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

To: slacker711 who wrote (120180)	1/21/2014 4:11:15 PM
From: Art Bechhoefer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196547

Slacker -- 1. Actually, the UK and German economies are worse off this year than last, because in both countries they have been pursuing more austerity policy measures. 2. You're right, there should be no slowdown in smartphone growth in these countries, since the market is by no means saturated. But when disposable income (i.e., the income available for discretionary spending after paying for essentials like food, housing, clothing, education, medical, and taxes) is down, as it is in the UK and Europe, and when growth in China has leveled off, and probably in India too, the overall growth in demand ought to be down somewhat. In other words, the rate of growth in sales of smartphones should be less than in 2013, but the total shipments should still be greater than in 2013. 3. I'll take Verizon's word at face value. Their sales decline, if my experience is an indicator, can be attributed to simply awful customer service. I was compelled to switch to Verizon last year because Sprint did not have an adequate signal at my residence, even when helped by their Airave signal enhancer working through my wi-fi cable connection. Otherwise I would have remained with Sprint or considered T-Mobile, which also has a weak signal in my area. Though the U.S., Europe, and the U.K. represent three significant smartphone markets, they weren't growing nearly as fast as those in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, even last year. When you consider that one Chinese company has 500 million subscribers, making it the world's largest service provider, a reduced rate of growth in demand in maturing markets pales in significance. Art