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S&P Says Still Buy Qualcomm
Also: analysts' opinions on Hewlett-Packard and Concord EFS
Qualcomm (QCOM ): Maintains 5 STARS (buy)
Analyst: Kenneth Leon, CPA
Story Continues Below Ad
Wireless phone maker Qualcomm raised the March-quarter earnings per share guidance to 47 cents to 49 cents, from 34 cents to 37 cents, before losses from its investment segment of 1 cent and 4 cents, respectively. S&P continues to expect Qualcomm shares to outperform the S&P 500 in 2004, and believes stronger global demand for handsets and a better market for wireless systems should benefit Qualcomm's chipset and royalty fees. S&P is raising the earnings per share estimates to $1.75, from $1.52 for fiscal 2004 (Sep.). S&P also is upping the the 2005 estimate to $2.10, from $1.76, and boosting the 12-month target price by $5, to $80. Priced near peers based on 2005 earnings estimates, S&P would buy Qualcomm.
http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/feb2004/pi20040223_4254_pi010.htm
For the U.S., a 3G wake-up call in Cannes
Last modified: February 20, 2004, 1:24 PM PST
By Ben Charny
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
European and Japanese cell phone carriers have retaken the lead over the rest of the world in the race to offer next-generation cell phone technology, say executives gathering in Cannes for next week's 3GSM World Congress 2004.
After five years of famously slow progress, third-generation (3G) networks using standards with cumbersome names like UMTS or w-CDMA are now available throughout the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Japan and Korea. Carriers such as T-Mobile or 3 in Europe and NTT DoCoMo in Japan are using the technology, which operates 50 times faster than present-day cell phone networks, to boost network capacity, improve coverage areas and to offer new services including 2.4 megabit per second wireless broadband.
"Deployment of (3G) networks is gaining traction in Europe, and we're getting orders from Asia," said Alan Buddendeck, a spokesman for cell phone maker Motorola, which plans several announcements at the 3GSM World Congress 2004. "We are anticipating the traction only to grow."
Carriers in the United States had the lead over their European and Japanese rivals for a relatively brief period of time in late 2002 and early 2003. But their trials of 3G technology haven't progressed yet to commercial releases, mainly because their attention strayed to more pressing issues such as the November 2003 deadline to let subscribers keep their telephone numbers when switching carriers.
The U.S. carrier now closest to launching a widespread commercial 3G service in the United States is Verizon Wireless, which believes it will have a network providing average user speeds of 300 to 500 kilobits per second this summer. That service is currently available in Washington, D.C., and San Diego.
U.S. carriers say don't count them out too soon. Verizon, for one, believes it can catch up in the next two years, having just ordered billions of dollars in high-speed wireless network equipment. "We'll be there soon, don't worry," said a Verizon executive requesting anonymity.
A finish line that matters
Carriers have their eye on the 3G prize because, as a whole, they're counting on data-oriented services to make up for plunging revenue from voice calls. Once faster networks are in place, carriers can initiate their plans to sell broadband in areas overlooked by the cable or DSL industry. Analysts forecast a few hundred million dollars in extra revenue once they do.
Third-generation networks also create a better experience for customers downloading games or streaming video or audio, two major new services being introduced by carriers worldwide.
"Carriers are trying to build loyalty," Sun Microsystems Vice President Alan Brenner said. He added that increased speeds "help services get very attractive."
Existing data services, such as mailing pictures, also benefit from increased speed. "Most handsets on the market have these capabilities," said Annemarie Duffy, senior marketing manager at Microsoft. "If you dig deep enough, you can find them. The question is how many people use it? The reason they aren't being used is it's not providing the best customer experience."
As more complex applications start selling, so will handsets with more computing power that have been sitting on store shelves and in warehouses, Duffy and other executives have long said.
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Is "world phone" a dead ringer?
New dual-mode technology poses more risk than reward
February 15, 2004
By: Kirk Laughlin
America's Network
The upcoming rollout of a new dual-mode "world phone" that supports GSM/GPRS and CDMA-1x would appear, at first glance, to be a major achievement.
For the first time GSM subscribers who possess a new dual-mode device can roam into previously forbidden CDMA-1x territory - including across the Atlantic and Pacific - to experience faster data rates without reaching for a back-up handset.
