Transmeta Stumbles

Om Malik asks whatever could be meant by "business changes" in this article that Mark Hachman wrote for ExtremeTech. Well, a quick glance at Transmeta's (TMTA) financials would tell you that the company is digging a big hole in the ground. The balance sheet shows that net tangible assets have declined to just over $100 million, which wouldn't be bad for a business with profits... but the cash flow statement shows that the company is losing money at a horrific rate. And that was just as of Dec, 2003.

The company's latest 8K filing on July 22nd reported that the company has lost another $50 million since December.

So what do technology companies do when their backs are against the wall? Look to SCO for an example -- start leveraging your patent portfolio. You have to reach for the off-balance sheet assets to shore up the balance sheet. The primary off-balance sheet asset for a tech company is the IP. So who will Transmeta sue?