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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DaveMG who wrote (20132)	12/20/1998 10:08:00 AM
From: tero kuittinen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

It all seems so simple. That's what kept Nokia's stock price down for so long - analysts have been expecting Asian electronics powerhouses to flood the market with superior phones for seven years. Motorola has been expected to execute their digital phone counterattack for three years. How much harder can making mobile phones be than making VCR's, for example? Apparently lots. The combination of Lucent and Philips was not able to produce a tri-mode TDMA phone, not even one year behind the schedule. Motorola will be three years behind Nokia in tri-mode technology when it finally launches its tri-mode phone next summer (if they stick to their schedule for once). If it really was simple to pack 450 hours of stand-by time in a phone (as Nokia just did with 6150) I'd think other companies would have done it by now. Actually some companies have - but only at the expense of either low price or low weight. Moreover, the simple introduction of a rounded, "organic" design is a hellishly complicated process. Packing components in a square box is so much easier - that is how the components were designed to be used. Those big displays are a major drain on batteries - advanced displays and long stand-by times are mutually exclusive goals. Some of Nokia's competitors are doing a great job of following their lead - but there's a big difference between introducing features and adapting them. Bosch is probably doing the best job of coming up with their own ideas instead of imitating Nokia. Their GSM worldphone combining the US and European formats was a real trailblazer. But they have a major problem with their narrow product line-up, weak brand and a lack of global presence. I'm not sure they are ready to bet the whole company on mobile phones, which is what it takes to muster enough R&D money to keep up with Nokia's phone/month product introduction rate. Qualcomm's best bet is probably this pdQ - if they can't cut it as volume producers they could carve a niche as smartphone manufacturers. But their quality control, design and handset energy management have to improve now. Tero