The value proposition of dual-mode phones rests with high-end customers -- Brian Rodrigues, Qualcomm director of product management
At the same time, carriers such as Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest CDMA provider, will sell devices that permit customers to roam across virtually all of GSM-centric Europe, utilizing Vodafone's footprint.
The dual-mode phone - enabled by Qualcomm's new MSM6300 chipset solution - is symbolic of mobile technology convergence. The great divide separating GSM and CDMA is becoming barely perceptible, at least at the terminal level.
Yet, despite greater handset flexibility, it is the carriers themselves that may be slow to embrace this new capability. The only carriers who have shown public interest so far are Verizon and Vodafone (Vodafone is part-owner of Verizon) and China Unicom.
Utilization of dual-mode phones is clearly determined by the business models of individual carriers. China Unicom, which operates both GSM and CDMA networks, is promoting dual-mode handsets as a way to transition voice-centric GSM users on to a data-centric CDMA-1x network, where users have more opportunity to spend money on data services.
Verizon and Vodafone want dual-mode phones for a different reason - to serve business customers who travel between Europe and the U.S. The carriers are expected to announce details of their world phone offering around the CTIA wireless show in March.
"At this point, the value proposition is in terms of providing enterprise roamers and high-end subscribers with both voice and data applications," says Brian Rodrigues, director of product management at Qualcomm's CDMA technologies division. No announcements have been made on which handset makers will produce the phones.
Part of the reason that dual-mode phones are considered higher-end is because actual dual-mode devices are expected to cost around 20% more than regular CDMA phones. Costs are an issue, but perhaps a larger problem is that dual-mode phones present the risk of cannibalization. Given current marketplace positioning, it is difficult to find examples of major carriers who need more data or voice network access. What North American carriers want are more customers, especially big spending customers. Dual-mode phones, at least in their current form, provide little help in this area.
Chris Pearson, executive vice president of the pro-GSM group, 3GAmericas, says dual-mode handsets are a niche play. "There are not going to be great economies of scale," he says. While Pearson admits that "GSM has been a little late in coming to the Americas," the technology has quickly gained a following. Nearly 100 operators in North and South America utilize GSM/GPRS. A total of nine operators in the U.S. have committed to deploy EDGE, a 3G wireless technology that is comparable to CDMA-1x.
Dual-mode and multi-mode phones still do have an important role to play for carriers that plan to acquire other carriers. As the number of North American carriers begins to thin, multi-mode handsets could offer carriers unique market positioning opportunities.
While handsets that support multiple air-interface standards may be interesting to carriers, technologies that enable roaming into wireless LAN environments seem to be generating far more excitement.
In addition, the maker of the highly successful PAS wireless local loop technology, UTStarcom, continues to lay the groundwork for a U.S. deployment of its systems which support both voice and data services. It likely won't take long for mobile carriers to seek out opportunities to partner with providers of PAS, as seamless roaming takes on an entirely new dimension.
http://www.americasnetwork.com/americasnetwork/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=86047
Global mobile market set to reach 2 billion in 2008
The global mobile market is set to expand by over 800 million customers by 2010, reaching the 2 billion mark in 2008 - according to the latest edition of Baskerville's Global Mobile Forecasts to 2010 report, published later this month.
The huge Asian markets - India and China - will drive much of this growth. 60% - over half a billion - of all the new customers will be in the Asia Pacific and almost 80% of these will be in India and China.
Middle East and Africa markets will show the greatest growth, albeit from a very much smaller base. Their combined markets are due to double in size over the period, with over 100 million new customers signing up for mobile services by 2010.
"The relatively underdeveloped US mobile market is also forecast to expand rapidly in the next year or two - due to US operators having made their technology choices for 2.5G and 3G - and add over 66 million new customers between now and end-2006 " says Olivia Gibney, senior Baskerville analyst.
Global Mobile Forecasts to 2010 - 4th Edition, from Baskerville, predicts 3G launches to begin in earnest this year and next, with 10% of the world's customers - over 250 million - said to be using 3G services by end-2007. By 2010, the 3G customer base is forecast to have almost doubled, passing the half a billion mark.
http://www.gii.co.jp/press/ba17098_en.shtml
PalmGear Revenues Up Sharply
By Ed Hardy / Editor-in-Chief
Feb 19, 2004
PalmGear, the world's longest-running retailer of Palm OS software, is on a roll and it has recently announced some agreements that may lead to further growth.
