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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: voop who wrote (37698)	8/5/1999 3:51:00 AM
From: Maurice Winn	Respond to of 152472

cajunman.com I guess that's the way the Cajun got from Louisiana to Auckland/Oakland because there's no direct flight. Yes, I've heard how people pronounce them both. Gee, now I see Clark asking a serious question about a monopoly. So I'll quickly answer during editing. I reckon the monopoly which matters is government monopoly because one has no choice and they use force against your will to confiscate your property and life as the boss sees fit. If it's a democracy, the same thing applies but it is The Mob which decides [actually a small clique within that monopoly]. All businesses without government protection are transient monopolies. There is no monopoly that $ill has. He just has the best system and is most popular. Anyone is free to compete. They are just not good enough to do it. If one thinks that the monopoly will make a lot of money, one can even buy the stock, thereby participating in the 'monopoly'. So it is a very open 'monopoly'. George Gilder has written about transient monopolies and I'd refer you to his stuff for a more complete picture. The price one can charge is a function of that transient monopoly power. When the monopoly reduces the profits reduce to bank rates as profits are competed away. Globalstar, Qualcomm, the corner ice-cream store all are monopolies. The ice-cream store is the ONLY, one and only shop in that location and we all know the chant, Location, Location, Location. Qualcomm has a CDMA mobile monopoly. Globalstar has a LEO CDMA monopoly using Q! technology. Monopolies, everywhere you look. Now, the leverage aspect. Every time some leverage to dominate a new area is used, there is dilution of the monopoly power because discounts or some other subsidy is needed to gain that power. So $ill had to give away his browser to defeat Netscape. That diluted his monopoly. Unless the subsidy funds an even more powerful monopoly, as Qualcomm achieved by using the OmniTRACS monopoly to fund the super powerful CDMA monopoly, the monopoly power is diluted. Imagine for example an electric utility trying to leverage their way into supermarket operations - they'd crash in flames and lose their monopoly profits by subsidizing an unprofitable food operation. $ill can do some good leverage, but not unlimited. The dangerous monopoly is government. Which includes government protected monopolies, such as lamb producers in the USA. Such as Ma Bell which had a USA wide monopoly. Like the duopoly cellular operators. People will whine that they have no choice but to use $ill's monopoly. That's not true. They can use something else or do without. Before they whine about that, it's the same with a Lexus. If you can't afford it, walk! Or build your own. Nobody is stopping you [unless you copy illegally]. Mqurice