Re: SEG Diversity
Diverse companies tend to be unfocused companies. A bit of the committee syndrome. Examples: IBM, AMD, LU, HWP. Jack of all trades, master of none. Well one could argue HWP is master of printers, LU is master of circuit switches, etc. but each has substantial business lines which are not convincingly inter-synergistic. If HWP stuck to printers, I might invest. If IBM SSD un-glommed from the main mass, I might invest. If AMD nixed memories and ASICs, I might invest.
Diversity isn't necessarily or unilaterally bad; a company which is a collection of focused subsidiaries can do well. But I believe a focused company with one unambiguously principal business line is generally a more agile and puissant competitor. Intel, Microsoft, Cisco. Autodesk. Coca Cola.
Of course, being focused isn't a magic talisman against evil. Applied Magnetics is/was plenty focused. Focusing on the wrong thing will just get you dead in a jiffy.
Dragon is focusing on the RIGHT thing. (Everyone knows I'm an SR rah-rah. <g>) If Dragon was indie, I would DEFINITELY invest. Frustrating.
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I agree, the HDD threads somehow are home to the best brains on SI.
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(OT -- I heard somewhere that "jiffy" was officially 1/16th of a second. Anybody ever hear anything like that?) |
