Skiawal- I'm glad to hear Zionts wasn't in denial about not having to compete with, "$29 DSL modems." But I still don't understand how they can avoid the pricing pressures Asian competition will inevitable bring?
I did understand the reference to home networking, but it sounded like WSTL may be doing R&D on a solution similar to what 3Com, Intel, Apple, and others are working on. Namely power plug outlets, wireless, and RJ-11 LAN connections. It didn't sound as if what WSTL was working on was unique to their modems. But maybe it is because he did talk as if their DSL modem was a, "router."
And, IF they are developing some type of home networking product, using their DSL modem as a router-like device, will this be enough to keep competition at bay? Consider today one can buy an Intel product, pop it out of the box, and set up a home network via RJ-11. It's specifically made to address the broadband market as Zionts stated was what their end user customers wanted.
So I still am of the opinion DSL modems will indeed become a commodity product. But the $64,000 question, as you imply, is when?
On a positive note, the CPI is an interesting product. Zionts has always made that product line clear. But it's hard to get visibility out of that one. And their clearly EMPHASIZED CPE interoperability with the leader in DSL deployments, Alcatel, is a nice plus. But with a standards based technology, how much longer of an advantage will this be?
Lot's of pluses and minuses for an investor to consider when looking closely at Westell. -MikeM(From Florida)
PS CPE was 21% of 3Q Revenues. |
