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Technology Stocks : Hello Direct (HELO) - an overlooked internet beneficiary -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockvalinvestor who wrote (22)	7/13/1998 12:08:00 AM
From: neverenough	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 153

I think all of a sudden people are starting to look at HELO, with 2 mil in the float, and any mention of internet sales after a positive earnings report, this thing will double by Friday. Lets not forget that we've been up for 7 straight trading day's and volume is starting to pick up. Everything points to new highs very soon.

To: stockvalinvestor who wrote (22)	7/13/1998 1:14:00 AM
From: Jeff Sutton	Respond to of 153

Perhaps boring reading about HELO's competition from it's 10K (which is actually relatively readable). hello-direct.com Sales of the Company's proprietary headset products accounted for more than 50% of the Company's total net sales for 1997. Hello Direct faces competition in this product category from a variety of sources. The Company believes Plantronics, Inc., the leading manufacturer of telephone headset products, has sales representing approximately 60% of the headset market, but it currently does not sell directly to end users. In traditional telecommunications sales channels, such as distributors and telephone systems dealers, headset products are generally sold as "add-on sales" in connection with other purchases. The Company believes specialized headset product distributors such as Communitech and GBH Distributors generally focus their sales efforts on fulfilling existing demand from traditional high-volume headset users, such as large call centers, and devote little or no resources to marketing to small and medium-sized businesses. Hello Direct, through its corporate accounts telemarketing program, markets to these relatively under-served small and medium size headset users. Certain office and computer products dealers also sell headset products which are primarily consumer-grade. Telecom and cellular products are sold through a wide variety of channels ranging from large discount chains and mass merchandisers to specialized catalog operations. Hello Direct faces strong competition in this area and has responded by focusing its efforts on providing strong customer service and product support and by focusing on a selection of superior, high-quality, value-added national brand products that may be difficult to find elsewhere or are sufficiently early in their product life cycle to appeal to customers seeking innovative telecommunications solutions. This product category is comprised primarily of brand name products which are widely available through alternate suppliers. The Company competes with such suppliers on the basis of features and price; however, because the Company limits its branded product offering to innovative and high quality value-added products, the Company does not compete for commodity sales. In the call processing product category, Hello Direct faces competition primarily from dealers of specialty systems which sell telephone systems using a direct sales force. Such dealers, however, generally focus their resources on call processing systems and products in the $5,000 and over price range. In contrast, Hello Direct is a direct marketer of commercial-grade telecommunications products selling for under $5,000. While certain retail stores sell lower-priced processing systems and accessories, selection and support in such retail outlets is minimal.