Mrclinton, I asked you, what is Cisco's core business? You answered:
dinky little routers, "intelligent" switches, hubs, in the ENTERPRISE MARKET.
Cisco supplies and installs network systems for WAN and LAN computer systems.
I asked you, what is Lucent's core business? You answered:
scalable, fault tolerant --Voice and IP switching for carriers.
Lucent supplies and installs telecommunication systems and software.
I asked you, Why is it easier much easier for Cisco to compete against Lucent's core business that for Lucent to compete against Cisco's core business? You answered:
Brand awareness? Bullshitting Capabilities perhaps? I dunno.
Cisco sells 80% of all internet hardware. They rank first in sales in 6 product categories. Last year, they got 50% of the profits made in that field. They are so strong with their systems that customers want to deal with them as a single source, rather than risk product disputes between two venders, even if the competitor has a superior product! They are the absolute "Gorilla" in the field. Intel comes close, but only Microsoft has a more dominant position in high tech. When a company has this kind of "lock", you only knock them off with a major technological change.
Lucent is the "King" of the telecommunication business, They lead, but they don't have "lock" on the business. It's an old, established, vertical market that has many players around the world.
This leads me to the conclusion that Cisco can get into the telecommunication business a lot easier than Lucent can get into the networking business. What is Lucent going to do? Buy Ascend or Bay? That's just buying companies that Cisco has already beat. The product line and systems that Lucent sells will be difficult to for Cisco to compete against, but nowhere as hard as Lucent's selling against Cisco.
I own both stocks, and look forward to holding both for a long time, but I own twice as much Cisco as Lucent.
Oh, by the way, mrclinton, concerning the questions you posed? Tony Li responded:
1. A WAN is a Wide Area Network.
2. A LAN is a Local Area Network.
3. Carriers primarily build WAN's. Normally end users build their local LANs, tho this is frequently outsourced.
4. Yes, LAN construction frequently requires lots of hubs and switches
But the best answer came from Gary:
Do you think that knowing the difference between a WAN and a LAN makes you technical? To be honest I didn't think those questions warranted a response as the answers are as obvious as the nose on your face. If you think knowing the diff. between a WAN and LAN makes you an engineer (then again that may have been a tongue-in-cheek post) then I fear (in all due respect) that you may be out of your league. I believe that well over 90% of the folks here know the difference. |