Yesterday, the company announced that revenue for the fourth quarter of 2003 was up 169% over the same quarter the previous year. Ryan Wuerch the company's president and chief executive officer, credited this to "a rise in consumer awareness of third-party applications and customer commitment to the Palm OS handheld platform."
New Distribution Channels
PalmGear has worked hard to find new ways to distribute software and other content.
It announced last week that it is working with QUALCOMM Inc. to enable over-the-air downloads of Palm OS applications directly to handhelds via QUALCOMM's BREW Distribution System (BDS). Consumers with BREW Shop-enabled devices will be able to use the system to shop for and download applications, wirelessly, with no connection back to a PC. The BDS manages the over-the-air delivery, billing, and payment of software.
In 2003 the company launched operations in mainland China with headquarters in Shanghai and offices in Beijing, including a fully-localized Chinese PalmGear web site.
PalmGear currently provides the backend for PalmSource's software store, and it recently announced a partnership with Tapwave to open a similar online store for Zodiac users, scheduled for launch in March.
A Bit of History
PalmGear was one of the first sites to make a business out of distributing Palm OS applications. However, it got into financial trouble as a result of a protracted legal battle. Though PalmGear won the suit, it spent a great deal of money of legal fees. Last year Power By Hand, LLC gave PalmGear bridge financing and took over the company's operations, finances, development, planning, and strategic marketing.
http://www.brighthand.com/article/PalmGear-s_Future_Looks_Bright
China Mobile Posts Record Signups on Holiday Sales (Update2)
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- China Mobile (H.K.) Ltd., the world's biggest mobile-phone company by users, added a record number of customers last month, as holiday-season sales helped it take a bigger share of new subscribers than China Unicom Ltd.
China Mobile added 2.5 million users in January, boosted by ``short-term'' subscribers who signed up during the Lunar New Year holiday, the Hong Kong-based company said. City workers who visit families in rural provinces often purchase pre-paid cards to save on payment for long-distance calls.
``China Mobile's strong numbers took me by surprise,'' said Kelvin Ho, an analyst at Nomura International (H.K.) Ltd, who said he was expecting 2.2 million additions. ``The company is apparently gaining share of new users from Unicom, which has slowed marketing and promotions.''
China Mobile and Unicom have cut prices to compete for customers in China's $30 billion cellular market, the world's largest by users. One in five people has a cell-phone account in China, compared with two in three in Japan, and operators' combined new subscriptions are rising at a rate of 2 every second.
Unicom said it signed up 2.1 million users last month. Excluding nine newly acquired provincial networks, the company added 1.86 million, the smallest increase in four months.
Excluding the new networks, China Unicom took 43 percent of the new signups between the two companies last month, falling from an average 47 percent for all of 2003.
Network Loss
Shares of China Mobile were unchanged at HK$27.10 by the midday trading break in Hong Kong. Unicom's stock fell 0.5 percent to HK$9.95.
China Mobile had 144.1 million users at the end of January in the 21 provinces it serves. All China Mobile customers use its global system for mobile communications service, based on the nation's dominant wireless standard.
Unicom provides service that uses code division multiple access technology, developed by Qualcomm Inc., in addition to services based on GSM. Its CDMA network posted a pretax loss of 570 million yuan ($69 million) in the first nine months of last year, offsetting profit from its GSM operations.
The company is trying to end losses at the two-year CDMA service by reducing use of handset subsidies.
Last month, Unicom signed up 1.1 million customers to its CDMA service, for a total of 20 million. Its GSM network attracted 982,000 subscriptions, for a total of 73.6 million.
January's numbers included for the first time users in nine provincial networks Unicom acquired from its state-owned parent in November. The purchase gave Unicom nationwide coverage except for the southern province of Guizhou.
China is the world's largest wireless market with 269 million subscriptions at the end of last year, according to the Ministry of Information Industry.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Kenneth Wong in Hong Kong at kwong11@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor for this story:
Charles Bickers in Tokyo at cbickers@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 20, 2004 00:28 EST
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=a1Z83AILtgZ8
Motorola Drives India's Next Wave of Telecom Expansion
Thursday February 19, 9:30 am ET
Wins GSM and CDMA Equipment Contracts for US$307 Million From Leading Indian Operators
NEW DELHI, India, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Motorola Inc.'s Global Telecom Solutions Sector (GTSS) announced business wins of wireless equipment agreements worth over US$307 million from leading Indian operators BSNL, MTNL, and Tata Teleservices. These agreements include deployment of new networks, as well as expansion and up-grades of existing networks for both Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems. Of the US$307 million in announced wins, substantially all of the orders were reported in 2003 and the majority of the revenue is expected to be recognized in 2004.
