Doug - How do we know that this "edge" strategy of Eric's isn't actually correct? It has truly been painful as a shareholder, but with the proliferation of PDA's, cell-phones, Palm's etc using the internet, it may just be that Eric's vision has not yet been realized. For example, Alcatel just yesterday announced a plan to link screen phones to the internet. I don't know exactly how this benefits 3COM but it certainly seems consistent with his vision of proliferation of "intelligence" at the edge. At least it seems that the game will not just be about computers linked to smart central switches. Once ADSL and cable modems come on line, we might actually be pleasantly surprised.
Post 29723 above says it better than I can:
It is my belief, that the high growth areas like the handheld
computing, cable, and DSL Modem access, home networking ,
LAN telephony, voice over IP and wireless networking is the
wave and the link to the future. All these areas have the best
prospects for high growth and high volume business for companies
that can leverage them. In addition, 3Com strengths in technology,
manufacturing, distribution and brand are strong assets that can be
used to establish a leading position in these emerging markets as
well.
Granted the USRX purchase was a disaster - but after studying USRX carefully, I think it had some good technology but never made the transition from a small growth company to a stable large capital company. Eric inherited the management failure because this company had postponed this transition earlier in the name of "flexibility". The stuffing of the inventory channels was only the tip of the iceberg on the lack of mature management systems at this company.
I think Eric was ambushed by USRX being less than it was represented to be, but the idea of pushing to the edge could still be viable. It would be more interesting to me to know what the mileposts will be on evaluating this strategy, and determining whether it could still succeed, than whipping ERIC further at this point.
On the other hand, if you know this is not correct, that the strategy is already a failure, I would love to hear more of the details. |
