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To: areokat who wrote (38748)	1/31/2001 5:47:49 PM
From: kumar	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 54805

stocks that lead the way up this year may be the Silverbacks? I suspect yes. Also, look for the Silverbacks to enter areas of technology that are complementary to, and leverage their core technology lead. Example : Todays PR about Cisco getting into Unified Messaging. Cisco invested in sw.com about 2 years ago, bought a company called Amteva around the same time, and now we are seeing that transform into a product offering that leverages Cisco's dominance in routers, using software "once again" to create a BTE for competitors. cheers, kumar

To: areokat who wrote (38748)	1/31/2001 7:40:40 PM
From: Rick	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

January 31, 2001 NYT Nokia Lowers Estimates By SUZANNE KAPNER LONDON, Jan. 30 — Nokia of Finland, the largest maker of mobile phones, warned today that handset sales for the entire industry would slow this year from earlier estimates as consumers bide their time in expectation of next-generation services that will not come to market for months. Nokia's trimmed-back estimates come on the heels of a similarly dampened forecast by its big Swedish rival, Ericsson, and reinforce concerns that the break-neck growth is abating at a crucial juncture. Nokia warned that profits in the first quarter would be flat compared with year-ago levels as it cuts mobile phone prices to gain market share. It also said global handset sales for all of 2001 might range between 500 million and 550 million, although its chief executive, Jorma J. Ollila said during a conference call with analysts that he expected the level to be closer to the bottom end of that range. "We just don't know exactly what is going to happen," Mr. Ollila said, adding that the level of uncertainty had been magnified by the economic slowdown in the United States. To some, the message was clear. "The headline is: Game Over, at least for the next few quarters," said Thomas Langer, an analyst with WestLB Panmure in London. Shares of Nokia tumbled in trading in Helsinki before recovering to end down nearly 7 percent, at 37.12 euros ($34.40). In New York, American depository receipts of Nokia closed down 6 percent, to $34.83. Still, Nokia indicated it would not pursue a retrenchment recently announced by Ericsson, which on Friday said it would farm out all its handset production. Nokia, which derives 70 percent of sales and more than 80 percent of operating profit from mobile phones, said it would become more aggressive to protect its already outsized market share. "Manufacturing is a core business for us and a key competitive advantage," said a Nokia spokesman, Tapio Hedman, adding that Nokia has no plans to contract out much more than the 10 percent of its handset volumes. Even though Nokia's handset margins are expected to fall to 20 percent by year-end, compared with 21.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, that is still far higher than levels reached by rivals, and gives Nokia room to be more aggressive, analysts said. "Nokia is saying let's leverage our powerful balance sheet and squeeze some marginal players out of the market," said Wojtek Uzdelewicz, an analyst with Bear, Stearns. "That's probably the best strategy right now. Even if this costs Nokia some profits in the near term." Nokia also reported strong fourth- quarter and full-year profits today that matched analysts' estimates. The fundamental problem facing Nokia and Ericsson, as well as Motorola of the United States is that the furious sales growth rates for handsets have tapered off as the global penetration rate of mobile phone subscribers reached 12 percent last year. Picking up the slack was to be a range of next-generation digital services that require specially designed handsets. But with the rollout of these new services taking longer than initially expected, mobile phone companies are facing a lull, analysts said. "We're facing a new product vacuum," Mr. Uzdelewicz said. Mr. Hedman of Nokia denied that product introductions were behind schedule and said that the company was meeting targets of introducing next-generation handsets by the third quarter, with sales of the handsets expected to reach millions of units by the fourth quarter. "Every new technology has its challenges," Mr. Hedman said. "But we see no unexpected problems." nytimes.com - Fred

To: areokat who wrote (38748)	1/31/2001 10:51:24 PM
From: BDR	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

<<In an earlier post I reported on a book that suggested we might see a drying up of venture capital to the detriment of young companies and to the advantage of established market leaders.>> From FreeEdgar IPO SECrets Newsletter, received today: *** VC Investment Off Sharply in Q-4 Venture capitalists invested $19.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2000, more than 30% less than the $28.3 billion they invested in the previous quarter. In fact, it was the lowest infusion of new VC money since the third quarter of 1999, according to the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). "The venture industry achieved record levels in 2000, but after five years of exceptional and unprecedented growth, evidenced by a ten fold increase in investments made, the industry is catching its breath," said NVCA president, Mark G. Heesen, in an announcement Monday. Despite a languid fourth quarter, venture capitalists invested a record $103 billion into 5,380 companies in 2000, the NVCA said. That's nearly 74% more than the $59.4 billion invested in 1999. The average investment per company in 2000 grew to $19.14 million, 27.9% higher than the $14.97 million average in 1999. Approximately one-third of venture capital invested in 2000 -- $33.4 billion -- was concentrated in Northern California- based companies. The New York region attracted the second- largest proportion of investment -- $12.1 billion -- or 11.7% of the total. Not surprisingly, VC's have become increasingly cautious about investing in new ventures since the Nasdaq shakeout began last spring . In 2000, VC firms put just 33.3% of investments into new ventures, compared with 42.4% in 1998 and 42.5% in 1997. In the fourth quarter, new venture investments accounted for just 25.5% of VC committed capital.