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Technology Stocks : TLAB info? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Doughboy who wrote (2597)	6/23/1998 6:05:00 PM
From: Eric Hong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7342

Doug, Here is your comments: "Do you think that large telco customers prefer having a variety of vendors or having one vendor like LU that can do it all? I don't know the answer to that question, but if it is the latter, I don't see how TLAB can compete without filling out the range of products that it can offer. " - The traditional mind set of telco planning is never lock themselves into one source. This is especially true with large telcos. They will never purchase from one vender only for fear of problems from one vender that could render them powerless (or voice-less). Also by purchasing from multiple venders, they can leverage to get better pricing. If you go see central office of a telco, you can see multiple venders' products reside in the same CO. Even though they know that one vender has much superior products than the other. I don't see that they will change their purchasing habits any time soon. What TLAB has done is to produce superior products that fit into the niches and beat other vender at their game and capture the 50% of telco planned allocations. So your reasoning of one vender approach won't fit with the large talcos well. With newer and smaller telcos, this obvious a different game. Usually better product prevails. TLAB management know that they are a smaller player, so they make their products compatible with other large competitors, thus removing the doubts from their customers. I don't see whey they can't be doing the same thing to get new customer. "As for talent, it's the chicken and the egg problem; TLAB attracts and keeps good people because its stock rockets; what happens when the rocket reaches stationary orbit?" - You make a good point here, MOT lost a lot of talents to LU because their company and stocks are not performing. But this is true with any company, I remember when old AT&T hit hard time, they also lost a lot of talents. Who says the same thing won't happen to LU? "But long term I just have to think that TLAB is better off bigger--either as the diner or, as is more likely, as the dinner." - I have great respect for Mike Burke and his management team, I believe that if they continue follow their strategy, eventually they will become a big player in this field. As for the meantime, I am not seeing any changes in the management that will alter my outlook for this company. Eric