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Technology Stocks : Trimble Navigation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Getcher who wrote (2378)	3/27/1998 3:25:00 PM
From: David	Respond to of 3506

I'd be happy to hear from a couple of our industry technical insiders (or ex-insiders), but it is my impression that TRMB is at least first among equals, and probably more, in terms of technical reputation in the GPS industry. There are so many applications and markets out there, though, that TRMB -- or anyone else -- cannot be considered "The One" for the GPS field in its entirety. As to "merger," it sounds more like a "takeover" of TRMB by a larger corporation. The only GPS competitor that TRMB might have combined with for more technical strength was Ashtech, and they were recently acquired by Orbi. I don't think a takeover of Trimble by a larger company would be in the long run the best news for TRMB stockholders, since TRMB's fortunes would be quite diluted by the new parent's other businesses.

To: Getcher who wrote (2378)	3/27/1998 5:50:00 PM
From: arun gera	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 3506

>> the ability to know and be known in the industry as not only a player with good stuff, but "THE PLAYER" with good stuff.>> Getcher: Ask around with serious GPS users. In GPS receivers, Trimble is the Player with good stuff. The funny thing is that this point is not worth debating really. Of course situation can change from year to year. The question is the growth philosophy of Trimble. Trimble's strategy is low risk and maybe low reward. You will not have anything audacious like what America Online did with marketing on-line services. I am exasperated that Trimble does not leverage a single product out of the many they have and convert it into mass sales. Look at US Robotics. They marketed a slightly better modem, a commodity item otherwise, into a brand name for which consumers are/were willing to pay double the price in comparison to cheapest. And they still got volume growth. Of course, 3 Com paid the price when the modems stopped selling. Iomega did it with the Zip drive. Grew 10 times in revenues in a couple of years. What I like as a long term investor for Trimble is the increasing and diverse product line, identification with quality, satisfied consumers, and low risk of collapse. What I hate about Trimble is the management's inability to adapt to fast change, whether it is one delayed order or another cancelled order. Or digesting a small acquisition such as Terra. There are companies out there that are growing at 100-400 percent and still managing their growth. US Filter acquires a company approximately once in two weeks. OK ultimately they hit a wall, like US Robotics, Ascend, and Iomega. But meanwhile they are a few billion dollars worth. Trimble's approach is possibly to "overdiversify", bring out 5 new products, 5 new alliances, and wait for one to become a winner. They rarely put their eggs in a one basket and aim for the sky. It may be a safe strategy for the long run, but do not expect any major fireworks for the stock soon. Arun