I just read the 10Q, and a couple of items caught my attention:
The Company
announced in January 1997 that it planned to introduce a complete line of
products based on multi-service WAN adaptation and concentration technology for
the service provider market, including high density carrier-class access
technology, but such introduction has now been delayed until the first half of
calendar 1999, at the earliest.
and:
The number of
employees of the Company engaged in research and development decreased to 415 at
December 31, 1997, from 455 at December 31, 1996.
While Fore has, to its credit, beefed up sales and marketing, how can a technology company thrive when it is reducing its r&d ? Are not the Ciscos of the world begging for more R & D staff?
And if Fore is not going to start selling high density carrier class access technology until 1999, will not Ascend and Cisco and Newbridge be so far ahead that Fore will never have a chance?
IMHO, this company needs to make some strategic changes to capitalize on its technology while it still has the lead. A merger with Lucent would be my preference. |
