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Technology Stocks : Alcatel (ALA) and France -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mike K who wrote (139)	10/29/1998 5:12:00 AM
From: bertrand bidaud	Respond to of 3891

at 11.00 am Paris time, the stock is at 587FF up 2.5%. Very good. Regarding previous post, I think that Fibre might be seen as a commodity for some of its business, but ALA is strong in submarine cable which is quite the high end. I do not think this one is a commodity. Regarding Cellphone, ALA is just breaking even, but this is an improvement. They come from behind. Where were they 3 years ago? It is a highly competitive market. I do not think that on the long run they will get a leading position, but they may get a niche. The Japanese and Koreans wil come as it becomes consumer electronics. But ALA has developped some good terminals, wired and wireless, and I would give them a chance. Not to be number one, but a possible leader. Nokia and Ericsson are also threatened despite their current leadership. It will be tough though for sure.

To: Mike K who wrote (139)	10/29/1998 12:21:00 PM
From: CJ	Respond to of 3891

<ALA cable plants> Sales of cable ----> Today's news: Alcatel Expects to Sell 15% More Fiber Optic Cable in 1999 London, Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Alcatel SA, the world's No. 4 telephone equipment maker, expects to sell about 15 percent more fiber optic cable in 1999 than it did this year, a senior company official said. Gerard Hauser, president of Alcatel's cable and components division, told journalists that the company's orders already indicate it will sell 1 million kilometers, or 15 percent, more fiber optic cable than in 1998. Oversupply of fiber optic cable, which is used in high-speed data transmission, will keep prices low, however. ''Obviously there is some overcapacity,'' Hauser said. ''But growth will be there in 1999.'' Alcatel's cable and components division, which accounts for about one-third of the company's sales, is the world's largest supplier of cables for the telecoms and energy industries. It lags behind the U.S.'s Corning Inc. in making fiber optic cable, however. The company said production of fiber optic cable has doubled to about 44 million kilometers in 1998 from 22 million kilometers in 1995. Alcatel's share has risen to about 13 percent in 1998 from about 9 percent in 1995. Hauser, who is also a member of Alcatel's executive board, said he thinks the worst of the Asian economic crisis is over, with the exception of Indonesia. He said the company is opening two new cable plants in China during 1999. ''We will continue to invest in Asia, and more specifically in China,'' Hauser said. Additionally, Hauser said the company's involvement in both the telecoms and energy cable sectors is strategically important because both sectors use similar technology and can share the costs of research and development. Analysts at Salomon Smith Barney said in a September report that ''we would like to see the Energy Cables division eventually sold or floated off as a separate company.'' The energy cables division, which operates in Europe and Canada, saw sales fall 11.9 percent in the first nine months of 1998 compared to a year ago ''due to a worldwide market slowdown,'' the company said yesterday. In comparison, sales for the whole cable and components division fell 5.4 percent in the nine month period. 11:10:19 10/29/1998 Any redistribution of Bloomberg content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Bloomberg L.P. Any reference to the material must be properly attributed to Bloomberg News. The information herein was obtained from sources which Bloomberg L.P. and its suppliers believe reliable, but they do not guarantee its accuracy. Neither the information, nor any opinion expressed, constitutes a solicitation of the purchase or sale of any securities or commodities.(C) Copyright 1998 Bloomberg L.P. BLOOMBERG, Bloomberg News, Bloomberg Financial Markets, Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg News Radio are trademarks, tradenames and service marks of Bloomberg L.P.