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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dennis O'Bell who wrote (103637)	9/3/2001 8:17:47 PM
From: Stock Farmer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Dennis: I never said Q's position was untennable. I have just said its position is difficult. I do mean to be objective, so if there is something I do not appear to see, please help me out. Microsoft is different from Q on two fronts: firstly, it is Microsoft. A distinct beast all of its own :) And we do not know the degree to which MSFT has succeeded is due to practices the DOJ finds officially questionable. Secondly, Microsoft's profits come directly from customers. Not because it is an intermediary in the food chain. It is both the steak and the sizzle. So it has significant market power through its ability to channel consumer tastes. To wit the discussion on whether or not the customer actually cares they are getting CDMA or TDMA or ABCD. My observation was that Q finds itself as an intermediary, and as part of the cost structure of supplying the service. And more importantly, supplying something that the end consumer considers fairly irrelevant. Which is a classic pinch point and generally results in cyclical fortunes. I said generally. A better comparison might be Intel. Now, they managed getting the end customer to care brilliantly about something that isn't even their business with the whole "Intel Inside" campaign. Which has succeeded. To the point that I saw monitors advertised as "Intel Compatible". Now, the is Q = Microsoft or Intel? I don't think so. But I've been wrong before. John.