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To: Rick who wrote (26115)	6/9/2000 10:39:00 PM
From: Eric L	Respond to of 54805

Re: Microsoft (MSFT) - Qualcomm (QCOM) - Wireless Knowledge JV >> *Microsoft Ruling: Should Wireless Care?* wirelessweek.com Wireless Week June 10, 2000 Should the wireless industry -- steeped in its quest to converge Internet computing with mobility -- care about the possible breakup of Microsoft? Fuhgettaboutit. Analysts interviewed by Wireless Week indicate effects on the wireless industry should be nil. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson?s decision Wednesday to break up the company for antitrust violations sent shockwaves through Microsoft?s Redmond, Wash. campus, but not folks on Wall Street and wireless firms. "I don?t see Microsoft as a significant player in wireless. So far the wireless world has developed quite nicely without Microsoft," says analyst Ray Jodoin of Cahners In-Stat. He adds that *although Wireless Knowledge, the Microsoft joint venture with Qualcomm has a "fantastic concept that allows business (customers) to access corporate Internet" it "just to date has not taken off."* Herschel Shosteck of Herschel Shosteck and Associates agrees: "The issue is that Microsoft has been trying to enter wireless, and they?ve found it more challenging than in the PC world. Monopoly power would not have as strong an impact in wireless as it would in landline," he says. Shosteck expects competition to remain cutthroat in wireless Internet, which already has several operating systems in play, making it not as dependent on Microsoft as the PC world. Microsoft has launched its Windows CE platform on wireless devices, but the system takes up too much memory to be useful, he adds. "Whatever shape the Baby Bills or 'Micro' and 'Soft' take, there will be negligible to little effect," he concludes. Negligible? How about beneficial? Netscape and Red Hat aren't the only ones who stand to gain from the possible split of Microsoft?s operating systems sector from its software division, says Brian Modoff, wireless analyst for Deutsche Bank Alex.Brown. "If it happens, it actually could be beneficial for wireless. It would give more flexibility in terms of operating systems support," he says. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said his company will appeal the ruling. As of about noon EDT, Wall Street, too, was unfazed. Microsoft shares held steady at $69 per share. << - Eric -