Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Interdigital Communication(IDCC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Dalglish who wrote (4153)	4/18/2000 8:56:00 PM
From: ms.smartest.person	Respond to of 5195

Bill, Interesting commentary: The UK wireless revolution investment.com Merry

To: Bill Dalglish who wrote (4153)	4/18/2000 9:09:00 PM
From: Manx	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5195

Philadelphia Inquirer article FROM RAGING BULL: phillynews.com CEO job vacant since '97 is filled Mark Gercenstein, a former Motorola executive was tapped by InterDigital Communications. By Patricia Horn INQUIRER STAFF WRITER After several years of long vacancies and a revolving door in its chief executive slot, InterDigital Communications Corp. believes it got it right this time. Yesterday, the wireless technology company in King of Prussia named a former executive of Motorola Corp. and Iridium L.L.C., Mark Gercenstein, as its chief executive officer, filling a vacancy it has had since 1997. Gercenstein arrives at a time of intense interest in wireless technologies, and after a tumultuous decade for the small technology company. InterDigital chose Gercenstein because the company wanted "someone with good experience in the telecommunications industry, preferably with a strong background in wireless," Charles Tilden, executive vice president of communications and strategic planning, said. The company also sought someone with a "track record of success who knows how to start and grow businesses." Although Gercenstein spent the last eight months working in Motorola's Fixed Wireless Broadband Group in Arizona, he had previously spent 10 years working for or developing Iridium L.L.C., the global satellite-telephone company that ultimately filed for bankruptcy. Gercenstein is originally from Poland and speaks fluent Russian and Polish. He said he chose InterDigital for its small-company environment and its position in the converging Internet and wireless industries. When he rejoined Motorola after several years at Iridium, Gercenstein said, he realized that a large company, "with certain bureaucracy in place, wasn't me." He also likes that InterDigital is a survivor. The company's "history has been somewhat up and down, but most of them [the staff] stayed through and managed to pull it out and get the company on the right track," he said. "The staying power alone I found very impressive." His experience at Iridium taught him that companies need open management, people who can hear the bad news. Companies also need open relationships with major suppliers, he said. His mission at InterDigital includes cultivating better relationships with Wall Street - no analysts currently cover the company - as well as building the company and adding management and technical depth. Over the past three years, InterDigital has shifted its focus from designing, manufacturing and selling complete fixed-wireless phone systems to developing patented technologies for cell phones and other wireless products. Since losing a critical patent case to Motorola in 1995, InterDigital has aggressively documented its patents to bulk up earnings from licensing its technologies. Last year, it signed a long-term, $70 million agreement with Nokia Telecommunications of Finland to develop wireless technologies. Like other tech stocks, InterDigital's share price has been volatile. The stock closed yesterday at $13, down $1.833. It briefly hit a 52-week high of $82 last December on excitement over wireless stocks, a huge leap from its price of about $5.50 in mid-November. Since 1992, InterDigital has had a revolving door in its chief executive spot. Donald Schilling became CEO in April 1994 and resigned in November 1994. Board chairman William J. Burns then became chief executive, but he resigned in April 1996 and later was fined $101,191 by the Securities and Exchange Commission for giving insider information to a friend. Gregory Webb, who succeeded Burns, was fired in May 1997, after seven months on the job. Since then, the post has been vacant, although the company has had a number of presidents. "It is good that they've put someone in place. It has needed some direction," said Sidney D. Rosenblatt, a former chief financial officer at InterDigital and now chief financial officer at Universal Display Corp. in Ewing, N.J. "The company has great technology and a lot of potential," said Rosenblatt, who still owns shares in the company he left in 1990. "I hope this allows them to become more successful than they have [been] in the past."