"India is expected to add at least 25 million new subscribers in 2004 which presents a tremendous business opportunity. Motorola is aggressively focused on growing its market-share in the Indian wireless infrastructure market. Winning a significant portion of new contracts being awarded is the first step in that direction," said Simon L. K. Leung, senior vice president, Motorola, Inc. and general manager, GTSS - Asia Pacific.
Motorola has been awarded GSM business by BSNL and MTNL. For BSNL, Motorola has been awarded the business for expansion of over 1 million lines in south India. This turnkey project includes value-added services such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).
For MTNL, Motorola has been awarded the business as a result of a public tender, which will increase the number of GSM lines by 400,000 each in Delhi and Mumbai. The upgrade will be GPRS enabled and is capable of smoothly evolving to EDGE. The Motorola network will also deliver value-added services such as Pre-paid and Intelligent Networks and a complete billing solution for 1.5 million customers across the two cities.
Motorola has been awarded a CDMA contract by Tata Teleservices to expand the CDMA2000 1 X mobile phone network in Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Mumbai. The contract is among the largest CDMA contracts to be awarded globally.
Motorola's achievements as a wireless infrastructure solutions provider in India include:
-- Close to 40 percent of Indian GSM cellular subscribers rely on
Motorola supplied RF networks.
-- Motorola is the only vendor to have installed a network in all
metropolitan regions including five out of six wireless networks in
Mumbai.
-- Motorola deployed India's first GPRS network in Mumbai and India's
first CDMA network in Madhya Pradesh.
-- First commercial deployment of the Motorola Softswitch, for Tata
Teleservices in India.
"Going forward, besides offering next generation technologies to Indian operators, Motorola will also focus on providing value-added services such as managed network services and Push-to-Talk over Cellular," Leung added.
A portion of the purchase price of these contracts will be financed by Motorola.
Business Risks:
Statements about growth in subscribers in India, our future product offerings, and the impact of these contracts are forward-looking and involve risk and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include unforeseen events related to the performance of the contract, changes in the growth of the markets in India and other factors found in Motorola's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
About Motorola
Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT - News) is a global leader in wireless, broadband and automotive communications technologies that help make life smarter, safer, simpler, synchronized and fun. Sales in 2003 were US$27.1 billion. Motorola creates innovative technological solutions that benefit people at home, at work and on the move. The company also is a progressive corporate citizen dedicated to operating ethically, protecting the environment and supporting the communities in which it does business. For more information: www.motorola.com .
MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040219/cgth001_1.html
Dow Jones Business News:China Unicom Adds 1.127 Million CDMA Subscribers In January
Thursday February 19, 7:03 am ET
HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- China Unicom Ltd. (NYSE:CHU - News) said Thursday that growth in its client base for its code division multiple access network slipped slightly in January, coinciding with the Lunar New Year holiday.
China's second-biggest mobile phone company had net additions of 1.127 million subscribers to its CDMA network in January, down from December's increase of 1.163 million.
The company decided in early 2003 to scale back its handset subsidies to help it with its profitability target. Later in the year, it launched a prepaid system and started buying CDMA handsets in bulk at lower prices, in an attempt to cut customers' costs and stimulate demand.
Of its 1.127 million new CDMA subscribers last month, 1.02 million were for its postpaid service and 107,000 were prepaid service users.
China Unicom said it added 982,000 clients to its bread-and-butter GSM - or global system for mobile communications - mobile-phone network in January. In December, it added a net 815,000 GSM subscribers.
By the end of January, China Unicom had a total of 73.552 million GSM clients and 20.073 million CDMA users.
-By John Ryan, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; john.ryan@dowjones.com
-Edited by John Viljoen
http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/040219/0703000518_2.html
Telefonica Moviles Obtains Highest Organic Growth in its History in Fourth Quarter 2003 and Posts Full-Year Net Profit of 1.608 Billion Euros
Thursday February 19, 3:57 am ET
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040219/ukth004_1.html
DoCoMo may sell off 16% stake in AT&T
By TAIGA URANAKA
Staff writer
NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Wednesday that it might sell its 16 percent stake in AT&T Wireless following an agreement by Cingular Wireless LLC to purchase the No. 3 mobile carrier in the United States.
