So, having laid to rest my vile motives, is the 36170 upgrade push (referred to in my initial note as the reason for the 45% sequential growth) untrue?
This may be a factor, but it can't be the only reason as the upgrade holdup was back in August and they've had two quarters to absorb the subsequent sales. I admit 45% sequential growth may seem excessive, but when asked about sales going forward, Alan said, "ATM area is a WAN question. We have three new product areas ready to announce. ATM/IP WAN is a high growth business and we're pleased with alternate carrier success and new product lines. First Call for 2000 --- we're not changing plans."
Acquisitions aren't always about products.. sometimes they are about assuring access to base technology, or buying talent, or preventing competitors from getting at the technology/people, or revectoring a like product into areas more in line with the major thrust of the acquirer. Cisco is guilty of all of these (including acquiring working product) and the bottom line is that they are king of the hill and NN is not.
I wonder if GTE's convinced acquisitions aren't about products. About right now I'm guessing Cisco thought they were. In the case of their ADSL purchases, they bought two companies that had poor solutions and they certainly didn't buy them as defensive moves. They bought them for products and are having to absorb the costs without anything to show for it. As for NN's acquisitions, UBNetworks was a disaster, but many of their affiliates have been stellar.
Yes, Cisco is king of the data-enterprise hill, but they're a long ways from dominating the data-carrier hill. You may want to find out about the recent switch failures at WorldCom -- all involving Stratacom PBXs. Sort of like go-carts at the Grand Prix.
<<<>Half truths do a disservice to us all and certainly do yourself no credit.>>> So do selective truths. But then what makes your truth any better than mine.
Half-truths mislead and can hurt both investors and the companies involved. By "selective truths" I hope you mean sharing what we know to be true because that's these forums are all about. We share what facts we have and leave gross generalities and negative bashing out of it.
NN has prepared for the ATM market longer than anyone else in the industry and with the market now ramping, I believe it would be fair to judge them on their performance in this space and not in areas where they don't compete.
Pat |
