The piece said Information Network chief Robert Castellano believes “massive inventory buildup and huge overcapacity” are having a serious impact on solar panel manufacturers. The industry is up to 122 days of inventory, from an average 71 days in 2008, he reports. Capacity utilization in the industry is down to 27.9 percent, from 48 percent last year.

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According to iSuppli, the cost of materials for the 16 GB version of the iPhone is $172.46, plus another $6.50 in manufacturing costs, for a total production cost of $178.96. The firm notes that this is comparable to its estimate last year that the 8 GB iPhone 3G had a production cost of $174.33. (Note that both models are priced at $199.)

As you likely know already, the key hardware differentiators in the new model are video capture, an upgrade in the camera to 3 MP from 2 MP, and a built in digital compass.

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That’s the obvious conclusion of the latest monthly sales data from research firm NPD Group.

According to data released late Thursday, video game industry overall sales fell 17 percent in March from a year ago, with hardware down 18 percent, software off 17 percent and accessories off 15 percent. For all of Q1, overall industry sales were flat, with hardware up one percent year over year, software down two percent, and accessories down three percent.

Wait, wait. How did this happen? NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier asserts that the steep fall off reflects two unusual factors. One, she explains, is that Easter last year fell in March, whereas this year it fell in April. And secondly, she notes that last March included the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which she points out was the fourth-best selling game in 2008.

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Carl did two things to make Danely’s valuable list even better. One, he provided his own commentary on Danely’s thoughts. And two, he decided that what investors really need is a Baskin-Robbins length list of 31 rules. In Part 1 of this post, I offer up Danely’s list along with Carl’s commentary. And in Part 2, I tack on Carl’s additional rules. The result is a lot to read, but some extremely useful insights.

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For the year through yesterday, Novatel shares had rallied 34.7 percent; Wilson notes that the wireless networking equipment company has gotten a boost from its role providing components to the Amazon (AMZN) Kindle 2 e-book reader. But Wilson says the Kindle 2 will contribute at most $10 million a quarter to Novatel’s revenue, “not enough to fill the hole left by the drop in demand in the PC and USB adapter business.” Novatel declined to talk about the Kindle on its post-earnings conference call last night, but did say that Foxconn, which manufactures the Kindle, was a 10 percent customer in Q4.

After the close yesterday, Novatel reported Q4 revenue of $65.1 million, slightly above the Street at $64.9 million, but down from $118 million a year ago. The company posted a non-GAAP loss of six cents a share, a penny worse than expected.

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And it is a matter of no small debate.

William Power, an analyst with Robert W. Baird, this morning upped his rating on Leap Wireless to Outperform from Neutral. He notes that the stock has sold off almost 30 percent since Jan. 6, largely on concerns about the competitive threat from Boost Unlimited. But Power contends that the concerns are overdone. He contends Leap and Metro PCS have competed effectively with past Boost offers, that having an additional “unlimited” player in the market could boost the overall market and that Sprint plans to focus Boost in particular on markets where it has excess iDEN capacity. Power also says he continues to think a merger between Leap and Metro PCS is likely at some point.

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