Forbes list for wirelees plays:
(My take on this. If Parthus (NAZ:PRTH LSE:PRH) is missing in this article, what else
is ???! Palm OS is missing, Nokia and Palm will be big cellphone manufactures & Bluetooth etc.)
biz.yahoo.com
Tuesday October 10, 12:42 pm Eastern Time
Forbes.com
Stock Focus: Wireless Software Companies
By Tricia McGinnis
Some cellular providers are offering versions of wireless e-mail and stock trading, but the third-generation wireless technology coming to the U.S. market in 2002 promises faster wireless e-mail, e-commerce and data transfer to other devices.
This next wave of technology will benefit companies providing software that enables digital gadgets to communicate with each other.
Wireless application protocol, or WAP, is rapidly spreading as the standard for accessing the Internet on mobile phones and PDAs. Meanwhile, a consortium of 1,800 technology companies is working on Bluetooth, an application for radio wave-based short-distance (30 feet) communications between every conceivable device and appliance.
With Bluetooth, it would be possible, for example, for a laptop user to access a nearby cell phone and reach the Internet. Cahners In-Stat Group, a Massachusetts-based technology research firm, forecasts that more than 1 billion Bluetooth-enabled devices will be built worldwide by the year 2005.
The accompanying table lists nine companies that are developing software solutions for wireless communications. Six of these companies are currently losing money and none of them are cheap, based on estimated earnings. On the bright side, all of these stocks are down sharply from their 52-week highs as a result of the recent decline in technology stocks.
Extended Systems (Nasdaq: XTND - news), which had $57 million in revenue in fiscal 1999, specializes in mobile information management (MIM) solutions, software that lets wireless products and PCs talk to one another. The company started shipping its Bluetooth software development kit for handheld devices back in April. Significant customers include 3Com (Nasdaq: COMS - news) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT - news).
Extended's MIM-based revenue climbed 60% in fiscal 2000, which ended in June. Wall Street analysts expect that Extended Systems will be in the black by 2002 but won't start showing significant profits until subsequent years.
Industry giant Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) is porting code over to the wireless world. Carriers like Nextel (Nasdaq: NXTL - news) and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD - news) began offering Microsoft's mobile Web browser in the spring.
In the first half of 2001, Microsoft expects to launch its mobile-adapted server software, which will work with other cell-phone software. Included in the software is Microsoft's Outlook Mobile Access software, which adapts incoming e-mail to the small screen on a cell phone. In September, Microsoft launched a wireless e-mail joint venture with European telecommunications giant Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERICY - news), and the first fruits of their collaboration are expected on the market by the end of the year.
Bsquare (Nasdaq: BSQR - news), which had revenue of $50 million in the past four quarters, offers software that integrates the Microsoft Windows CE operating system (originally offered for handheld devices) into other intelligent computing devices such as set-top boxes, Web pads, Internet appliances and Windows-based terminals. In September, Bsquare was the first company to market a solution for integrating Bluetooth hardware with Microsoft Windows' operating systems. Security analysts expect Bsquare's profits to increase 28% next year over estimated year 2000 earnings of 20 cents per share. Bsquare sells for 58 times estimated 2001 earnings.
Phone.com (Nasdaq: PHCM - news), which provides wireless Internet infrastructure and application software, earned the bulk of its $69 million revenue in Europe and Asia, both of which are way ahead of the U.S. in adopting WAP technology. In September, Phone.com rolled out wireless Internet security software, designed to protect the wireless Internet transactions, much the way PC-based transactions are secured. Analysts expect Phone.com to be profitable by 2002, when it will reap the benefits of its upcoming merger with Software.com (Nasdaq: SWCM - news), a provider of Internet infrastructure software.
Wireless Software Stocks
Company Price 52-Week High Revenue (mil) 2001 Estimated EPS Projected EPS Growth*
Bsquare (Nasdaq: BSQR - news)
15.00 $56.50 $50 $0.26 38%
Diversinet (Nasdaq: DVNT - news)
6.38 49.88 1 -0.35 N/A
Extended Systems (Nasdaq: XTND - news)
38.19 150.00 57 -0.53 25
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - news)
54.19 119.94 22,956 1.89 21
Phone.com (PHCM - news)
107.88 208.00 69 -0.67 100
Portal Software (PRSF)
35.13 86.00 182 0.23 53
Puma Technology (Nasdaq: PUMA - news)
14.81 102.44 31 -0.32 40
Socket Communications (Nasdaq: SCKT - news)
11.19 51.38 8 N/A N/A
Tibco Software (Nasdaq: TIBX - news)
6.63 147.00 197 0.29 50
Prices as of Oct. 9 |
