Nicholas Grove is a Morningstar journalist.

A recent survey conducted by online stock research application provider Skaffold showed that over two-thirds of Australian investors intended to maintain their current exposures to offshore markets.

Also, over one quarter of those surveyed indicated they would increase their exposure.

This is understandable given the recent performance of offshore markets - the S&P 500 index in the US has risen by 21.8 per cent so far in 2013, which compares to the S&P/ASX 200's rise of 15.1 per cent.

Skaffold chief executive Chris Batchelor says that when it comes to the global technology sector it is the "new and cool" companies like Twitter, Facebook and Apple that often make the headlines.

However, upon further inspection, Batchelor found a number of "old and boring" US technology companies that are currently trading on fairly attractive earnings multiples - and given that these companies are reliable generators of cash, they are nothing investors should sniff at.

Three such companies mentioned by Batchelor were Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Qualcomm - all of which have been assigned wide economic moats by Morningstar.

While anyone who has switched on a computer in the past couple of decades should be familiar with Microsoft, they may, however, be less familiar with Qualcomm and Cisco Systems.

Qualcomm was named as a "high-conviction buy" in a recent Morningstar US survey of its "ultimate stock-pickers".

According to Morningstar US stock analyst Brian Colello, Qualcomm is the innovator of CDMA (code division multiple access) network technology - the backbone of all 3G mobile phone networks.

He believes the company's CDMA intellectual property (IP) portfolio is the source of its wide economic moat.

"Essentially, phones are unable to connect to 3G networks without paying a royalty (about 3 to 5 per cent of the price of the handset) to the company," Colello says.

"As more and more 3G-capable smart phones hit the market and carriers expand their 3G networks, we think Qualcomm is poised for strong licensing revenue growth over the next few years."

While Qualcomm doesn't have the same dominant IP portfolio in 4G technologies like LTE (long-term evolution), Colello says it has generated enough essential patents to enable it to strike new deals with many large handset makers.

"More importantly, for at least the next decade, the overwhelming majority of 4G handsets will likely be 'backward-compatible' with 3G technologies, enabling Qualcomm to collect higher 3G royalty rates," he says.

Another point in Qualcomm's favour is that it has content in the vast majority of recent marquee mobile handset models, such as Apple iPhones, Samsung's Galaxy S4, HTC's One and Nokia's various Windows-based Lumia phones, Colello points out.

But regardless of all the positives, there are risks that investors should be aware of when it comes to Qualcomm.

Colello says that handset pricing, and Qualcomm's licensing revenue, has suffered from time to time due to currency effects, price competition and an unfavorable handset product mix.

"These headwinds may arise again," he warns.

Also, even though most 4G phones will likely be backward-compatible with CDMA technologies used in 3G networks for years to come, Colello says a small portion of phones may emerge as 4G only and Qualcomm may earn lower royalty income on the sale of such devices.

Qualcomm's chip business could see also lower gross margins as competition in wireless chips intensifies, he says.

Qualcomm is currently sitting on a fiscal 2014 price-to-earnings multiple of about 13.5 times.

In good times and bad

According to Morningstar US equity strategist Grady Burkett, Cisco Systems is a provider of networking products.

It is these products that provide the foundation of the company's wide economic moat, he says.

"Meaningful customer and reseller switching costs, R&D scale advantages and a massive global sales force should allow the firm to maintain its lead in enterprise-class switches and high-end routers for many years," Burkett says.

"Management has smartly refocused its strategy to build businesses that both support and leverage its entrenched position in data centres and corporate and carrier networks.

"Cisco's ongoing shift toward services will reduce earnings volatility and offset product pricing pressure and management continues to improve its capital allocation."

While cloud computing and low-cost vendors remain long-term threats, Burkett argues that Cisco is well-positioned to navigate the current competitive landscape without sacrificing profitability.

He also says that Cisco generates solid cash flow "in good times and bad" and has built a $31-billion net cash balance, while steadily reducing share count.

He expects the firm to generate more than $50 billion in free cash flow over the next five years.

Cisco is currently sitting on a fiscal 2014 price-to-earnings multiple of about 12.2 times.

= Compelling benefits.