'We're getting into a market that is completely different. The Internet is coming into almost every aspect of daily
life,'' Sven-Christer Nilsson, chief executive at Ericsson, said recently. ''We're adjusting our strategies and
organization to meet that.''
The European moves have imitated the aggressive acquisition and development strategies of their big North
American rivals, Northern Telecom Ltd. and Lucent Technologies Inc., which themselves are trying to catch up
with data equipment leaders like Cisco Systems Inc., 3Com Corp. and Ascend Communications Inc. More deals
are expected, and promised, by Ericsson and Alcatel, but many analysts and industry executives caution that
potential targets are getting scarce and that only a handful of companies may emerge as big convergence winners.
''They're trying to get the right products, but there are only a few people with the technology,'' said Stephen
Koffler at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.
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