Smoke without fire?
A short while ago, STMicroelectronics said the company's future will be laid out in a strategic plan to be presented in December. Now, persistent rumours claim the company will be broken up and essentially sold for parts. The loss making digital side of the company, along with the floundering ST-Ericsson joint venture, would go - Samsung has been named as the buyer - while the profitable analogue, mixed signal and MEMS operations would be retained.
Stung into action, the company has responded, saying nothing of the sort is planned.
Everyone agrees that ST has to do something; in market terms, it's been going backwards for a few years now and the ST-Ericsson JV is not working, to say the least. Its management is, at best, seen as complacent.
So the question now is whether there is fire associated with the smoke.