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Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: que seria who wrote (52757)	10/9/2002 10:30:34 AM
From: mtnlady	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 54805

Well I got my fingers burned a few times in the cookie jar as well trying to get back in too early. Luckily I was using a small amount so not much damage. I expect this last drop to consolidate a bit then perhaps get a run through options expiration. We still have 1 maybe 2 more big drops left in us. I'll be buying the drop to 1000 and then reselling a month or two later (or sell calls). I think we will get 1 final drop to 700 next year sometime. I'll go LT with the rest of my $$ then. Shopping list is as follows: SEBL, MSFT, INTC, CSCO (looks like CSCO won Frank :), NTAP, CREE, QCOM. It was curious that the G&K list hasn't really changed much. I thought a new gorilla might have emerged sense a year or two ago. There is one company I don't really recognize but outside of that it all seems the same.

To: que seria who wrote (52757)	10/10/2002 7:32:57 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 54805

Here's an interesting perspective on Michael Dell... Michael Dell: The Eliminator By Dan Farber ZDNET Tech Update October 9, 2002 Michael Dell is the eliminator. It's in his and the company's genes. He eliminates costs and competitors with a relentless focus on driving costs down and in forming tight relationships with customers and suppliers. Yesterday, HP CEO Carly Fiorina categorized Dell as merely a distribution channel. Today, the Dell chairman and CEO responded by saying the direct model overshadows other skills the company has in R&D and manufacturing. In responding to a question at Gartner Symposium ITxpo about Dell's lack of innovation and R&D, Dell said that over 90 percent of the revenue comes from what the company designs and manufactures. He said that Dell has garnered 750 patents since the late 1980s. Patents and manufacturing acumen aside, innovation for Dell comes in understanding how to recognize market opportunities (like network switches and blades) at the right time, and applying the Dell direct model and supply chain management to squeeze out costs and competitors. "My belief is if you look at the entire $800 billion IT market, over time virtually all these products go through some sort of commoditization or standardization process. That is fantastic for customers because it cuts in half the cost of products, and it's fantastic for Dell because that's where the Dell business model really shines," Dell said. Invoking his reliance on industry standards, he took a shot at companies who use R&D as a way to protect proprietary franchises and lock in customers. Dell pointed to network switches as an example of how the business model works effectively beyond desktops, notebooks and servers. He said that Dell shipped 1.8 million network switch boards in a year, gaining a 10 percent share in very short time. He hopes to do the same with printers and handheld products next year. Regarding printers, Dell said he can dramatically lower the cost of printing and imaging for customers. "We think we can drive down the cost of owning printers, including consumables," Dell told the crowd of more than 6,000 IT executives. When asked about selling HP-compatible toner cartridges, Dell said that would not be part of the plan. That may give HP's Fiorina some relief, but only temporarily. Dell more than intimated that he will go after HP's business with its cost efficiency and direct model. Dell also touted the services business as its fastest growing division, saying that the company has applied its business model to drive costs out of that market. "If you look at same day, gold, or platinum support, we have brought down prices by 40 to 50 percent on average," Dell said. "It's part of our business model. We don't want to see customers charged an exorbitant rate. We fundamentally believe that every part of the market will find a way to dramatic decline in cost." Dell was somewhat vague is describing precisely how the company could maintain a high level of customer satisfaction at far less cost than other service providers for enterprise customers. He calls his offering "semi-custom services," which are services that, once created, can be redeployed by other customers without much further customization. Semi-custom may work for a range of customers installing Linux or e-mail servers and "close to the box" implementation, but many enterprises will need more individualized solutions. If Dell is going to be the price leader or take business away from IBM and HP, it will have to figure out a way to either eliminate people costs or convince them to use the semi-custom solutions. Besides being an eliminator, Dell is patient. Just as he has waited until the market is ripe to enter the handheld business, he will follow a measured path in growing the services. Dell currently has 8000 people in the services business, and said the division would grow organically and that he would be open to acquiring smaller, strategic service organizations to fuel faster growth. Dell says his job is to be the absolute best in the world at driving costs down to save customers money. So far, he is proving that his model is superior in many respects. As the company expands into services, printers, handhelds and other areas, it may become more difficult to keep the wheels on. Based on Dell's ability to grow and sustain its business even in this economic climate, I would look for the company to be a big factor as it enters those new markets. techupdate.zdnet.com ________________________________________________ btw, I remember in 'the boom period' when SUNW and EMC had market caps that had surged up into the stratosphere well beyond DELL's...Check in today and you'll see DELL has weathered the downturn MUCH BETTER than some of these former tech powerhouses...DELL's market cap is more than 6 TIMES EMC's or SUNW's....Hmmm...Who's really making money today...??...FYI, here's a chart of how these firms have performed over the long haul... finance.yahoo.com