Cingular said Tuesday it will acquire AT&T Wireless for $41 billion, or $15 per share. NTT DoCoMo's 16 percent stake is worth about $6.5 billion (about 690 billion yen).
"We were informed that Cingular agreed to buy AT&T Wireless, and we will consider options to maximize shareholder value," NTT DoCoMo spokesman Susumu Takeuchi said.
He said the company's holding in AT&T Wireless will probably be turned into cash.
For Japan's biggest mobile phone operator, the sale means losing its foothold in the giant U.S. market. NTT DoCoMo will have to review its overseas strategy because the domestic mobile phone market has almost reached the end of a steep growth period.
Hitoshi Hayakawa, an analyst at ING Securities (Japan) Ltd., said that without the stake in AT&T Wireless, it is uncertain how NTT DoCoMo will realize its aims of promoting i-mode and the W-CDMA format in the U.S. market.
"One of the benefits is that if W-CDMA spreads in Japan, NTT DoCoMo can lower the cost of handsets with the volume of the U.S. market," he said.
The company acquired the stake in AT&T Wireless in January 2001 to promote its i-mode mobile phone Internet service and the high-speed third-generation service based on the W-CDMA format.
NTT DoCoMo's investment in AT&T Wireless totaled 1.2 trillion yen, including additional share purchases.
It was later forced to write down the bulk of the investment -- some 900 billion yen -- due to the falling value of the shares. Even if the expected sale goes through, NTT DoCoMo will not be able to recoup its investment.
The Japan Times: Feb. 19, 2004
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nb20040219a1.htm
Nortel sees breaks in China
By Marguerite Reardon
CNET News.com
February 18, 2004, 5:07 PM PT
BOSTON--Nortel Networks is looking to China as a major area of growth for its telecommunications equipment, especially for its Internet telephony and third-generation wireless products.
The Asian market is key to the networking gear maker's future, company executives told press and analysts on Wednesday at its annual investor conference here.
"For Nortel to be successful in the long term, we have to be successful in Asia," said Frank Dunn, chief executive of Nortel Networks. "China and India are very important, and those regions need to be a focus for us."
The two technology areas that will fuel growth in China are voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and third-generation (3G wireless, Nortel executives said.
Robert Mao, CEO of Nortel's Chinese unit, said VoIP is still in its early days in that country but that 3G wireless installments should pick up dramatically in the second half of 2004, when the Chinese government plans to issue spectrum licenses to four telecommunications providers.
The licenses have been delayed more than a year, while China finalizes its own standard version of the 3G technology known as Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access. It rivals Europe's Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standard and Qualcomm's CDMA2000. Two of the licenses are expected to go to incumbents, while the other two will be awarded to new players.
Nortel is no newcomer to the Chinese market. It has been delivering telecom infrastructure equipment there for the past 30 years.
"Ten years ago, when Nortel was first deploying fiber and optical gear, people thought they were crazy," said Chris Nicoll, a telecom infrastructure analyst at research firm Current Analysis. "There was no real market demand then. Now, everyone wants to get into the Chinese market."
Eastern promise
With a population of nearly 1.3 billion, China presents a big opportunity for growth. Deregulation of the telecommunications market there and China's entrance into the World Trade Organization has spurred hopes of a massive spending spree. The country has been a bright spot for telecommunications gear makers in the past few years, as sales in North America and Europe have slumped.
In 1998, China accounted for about 10 percent of the worldwide wireline and wireless subscriber base, according to Mao. By the end of 2003, that had risen to roughly 20 percent.
"The market is here today," he said. "We've already seen tremendous growth, and we expect it to continue for the next several years."
There are about 260 million wireline data and telephony subscribers in China and about 280 wireless users. Wireless subscriptions are growing at about 4 million per month, Mao said.
Nortel isn't the only company vying for business in China. It not only faces its usual rivals Alcatel, Cisco Systems, Lucent Technologies and Siemens--which all have entrenched businesses in China--but also has to battle local providers such as Huawei Technologies and ZTE.
"Some business will go to local competitors," Mao said. "The government encourages this, but they are in the mind-set of trading market share for technology. If you don't have new and innovative technology, you won't get the business."
Foreign companies will need to prove that their technology is being used in significant networks around the world, Mao added. He said Chinese carriers have been looking closely at Nortel's recent contract wins with AT&T Wireless and Verizon Communications.
