SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM)
QCOM 151.59-0.4%Jan 30 9:30 AM EST

 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  
To: Gregg Powers who wrote (8199)2/8/1998 12:38:00 PM
From: limtex  Read Replies (1) of 152472
 
Gregg-

your kind of post that makes this and other SI boards worth a great deal of time to read. Contrast with some of the nonsense on Yahoo boards. New kind of college maybe....

Re your comments re Greg Geiling pls see my last couple of posts regarding the "Red Herring.com" article of 4th Feb.

I agree with you about this managements integrity. They are clearly great engineers and anyone can be excused for having been caught out in the SEA crash. As I said before on this thread it's happened to major banks in the US and the UK on quite a few occasions over the last twenty years.

Greg Geilings article however does raise a few questions particularly as he says that analysts concerns about handset margins were what drove the stock down a month or so ago NOT Korea.

This company is in the driving seat in the wireless telephony industry because it has technology, inventiveness, good patents and longevity in these areas. I question now whether they should be in manufacturing at all. Manufacturing is a specialty business all of its own and there you have to confront all sorts of companies with various agendas. NOKA for instance and ERICY are really important to their countries. They will undoubtedly have their governments support (in all sorts of very creative ways) and when they come across an insurmountable patent or technology issue they will create a political solution. I doubt Qualcomm has that ability yet.

Governments around the World have recently discovered the telecom industry as something that charges customers (referred to in Europe sometimes as "subscribers" in order to avoid their being associated with a market environment) by the minute. This appears especially attractive to government employee types who have only worked out how to charge customers ( read "taxpayers") either by the year or by a percentage when they buy things (sales tax/VAT). Now these guys have worked out that they can sell (privatize) these telecom businesses to the markets ( read "taxpayers"), get a huge multiple, then keep about 30% of the earnings as taxes, then allow competitors to enter ( again for a fee) and lastly when a brand new technology like wireless comes along ...well guess what sell it again for a fee.

The point I am trying to make here is that if you have the right to charge fees (or royalties) then do that and that alone. Become an expert in how to get the last ounce out ( just like the privatizing governments have done) but don't get involved in operating or manufacturing when others will do and tear eachothers margins to threads because they have no other economc raison d'etre.

Q should be using its economic muscle/cash to assist make it economically v.attractive to set up wireless systems. Q for instance has the best Russian material in the business but IMHO if MOT or FON had been on Rostov and not Q their employee wouldn't have had a problem.

The handset and hardware manufacturing sided is going to go into the same comptetive and oversupply condition as the hard-drive industry. What other major employment opportunities are there in Finland for instance or even in telecom in Sweden. These countries are fighting for their economic lives and they have v.big social services to support and they don't have Norway's oil. Keep out of their way. Let them go head to head with all the low cost manufacturers springing up all over the World. Do deals with them to license them technology but not exclusively.

Do an even better deal with Samsung especially now.

Live on lthe licensing because the manufacturing is going to be a never ending nightmare.

Follow the old management maxim - "Play to Your Strength and Source Your Weakness"

All the above IMHO

Regards,

L
Report TOU ViolationShare This Post
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext