I'm not so sure that Netscape will be acquired, because I think they are capable of going it on their own. They have refocused their strategy and appear to be doing extremely well with their e-commerce products. Personally, I think that is where the money is to be made. Plus, Netcenter has been shown to be one of the most effective advertising sites on the web. I say that because of a study that I believe may have been posted here, or that I saw somewhere, that stated the revenue per user that Netscape commands. It was significantly higher than most other portals. (Does anyone know where that report was?).
Nonetheless, Netscape is a viable company. It's going down because of Barksdale being on the stand and Microsoft apparently making some good points. However, the reality is that their points are being refuted, and the government wants to break up this monopoly. Heck, I want their monopoly to be broken. I'm tired of only having one choice for everything for my computer. Yes, that's a hyperbole, but not too much of one.
Remember, Microsoft is presenting their best case now. I haven't heard anything yet to make me think that they're gonna win this case. Their browser giveaway almost sank Netscape, but Netscape refocused and is doing very well now from what I can tell. The market lives for momentum, and for now the momentum is against Netscape. Do you think it will continue going against them? I don't, but only time will tell.
Bill Schaff said in a late September column about Netscape on CMPNet that the market is behind the curve most of the time, and he felt they were on Netscape. I think they are too, and in the meantime, my money's on Netscape.
Crusader |
