1. Do they possess key IPR to either license and/or protect their market position?
Although they remind me of QCOM in many respects, there is no IPR angle here. It is more like Cisco and routers as the internet was emerging, a hardware product that is really a complex piece of software.
2. Are there significant barriers to entry in their particular niche? They certainly don't seem to have any cost advantages over their competition.
I think of the barrier in this way. Carriers are looking to replace existing CS voice with VoIP, in the core and at the edge. While the move offers great cost savings and enables a plethora of new services, it must be bullet-proof. Sonus is the proven solution even though their competitors are the incumbents. If you listen to Sonus closely, in virtually every account there are 2 competitors, the CS incumbent and Sonus. They only compete against incumbency, not technology or price.
Or, do you attribute their potential more along the lines of them having a technical "lead" on their competition in a market that is set to grow rapidly, thus lifting all boats in these particular waters?
More or less, the only thing Sonus needs is for the marketplace, the carriers, to move faster. Sonus owns Japan, a clear signal of the shape of things to come. |
