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Technology Stocks : Nokia (NOK) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John F. who wrote (2017)	8/11/1999 9:35:00 AM
From: tero kuittinen	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 34857

I don't think WCOM has a lot to do with the situation - that nickle scheme is about wireline long distance traffic, which isn't connected to Nokia. WCOM can't compete with Sprint and AT&T in wireless market, since they don't have a network. I think the current dip is about the overall tech correction - Nokia is among first stocks US investors tend to ditch when Nasdaq heads south. Then it's among biggest gainers when risk comes back in vogue. Not much to be done about that. In any case, this is pretty mild compared to the 40% dip of last autumn. I'd focus on product line development instead of trying to predict which way the tech market swings in near term. This winter's line-up is emerging during the next six weeks - 3210 and 7100 series in Europe, the 8800 series launch in USA. There's probably a major publicity offensive launched concurrently. At least one totally new model will be announced this autumn, which might be good for a short-term spike. Nokia's long-term success hinges on keeping the product cycle speed ahead of the competition, not on autumn tech doldrums. Betting in Helsinki now favors the idea that something called 8870 is the most likely dark horse candidate. That would be a 3-ounce GSM phone handling all three existing GSM bandwidths, offering voice-dialing, picture-messaging and predictive text input plus a 150-hour stand-by time. It would be aimed as a counterpunch to Motorola's worldphone, which is a bit heavier, without the high-tech extras and devoid of design perks like blue-light display and metal moulding. But that's still a very open question, Nokia's KGB-like security machine is pretty much keeping everyone guessing. In any case, the competition for mobile phones operating both in the US GSM-1900 frequency and the global GSM-900 and GSM-1800 frequencies is suddenly intensifying. It's a brand new product category and could be an important battleground by Xmas sales season. And yes, Maurice, technological improvements are driving the next phase in mobile phone sales expansion. I'd advice you to take a close look at the new crop of GSM handsets like S25, T28 and 7110. Data, voice-activation, colour displays, predictive text input, WAP, USA-Europe compatibility and other features are already on sale or debuting within one month in GSM-900 markets. You think the current CDMA models are closing the technology gap? We'll see about that when Telstra starts selling CDMA phones in Australia against the GSM-900 all-star line-up this Christmas. Korea and USA made sure they never had to face direct competition from GSM-900. That dodge won't work in other markets. The state-of-technology in the US GSM-1900 market makes it a pale shadow of the global GSM-900 market, currently seeing an explosion of new models just as the international subscriber base is nearing 200 million. There's an entirely different level of technological innovation than in the American phone market, which is carefully insulated from global competition by a profusion of midget standards like iDEN, CDMA-800, GSM-1900 and TDMA-800. All too small for any major manufacturer to give them a priority when launching new product platforms like V-series and T28. If you think this is hype, compare the number of models in USA and global GSM-900 market currently offering an infra-red link, an inbuilt modem, a colour display, predictive text input, picture messaging, a voice memo, 250-hour stand-by time, a WAP browser or other advanced features. And I mean now - Wednesday, August 10, 1999. Why would Chinese, Russian or Australian consumers turn their backs on that and start buying retro-tech CDMA models? The networks can be built by political decisions. But market share competition hinges on consumers. Tero