"The analysts are, however, currently unable to predict how the Russian CDMA market would impact Qualcomm."
Thats funny because wasn't QCOM's CDMA equipment certified in Russia back in 1997 or 1998 when they put the first demo system in Chelyabinsk? Someone said pilot CDMA systems throughout the country (Rostov--remember the field engineer, Richard Bliss that went to jail?, Moscow, St. Petersburg, et al) soon met with bankruptcy as the economy turned and because no CDMA network contracts were enforceable in a region that lacked consensus regarding business law. There have also been press releases describing LEAP Wireless (LWIN) and a project they inherited from QCOM known as 'Metrosvyaz', a blanket contract for covering Russia which some speculate was only a way that ruthless third parties hoped to extort money from a naive and inexperienced QCOM. The spin off of LEAP may have protected QCOM from unlimited liability. During this same time period, didn't QCOM write off $50 million per quarter (for charges related to Russian projects--see past 10Qs) for several quarters after the sale of the infrastructure division to ERICY (and the creation of LWIN)? All in all, it would appear that the Russian market was a total disaster. Some say other distant, foreign markets remained extremely difficult to develop as well since per capita income for many remained far below what was required to eat, let alone pay phone bills (the reason why many countries may still not have reliable phone service--they can give free phones to everyone, but only a few can pay for service) in target countries like Russia, China and India. Some might hasten to point out that corrupt government and corporate officials in some countries often require more money than the actual projects themselves; unfortunately administrations continue to change after agreements are place. But all may make for wild speculation for both analysts and prospective investors alike.
News flash: China and India are "wild cards". Trouble is, both China and India have been slower to adopt wireless technology than expected, and neither appears inclined to hand its entire market to Qualcomm. As a result, analysts are beginning to caution that sales expectations for both countries may have to come down.
BWDIK. |
