Here Mike, look at this table for a better analysis...
ANNOUNCED SUBSCRIBERS STOCK PRICE*
April 16, 1998 12 Million $74.56
January 20, 1998 11 Million $47.91
November 17, 1997 10 Million $37.66
September 2, 1997 9 Million $34.44
January 16, 1997 8 Million $19
November 13, 1996 7 Million $12.38
May 30, 1996 6 Million $27.07
February 6, 1996 5 Million $23.69
December 28, 1995 4.5 Million $20.50
November 7, 1995 4 Million $18.13
September 7, 1995 3.5 Million $17.75
July 5, 1995 3 Million $11.63
May 3, 1995 2.5 Million $11.25
February 21, 1995 2 Million $ 8.32
December 21, 1994 1.5 Million $ 6.17
October 26, 1994 1.25 Million $ 3.93
August 16, 1994 1 Million $ 4.44
July 6, 1994 900,000 $ 3.78
May 19, 1994 800,000 $ 4.35
March 28, 1994 700,000 $ 5.10
January 27, 1994 600,000 $ 3.33
January 17, 1994 550,000 $ 3.27
December 13, 1993 500,000 $ 3.78
November 8, 1993 450,000 $ 3.81
October 14, 1993 400,000 $ 3.80
September 9, 1993 350,000 $ 3.21
July 12, 1993 300,000 $ 2.55
May 24, 1993 275,000 $ 2.28
April 26, 1993 250,000 $ 1.57
January 28, 1993 219,000 $ 1.70
October 27, 1992 200,000 $ 0.92
August 10, 1992 181,600 $ 0.91
June 30, 1991 130,600 (Not yet public)
*Stock price is split-adjusted. Stock splits occurred on 3/16/98, 11/28/95, 4/27/95, and 11/23/94.
I guess adding a million subs every few months could be deemed insignificant - but what is your benchmark you are measuring it against? We're talking sustained growth, quarter over quarter. The trend line has been nothing but up!
Recently AOL has been setting million member milestones, and has been reaching them. Next will be 13 million to reach for. As rhet0ric stated, a membership increase with lower marketing expenses and a price hike. Not a mass exodus like some were predicting.
Another fact that has become apparent to me is the make up of the membership increase - My 13 year old niece and her friend came over and asked to get on the net. After about a half an hour I discovered they were in the "chat rooms" "looking for boys". The ad for the Ford Explorer didn't do much good here.
Well, I know that unless your 13 yr old niece has a credit card, her parents must have signed up. AOL is becoming more and more a part of everyone's life. When we were growing up, did we ever log on to look for a date or talk? Nope. While an ad for a Ford explorer might not be of any use to your niece, her parents might enjoy it. BTW, you could make the same argument for any mostly all internet site with ads...
S.
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