FredE, Getting a little testy here: "You think IBM and INTC are pushing vapor-ware?? This is a wakeup call...smell the coffee?"
Coffee at my house right now is pretty good. Only time I get to really think through these posts is about 6:30-7:30am.
I do think the IBM announcement was premature - IBM needs to keep up an image as a eCommerce leader. Actually, JMHO, but I don't think they have the core expertise to do much damage to BRCM. After all, didn't they sell-off their network to Lucent a year or so ago? I see IBM becoming more of a customer to BRCM than anything else. Intel is another story, since purchasing LevelOne put them squarely into the race, but, as with large companies, inertia gets lost quickly due to bureaucracies and internal turf-battles.
Just to speculate for the moment (one of my favorite things to do):
If BRCM begins building up a significant and fundamental patent portfolio and is constantly 6 months ahead with their product introductions, aka StrataSwitch, then they can really set some standards and begin collecting royalties on their patents to boot. Pure gravy, my man, pure gravy to the bottom-line.
Granted they have a ways to go, but, BRCM is the lead horse in this race and "Intel Inside" doesn't mean squat to people in the networking arena (and neither does IBM for that matter, and I'm long both). |
