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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: 100cfm who wrote (4580)	11/15/2000 1:22:18 PM
From: Eric L	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196958

100, << It could a combination of those two plus a poor marketing plan and campaign >> Well, it certainly is not about technology per se, and it sure isn't about capacity, but it certainly points to the fact that raw speed of data transmission does not win the day. Some of the reasons that have been cited for the very slow subscriber growth are: * slow in bringing colour-screen handsets to the market * loss of brandy identity (merger) * poor brand awareness to begin with * lack of marketing effectiveness * lack of a clearly defined user centric strategy * Lack of attractive data services * ignoring the teen market * high rates for data packets I don't know if KDDI uses 2 way SMS on their net. I think DoCoMo took a page out of the GSM manual and employs it (someone can correct me if I'm wrong) successfully. IM, more or less the equivalent of GSM G-Mail, is evidently at the heart of some of iModes success. 2 way SMS is no longer GSM centric. I believe Sprint has already implemented it, and Verizon ready to release it. KDDI will no doubt employ it if they are not already. While the FCC auctions were in progress in early 1995, Qualcomm stated that 2 way SMS ant OTA provisioning of subscriber data and applications would be added to CDMA networks in the future. The future is now. In the interim, it is important to note that when DDI first launched, it put a significant dent in DoCoMo subscriber growth. KDDI employs far superior technology than DoCoMo's kludged together alternative to PDC. They also have capacity and spectrum galore. They just gotta put it together. They are discounting deeply to match DoCoMo and are attempting to compete on price. This alone won't do it and is dangerous to their financial well being. DoCoMo has much deeper pockets. - Eric -

To: 100cfm who wrote (4580)	11/15/2000 1:48:21 PM
From: foundation	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 196958

KDDI vs NTT... Also worth noting that until the merger, which is still being digested, NTT was alone in having a national footprint - as well as favored backing from the government (which, of course, it still enjoys). Imagine not being able to call another state with your cellular service. This was a profound liability for fragmented operators other than NTT. Only recently has KDDI had the opportunity to provide comprehensive nation-wide coverage as well. Also, pubescent adolescents - I-Mode's bread and butter - are a mercurial lot. Will they prefer sending photos to their friends (taken with their camera/cellphones) along with their text messages that are presently all the fashion with I-Mode? What other frivolous fads, requiring bandwidth, will tempt these urchins? Wireless interactive games integrating GPS? IMO, NTT stands at its apex - with future paths leading downhill. Failure to realize a viable wCDMA network - with scale and performance - in 2001 both defines and seals its decline. ben

To: 100cfm who wrote (4580)	11/15/2000 10:16:44 PM
From: Yamakita	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 196958

I think the two biggest reasons for KDDI's underwhelming performance are 1) lack of color. Docomo has been offering big, nice color screens for a long time. Go to any large electronics shop in Tokyo and you'll see dozens of docomo color models to choose from, all displayed prominently. KDDI/au just started offering a color model very recently. It pains me to say this as someone who has 25 percent of their port in the Q, but the phones are simply lame-looking next to the docomos. 2) It has nothing to do with speed. It has to do with fashion. No one cares about 64k access--they care about stylish phones with big color screens. That's where the babes flock. It's really pathetic when I'm standing in a store, fingering the new Au models all by myself, when the docomo display has about a billion chirping chickadees all over it.