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Technology Stocks : Altaba Inc. (formerly Yahoo) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: yard_man who wrote (7261)	2/10/1998 10:28:00 AM
From: Oeconomicus	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27307

Re "AOHell", whether existing subscribers put up with the $2 hike isn't the point. They already have a higher churn rate than the supposed also-rans and if the ISPs don't "follow AOL's lead" to higher rates as analysts are predicting, AOL will have a much harder time signing up new subscribers. Since the rate increase will not flow through to the bottom line, but will only cover cost increases, where does the growth come from to support the valuation? Answer: It doesn't! Earthlink is already on the offensive: According to EarthLink Founder and Chairman Sky Dayton, ''AOL just raised the price of inferior service. The reviews show that EarthLink's Internet access is faster and far more reliable than AOL's. And with the Personal Start Page, we provide our members a personalized view of the best content on the Web every time they log on. We're sticking to our $19.95 per month pricing, and we'll continue to welcome new AOL graduates to the EarthLink family.'' ELNK is offering to waive the startup fee for anyone who switches from AOL ("get out of AOL free"). MSPG has also stated that they have no plans to raise rates (why should they? they make money at existing rates). Bottom line is that AOL's business model is flawed. They have admitted that they can't make money at existing rates (even though others can) and they have admitted that they can't make up the shortfall with advertising and commerce revenues. What does this have to do with Yahoo? If AOL can't make money with advertising, commerce AND paying subscribers, why would anyone expect Yahoo to rake in the dough with only the first two? Bob