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Technology Stocks : Westell WSTL -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MikeM54321 who wrote (18187)	3/4/2000 12:10:00 AM
From: P314159d	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21342

Hi Mike, with too many digits in his name also. I'd like to chime in here a bit. First, I don't know what you guys are referring to what the CEO talked about. But I cannot "see" a profitable DSL solution using silicon available to the masses which can point to $29 for ADSL. The chips are very sophisticated and require far more "extras" than a std modem unit which a typical xxK Taiwanese or Cut rate U.S. modem has achieved today. Of course, such a price, would necessarily be internal, which is another step. Let's take each step first and figure if WSTL is lost in the foray. First, the infancy of the business is narrowing the supplier chain. The major need of an RBOC is to provide a good product, time-tested and timely. Thus the supplier must meet their needs and have been long-standing in the test and verification of it. Guess what? No Taiwanese here. WSTL has been in this process for yeasr and always fared very well. Remember the early modem days? It took many years for the foreigners to enter. NOw I believe that time is near enough to be of concern, but the game just began and I think WSTL has the head start to maintain a good position for a year and reprove themselves. WSTL must take necessary actions to cost reduce to compete or be dead! Simple. If they haven't started at least a generation (or 2)cost-redux then they are dead soon enough. The computer revolution has taught even the junior"est" manager that! They will need to improve the product for features as always. Internal solution is not a given until the deployers say so. They provide the service and may desire an external solution for a while, just until the process is solidified and demand can be managed better. If the RBOCs allow all solutions, they may fear unmaintainable configurations. Up to them. >>DSL modems will indeed become a commodity product. Aren't they already? What is a commodity but a small margin item. The original shipments of DSL were far below cost for everyone just to entice the world to go for them, not like the original small Cell phones which sold for thousands! and got takers! DSL could have worked that way if the RBOCs weren't in charge. But they were and are, so we have the current commodity priced rollout. Which we all hope achieves its goal of mass success immediately. Then the competition can come around, but WSTL will very accustomed to the minimal pricing and new product requirements, with solutions of their own.