I agree with DS as to the worthiness of both NTAP and CSCO. In my own way, trying to discern the larger picture and put it to work in my wee efforts to get ahead, I'm electing to stay away from all the box boys. I see prices dropping for both the consumer and for business. I may want a faster computer than I've got right now, and in today's scheme of things, I can buy that for less than I paid for what I've got now. That tells me that even if margins remain the same, there are fewer dollars involved, so profit per unit has got to go down. To make the same money, the number of units sold has to increase for these box guys. I feel CPQ, DELL, Gateway...they'll all be under pressure. First time users aren't going to buy via the internet, but second and third time users will. That may reduce selling costs for some, for a while, but only for a while.
However, I would guess that perhaps 90% of the sales to consumers will be hooked in to the internet, and that a very large percentage of sales to business will be hooked in to a network. Who benefits from that: AOL, NTAP, CSCO, MSFT, INTC, ECM, ATHM, GNET, are the quickest winners IMO. It matters at what price you buy of course, but I personally think NTAP is closer to it's low than is CSCO right now.
Still, five years from now, you may not remember the difference. |
