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 : AUTOHOME, Inc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gpowell who wrote (26235)	10/25/2000 6:11:20 PM
From: matt gray	Respond to of 29970

Now for the good news; if ATHM only loses $0.08 to $0.10 in Q4 then margins must improve slightly compared to Q3 and Q2 (perhaps the first hint of economies of scales asserting themselves?). Are we seeing a loss/leader approach to capturing marketshare? The bad news is they are selling product below cost the good news is that they have little or no churn. Hopefully they can translate the discounted customers into full rate customers later. This seems customary with ISPs who have provided steep discounts and free preliminary services to build subscribers. Also, when T broke up previously and spun off Lucent the cherry property was lucent. Hopefully the cherry property will be the Broadband Unit. Also since the broadband unit is no longer controlled by a huge monolithic corporation, perhaps they can make inroads with the regulators on issues like CATV ownership limits and open access. After all we are no longer the big gorilla here and presummably less of a threat to other companies.

To: gpowell who wrote (26235)	10/25/2000 6:24:41 PM
From: E. Davies	Respond to of 29970

perhaps the first hint of economies of scales asserting themselves?) I dont feel too bad about the fact that economies of scale have not kicked in yet in a major way. It is due to the exponential growth- they need to be building into the future by 6 months or a year. Essentially they have had to spend as if they were a company twice the size. As the growth starts leveling out the economies kick in. 10 cents a share is a ton of cash. I hope they quit spending at that level before too long. I'd really hate to see them try to raise more funds in this market. I vaguely remember a mention of the STB in the context of commenting about the future uses of pogo.com. Eric

To: gpowell who wrote (26235)	10/25/2000 7:44:25 PM
From: Solid	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

G, I patient told me today how excited she was to be getting @home service installed. Ordered it last Thursday and install scheduled for Wed. between 10-12. She has very limited finaces but spends a lot of time online. She figured it would save her money with the time and freeing up her one phone line. She uses AOL but will drop it once she familiarizes with Excite. Said many of her friends are very jealous as 'everybody' has heard of the new BB cable. The real selling point for her was FREE INSTALLATION AND FREE FIRST THREE MONTHS. But it appears 2 billion in revenue is off the table for 2002 – it wasn’t mentioned. I post the above story because I can't help but assume ['Danger Will Robinson, danger!'] that a portion of the decrease in earnings has got to be from the promotions to get the frenzy going and hook people to the awareness of needing BB. This gal won't pay a dime until February and here in CT can't be too much different than many major metro areas. I will take solace in the fact that BB is gaining and revs will rise over time. ATHM should still hold promise when this current kind of growth escalates. And, when things in general straighten out again for markets. The Nov. issue of Discover had an excellent interview with leading corporate heads and researchers discussing internet trends. Most see VOD as the next killer app, and only BB empowers this evolution. I recall them saying cable will carry the brunt of it for at least the next decade, though other technologies will have their niche.