiree's obligation on pension system and so on.. They were all suppose to kick in by 2010 or so.. and here we are in 2012, Germany, one of the most strong Nation on other side of the pond. Why? I think, answer is simple, Germany did well due to sacrifice and hard work. They cut corners in every area and continued momentum for Euro Zone which gave them great market to explore and expand their market share.

Where as Greece is classic example of Old, Corrupt society which has totally become dysfunctional and encourages spending more and paying minimal or zero tax. Good thing for them was that the mess hey created was too big to fail category which mandates rescue from EU. Despite abundant natural resources and great tourism place they flunked..

However, Election results in France is another classic example of what should be done to put decently running government out and almost selecting a non functional Greece style government. The kind of policies new government is talking about is going to make France another Greece. 75% top tax bracket!!!! Mera Bharat Mahan!!! These type of things are going to make one perfectly fine working government into totally dysfunctional government. Problem is nobody can save France.. France is so big that EU is relatively small in case of they even think about Greece style bailout.. Though very unlikely... but this new government has shaken confidence in EU.

Germany is driving all these austerity measures for their own good.. For them, most important thing is preservation of the market.. EU gives German companies a unified and great market.. it is like China.. US is biggest market for China.. so like China, Germany will do whatever it takes to preserve their market.. they know that if EU goes away, their critical market goes away.. and so does all the prosperity.. First they tried to lend as much they could to sustain their markets.. When it didn't worked, they simply started acting like IMF and started imposing austerity measures. which for the time being is taking these countries further south.. So obviously, there is backlash from common man in these respective countries..

I thing it is going to be tough for EU to sustain these losses.. and I feel it will be better that they go back to their old style.. We are seeing more problems than solutions due to EU thingy.. Earlier, each country had its own destination in their hand.. now.. it is tied to rest of the gang as well. It is like communist theory or I should say.. CU (Communist Union) or CNO (Communist Nation Org) instead of EU and UNO respectively..

In France, Greece, voters reject backers of austerity

Results challenge German vision for economic reform

By Steve Erlanger

New York Times

PARIS — Francois Hollande defeated President Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday, becoming the first Socialist elected president of France since Francois Mitterrand. Meanwhile, in Greece, voters punished those responsible for severe austerity measures.

Hollande campaigned on a more inclusive France, but his victory will also be seen as a challenge to the Germandominated vision of economic austerity, also supported by Sarkozy, as a way out of the euro crisis. Both Hollande and Sarkozy had promised to balance the budget in the next five years. Sarkozy became the latest European leader to lose his post amid economic upheaval and the first French incumbent to be rejected since 1981. Furious Greeks punished the two parties that have dominated politics for decades in the crisis-battered country, leaving its multibillion dollar international bailout — and even its future in the euro currency — hanging in the balance. With nearly 80 percent of the vote counted, Greece appeared to be heading toward political stalemate. Nobody won enough votes to form a government, and the two parties that backed the bailout — the conservative New Democracy and socialist PASOK — conceded they need to win over adversaries to form a viable coalition.

“I understand the rage of the people, but our party will not leave Greece ungoverned,” said New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras.

New Democracy was leading with nearly 20 percent of the vote, which would give it 111 seats in the 300-member parliament. PASOK, which has spent 21 years in government since 1981 and stormed to victory with more than 43 percent in 2009, saw its support slashed to 13.5 percent. It will have 42 seats, compared with 160 in the last election.

In France, the race between economic adjustment to reduce debt and democratic anger is proving complicated, and Hollande has demanded that a European Union treaty limiting debt be expanded to include measures to produce economic growth. Domestically, he has promised to raise taxes on big corporations and raise the tax rate to 75 percent for those earning more than 1 million euros a year.

Calling his victory “a fresh start,” Hollande pronounced: “Austerity need not be Europe’s fate.”

The vote was viewed as a rejection of Sarkozy and his relentless effort to appeal to voters of the far-right National Front party.

