World economy 'Going to hell in a a hand basket'-Oh sure.
good morning Frank:
I don't know about today what the market will do but judging from an unrelated (?) story I saw it doesn't look half as bad as these pundits makes them out to be,NO?
Check this out will you??
Aug 27 1998 5:31AM - Bloomberg News
Sweden's Ericsson Raises Forecast for Phone Sales (Update1)
Sweden's Ericsson Raises Forecast for Phone Sales (Update1)
(Adds analyst's comment in 3rd paragraph.)
Stockholm, Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Ericsson AB, the world's No. 3 mobile phone maker, raised it forecast for global cellular phone sales through 2000 by 10 percent because of strong demand for new prepaid services.
Phone makers, including No. 1 Motorola Inc. and No. 2 Nokia Oyj, will sell more than 140 million new mobile phones this year, more than 200 million next year and more than 265 million in 2000, Ericsson said.
''The 2000 figure is a little higher than the 240 million we expected,'' said Henrik Soederberg, an analyst at Hagstroemer & Qviberg, adding that he'll keep his ''buy'' recommendation for the stock. ''Still, prepaid cards are typically sold with low- end phones, which means lower margins.''
Mobile phone services companies, including Sweden's Europolitan Holdings AB and Portugal's Telecel SA, recently said subscriber numbers soared more than expected in the first half this year as more people bought so-called prepaid cards, where users pay for talk-time before they use it. Such schemes are popular because the cards can be used on any mobile phone and don't require individual credit checks.
Ericsson claims to be the largest maker of digital mobile phones -- which are mainly based on the Global System for Mobile Telecommunications, or GSM, system -- in the world, while Nokia claims to be Europe's biggest mobile-phone manufacturer including both digital and analog phones.
[mohan-Oh yeah the universe as we know it is going to implode-<vbg> from the looks of it.]
''This new forecast emphasizes the continuing strong growth of the mobile phone markets in the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific, well past 2000,'' said Chief Executive Sven-Christer Nilsson in a statement. |
