Gregg, "...Jerkysson's management, if they are doing their job, should be out to maximize value for their shareholders. Theirs is a fiduciary obligation and they have fought a good, albeit ruthless, fight...now it is time to call off the dogs of war and make love..."
I don't buy "...they have fought a good, albeit ruthless fight..."
While it's true that they should maximize shareholder value while complying with reasonable laws, I don't believe this is what they have done. Nor have they fought a 'good' fight in either the sense of a successful one or an honorable one.
While I agree that lies are fine on behalf of shareholders, they are only fine if their shareholders actually benefit from the lies. Actually, the lies [or mistakes if we are generous] damaged Ericy shareholder interests.
Ericy did not sign a cdmaOne licence agreement which has cost them dearly. Nokia did and it has stood them in good stead. Now Ericy is going to have to pay up big time because of being late to the cdmaOne market. That is bad for Ericy shareholders. Their lie, or mistake, that cdmaOne was a fraud, would not and could not work, was late to market etc has cost shareholders heaps.
They will have annoyed GSM and other customers who will now [or shortly if they are sound asleep] see that they were misled by Ericy on where they should invest. Legacy GSM systems are not going to be as valuable as cdmaOne. They have delayed investment while Ericy played dishonest games. NTT is really jumping now and is no longer prepared to wait. Vodafone is getting their 'clout' ready. Annoyed customers are VERY bad for a salesman's day. Ericy salesmen will not be liking what they will be hearing. Neither will Ericy shareholders when the results are in.
Ericy has not materially delayed introduction of cdmaOne which has been adopted very quickly despite teething troubles, the usual relatively high cost of new technologies and 'if it's new it'll be a problem' worries by buyers. Nor retained sales of GSM [Nokia has gained those]. So they have diverted their attention onto silly anticompetitive actions which are bad for keeping one's eye on the ball and succeeding in markets. That is bad for shareholders. The proof of failure is the relative success of Nokia in GSM.
Ericy now has a reputation for dishonesty. Salesmen like it if customers trust them. Ericy salesmen will not be considered specially trustworthy by their prospective customers now. If Ericy was so wrong about cdmaOne then how right will they be in other things they say. Loss of reputation is expensive for shareholders.
Stuff like that...
Don't let hagfish off the hook!
Mquarkce
PS: The Thin Phone doesn't look that thin to me. I was told 0.3 inches. It looks fatter than that. Also, not sporty looking - needs colour, zing, fancy layouts and some Nike Swoosh type things. Some racing stripes.... |