With 95 percent of the vote counted, official results showed Hollande with 51.6 percent of the vote while Sarkozy, of the center-right Union for a Popular Movement, had 48.4 percent, The Associated Press said. After weeks of energetic and sometimes bellicose campaigning, Sarkozy was gracious in defeat. “Francois Hollande is the president of the republic, he must be respected,” Sarkozy said after calling Hollande to congratulate him. “I want to wish him good luck in the midst of these tests.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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CHRISTOPHE ENA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

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ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

President-elect Francois Hollande, left, in Tulle after his win. Nicolas Sarkozy, right, addresses supporters in Paris. 

Can we blame Chinese for obsession with SUVs

I don't think US news papers or population has any right to criticize Chinese  for their obsession with SUVs. That is first sign of progress!! It is status symbol for any new rich and growing population.. It has been status symbol since ages.. forget about current era.. if you look at old literature of India like Ramayana or Mahabharata etc.. all the kings/princes had great chariots driven by multiple horses..

Once you earn money.. first thing you think about is how to show it off to everyone.. all the other reasons like safety and comfort are merely excuses for this bigger goal of showing off. US had long been obsessed with large SUVs and to certain extent still is.. Whosoever can afford price and has power to pay for abysmally lower gas mileage, still does so.

However, off the late, rich people have found other ways to show off status symbol.. It is the green tech.. Hybrid/Electric vehicles. Even though they are usually smaller, but hybrid sticker behind them gives them even better status symbol.. along with the fact that they are usually more expensive than many conventional fossil fuel only vehicles. This in a way is helping economy and to certain extent environment. Though environment aspect is debatable.. There is view that manufacturing cost is higher for a reason.. it takes more money and in turn more energy to produce these new hybrid cars which in a way off set fossil fuel savings. So, bottom line is, at least in my view, that hybrid/electric vehicle's ROI better be less than 3 or 5 years at the most, otherwise they are equally polluting as fossil fuel only cars. Off-course, in this ROI calculations, I am considering true cost of these cars. Subsidies of any kind shouldn't be considered as part of their ROI calculations. I know, many people will disagree with my theory.. but I agree to disagree with them on this!!

Now, coming back to our original topic.. whether it makes sense for newer emerging economies like China and India and many other countries (what are they called.. BRIC!!), does this obsession with big SUVs makes any sense.. in real traditional economic terms.. off-course it doesn't.. but who cares.. everyone should have freedom to use their hard earned money in which ever way they want to.. Ground realities will bring this  obsession down.. sooner or later..

Enjoy this detailed article!!!

http://www.mercurynews.com/cars/ci_20550455/suvs-take-off-china

Living large with high-end SUVs in China

‘Luxury buyers cannot get enough’ of vehicles; 2.1 million sold last year

By David Pierson

Los Angeles Times

BEIJING — Fuel-efficient vehicles are the rage in the United States, but in China gas-guzzling SUVs are looming large.

Automakers including Ford Motor, Chrysler Group, Daimler and Land Rover are seizing on soaring popularity for the vehicles here, tailoring new models for Chinese consumers, and in some cases shifting manufacturing to China.

Chinese drivers purchased about 2.1 million SUVs last year, according to LMC Automotive, a figure that’s expected to double by 2014. That would put China neck-andneck with the U.S., the world’s top SUV market, despite steep import duties and luxury taxes that can drive prices for some models well above $100,000.

“The luxury buyers cannot get enough,” said Michael Dunne, the Indonesia-based head of auto consulting firm Dunne & Co. “It’s ironic. Ten years ago, no one wanted to touch an SUV in China. They were considered construction or farming vehicles. They were associated with labor or hard work.”

No more. High-end SUVs emerged as the stars of last month’s Beijing auto show, dazzling crowds with their massive engines, spacious cockpits and frills such as heated leather seats, virtual assistants and retina displays.

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ED JONES/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Sitting pretty: A Lamborghini Urus concept SUV draws a crowd at a car show in Beijing.

