Rajala, you just don't get it, and I'm sure you never will.
All the yackety yack about coverage and price and blood in the mouth (what the *&^%$ does that mean, anyway?) does not mean diddly. Iridium is dead. Their vaunted marketing machine has failed. Apple's recent resurrection aside, there are precious few second chances in business.
Rule number one in commerce is that the low cost provider defines the market. A simple obvious example, when Henry Ford started making Model T's for $500 when most cars sold for $5,000, he sold a lot more and created one of the world's greatest fortunes ever. For the most part, his competition could not sell profitably at the same price point and lost their markets and their businesses. General Motors and then some Japanese companies figured out how to do it better (for a while, anyway) and the landscape changed.
GlobalStar's cost basis, according to everything I've read everywhere, is a tiny fraction of Iridium's. So, if Iridium matches GlobalStar's announced prices, they will merely be creating cash flow. GlobalStar, on the other hand, will be generating profits. If GlobalStar decides to lower prices, Iridium can lower theirs all the way into bankruptcy court. I repeat: Iridium is dead. Any appearances to the contrary are temporary illusions. |
