Qualcomm clamps down on information
leaks
By Mike Drummond
STAFF WRITER
March 19, 1999
Loose lips sink ships -- and apparently telecom companies, too.
San Diego-based Qualcomm is trying to clamp down on unauthorized leaks to analysts and the
media. Jeffrey Belk, vice president of marketing, fired off a memo to employees this week
warning that reporters and others are trying to infiltrate the corporate fortress.
"We have had increasing instances of media frequenting local eateries and 'Bldg. K,' overhearing
issues and rumors and even occasionally attempting to pass themselves off as employees," Belk
wrote.
A Qualcomm worker sent Belk's memo, dated Monday, March 15, to The San Diego
Union-Tribune.
Belk admonished employees to "be careful about discussing internal Qualcomm business in
public places," such as lobbies, restaurants and gymnasiums, and added it was "imperative" that
employees not talk shop in e-mail or in online chat rooms.
Belk informed employees that the objective of reporters "is to obtain information that is not
publicly available and report it as 'news.' "
Qualcomm employees are to refer all media inquiries to PR staff.
Belk was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Spokeswoman Christine Trimble said the memo was a "routine e-mail restating company policy."
She said there is no Building K at Qualcomm, but wouldn't say what Belk was referring to in the
memo.
Trimble also refused to say what happens to employees who are caught talking company
business in public.
When asked if this week's leak will prompt another memo restating company policy on leaking
information to the media, Trimble said she would not comment further on the issue.
Over the past year, Qualcomm has earned a reputation as a stubbornly tight-lipped corporation.
Analysts quietly complain that Qualcomm is not as forthcoming with financial data as its
corporate peers.
This week's memo underscores the degree to which executives yearn to control information.
Analysts say Qualcomm has grown increasingly mute as it confronts financial problems with its
ailing infrastructure division. Qualcomm recently laid off or reassigned many from the unit, which
makes equipment that keeps wireless phones connected to central communications grids.
"It's a frustrating experience getting information from this company," said one analyst who
requested anonymity. "They'll say something like, 'We sold X-number of phones,' but the
numbers don't add up. You ask them, but you get no explanation behind the numbers.
"I find this more (at Qualcomm) than at other companies," the analyst added.
But the company also has made strides in phone handset sales and deployment of its code
division multiple access or CDMA phone technology. (In an officially sanctioned announcement
yesterday, Qualcomm said it recently shipped its 10 millionth CDMA phone handset.)
The layoffs, coupled with brisk handset sales, have boosted Qualcomm's stock price, all of which
has attracted more attention from the media and Wall Street.
Reporters and analysts regularly talk with employees inside Qualcomm as a means of adding
flesh to the bones of announcements handed out by PR officials. Employees told the
Union-Tribune about Qualcomm layoffs more than a week before they were officially announced.
And when Qualcomm initially refused to disclose how many employees worked in the
infrastructure division, the information was supplied by an analyst with sources inside the
company.
Indeed, Belk also was worried about pesky Wall Street analysts and nosey investors who
approach employees.
"Although their questions often seem innocuous, they are attempting to obtain information that
they would not get through normal channels," Belk stated.
"Qualcomm's culture has always been very open," the memo added. "Unfortunately, external
sources are increasingly trying to take advantage of this openness."
Copyright 1999 Uni |