Maserati showed off the crossover Kubang, the Italian brand’s first SUV. Scheduled to begin production in 2013, the vehicle is expected to retail for more than $100,000. Lamborghini showcased a concept car called the Urus, its first stab at a sport utility vehicle in nearly two decades. The Italian automaker has no firm production plans for the car, much less a suggested sticker price. But that hasn’t stopped some Chinese buyers from trying to purchase one. 

“People are calling me already to ask when they can get it and if they can put a deposit down,” said Wilson Ho, who sells Lamborghinis and Bugattis in central Beijing. 

Wealthy Chinese covet SUVs for the status that their size and luxury convey. Some are also looking for safety in a nation where deadly auto accidents are soaring. 

“The view of the road is better in an SUV and it’s more comfortable to drive,” said Beijing motorist Deng Nan, 28. A manager at a logistics company, he recently paid about $65,000 for a gray Land Rover Freelander. 

Consumers’ infatuation with super-sized vehicles comes despite obvious drawbacks. China’s biggest cities are notoriously congested, and many streets and parking spaces are impossibly narrow. Gasoline costs $4.43 a gallon. China’s one-child policy means that families are small and have less need for rolling cargo haulers. Air quality in the nation’s mega cities is putrid. 

“It’s hard to think of a more regressive type of vehicle in a dense urban setting than a SUV,” said Karl Fjellstrom, a regional director for the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, based in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. “They take up more space in parking and when moving demand a wider berth from other road users, consume more fuel and emit more pollution.” 

The world’s largest automobile market, with 18 million vehicles sold last year, China has pledged billions of dollars to research development of cleaner cars and trucks. But the fruits of those efforts are still years away. 

Meanwhile, SUVs, with their spacious interiors and muscular frames, have overtaken most other vehicle segments in sales growth. Sales grew 18 percent to 441,600 units in the first quarter compared with the first three months of 2011, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, even as total vehicle sales declined 3.4 percent over the same period because of the nation’s sluggish economy. 

“This is the only segment with double-digit growth,” said Namrita Chow, a Shanghai- based analyst at IHS Automotive. She said SUVs have significantly higher profit margins than sedans, giving manufacturers every incentive to push the segment here at a time when global sales remain slow. 

“Everyone wants growth, and that’s why they’re in China, and everyone wants volume sales, so that’s why they’re targeting SUVs,” Chow said. 

Porsche has been aggressively marketing its Cayenne luxury SUV in China while opening dealerships on a nearly monthly basis. The German carmaker sold 13,283 of the vehicles last year in China, more than anywhere else in the world; the fanciest Cayennes fetch more than $300,000. 

China’s SUV market started gaining traction about five years ago when Japanese automakers began marketing compact SUVs such as Toyota’s RAV4 and Honda’s CR-V. That whetted consumers’ appetites for bigger and more expensive models such as the BMW X5 and Audi Q5. The vehicles resonated with car buyers in their 30s who shunned the stodgy black sedans favored by older businesspeople and government officials. 

To sate demand more quickly, foreign automakers are looking to build more of their SUVs in China with their government-mandated local joint venture partners. Mercedes-Benz now manufactures its compact GLK sport utility vehicle in Beijing. Last month, BMW announced it would make the X1 with its Chinese partner in the northeastern city of Shenyang. 

At the Beijing show, Auto China, which kicked off Monday under a dreary polluted haze, crowds flocked to see Chrysler’s Jeep Wrangler Dragon concept vehicle — a menacing-looking black-andgold SUV with the mythical Chinese creature airbrushed along its body. 

Ford, which is playing catch-up to other foreign automakers in China, continued its aggressive expansion by introducing four SUVs to its lineup here: the Edge, Explorer, EcoSport and Kuga. The latter two compact SUVs will be built in China. 

“With the fastest expanding market that we have here in China, to be present with really attractive SUV models is absolutely crucial,” said Martin Smith, Ford’s executive director of design. 




DAVID PIERSON/LOS ANGELES TIMES/MCT 

Inside look: A Ford Explorer split in two attracts curious onlookers at an auto show in late April in Beijing, China.