"No foreign supplier will win new technology deals in China, if they don't show an ability to win in other markets," he said. "They are a conservative, in that respect. They want to know that others are using your technology."
Kevin Mitchell, a directing analyst with Infonetics Research, said he expects North American companies to do well in China over the next couple years, especially when it comes to sales of new technology, such as VoIP and 3G wireless.
"The bulk of North American company sales of new technologies like VoIP are not in North America; they're in Asia," he said. "There will likely continue to be a faster uptake for emerging technologies in Asia, especially China."
In addition, China is on the cusp of even bigger growth, spurred by the planned move of 25 percent of its population--nearly 300 million people--to urban areas, according to Mao.
"China is in a unique position to create their own end user demand," said Nicoll from Current Analysis, who nevertheless was skeptical about the effect of the urban development.
"These cities won't be built overnight. I see these build-outs playing a big role in Nortel's growth over the next 10 years," but it will be at the end of the period rather than at the beginning, he said.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5161284.html
CDMA2000 Spurs Growth of CDMA Worldwide
Wednesday February 18, 9:00 am ET
CDMA Remains the Fastest-growing Wireless Technology
COSTA MESA, Calif., Feb. 18, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (http://www.cdg.org) reported today that CDMA added a record 14.5 million subscribers in 4Q 2003 to total 188 million users worldwide. In 2003, the CDMA subscriber base grew by more than 42 million users, or 29 percent, representing the highest growth for any leading cellular technology, and significantly higher than the 20 percent gain for the whole industry. CDMA2000(r) further strengthened its leadership in 3G by adding more than 10.7 million users in the quarter to total 75.4 million, or 97 percent of all 3G subscribers. Nearly 40 percent of the global CDMA subscriber base uses CDMA2000 networks, up from 20 percent one year ago. There are 4.4 million CDMA2000 1xEV-DO advanced users.
``The commercial success of CDMA2000 greatly contributed to the phenomenal growth of CDMA worldwide,'' said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. ``The spectral efficiencies and high-speed data capabilities of CDMA2000 allow carriers to offer affordable voice services and introduce advanced applications that in turn stimulate demand for wireless services and enable them to capture larger market share.''
CDMA2000 leads in 3G deployments with 85 commercial networks in 40 countries on six continents.
Asia Pacific is the largest region for CDMA with 78.3 million users, and fastest growing at 43 percent annually -- fueled by phenomenal growth in China and India. In India, the CDMA subscriber base grew 2,400 percent after the introduction of CDMA2000 last year.
Asia also remains the largest and most advanced market for CDMA2000. There are 18 CDMA2000 and five CDMA2000 1xEV-DO commercial networks in 12 countries servicing 46.3 million CDMA2000 users or, 60 percent of the total CDMA subscribers in the region. Demand for advanced CDMA2000 1xEV-DO services is growing exponentially; the number of users increased from 174,000 at the end of 2002 to 4.38 million in 2003. In Korea, SK Telecom's CDMA2000 1xEV-DO base represents 25 percent of its CDMA2000 users.
In Japan, driven by high demand for its ``au'' services, KDDI continues to capture market share from its competitors. In December, the carrier gained 289,600 subscribers, more than double the number of subscribers added by their nearest competitors.
In the Americas, CDMA carriers added nearly 18 million new subscribers in 2003, bringing the total number to 108.2 million. CDMA will continue to capture greater market share, and according to In Stat/MDR, it will become the dominant technology in the region this year with 160 million users.
CDMA expanded its leadership in North America, as the number of subscribers in 2003 increased by 12.7 million to reach 75.2 million, with market share growing from 43 percent to 49 percent. Today, more than 35 percent of CDMA subscribers in North America are serviced by 18 CDMA2000 and two 1xEV-DO networks.
Latin America and the Caribbean have more than 32 million CDMA users and 39 operators in 20 countries. Latin America has the largest number of CDMA2000 networks commercially deployed, with 26 CDMA2000 1X and two CDMA2000 1xEV-DO networks in 16 countries. Two of the leading carriers in the region, VIVO and BellSouth International, have migrated to CDMA2000. The number of subscribers moving to CDMA2000 is growing exponentially; the base increased by 1,000 percent in 2003.
``CDMA2000 will continue to drive growth and innovation in 2004 and beyond,'' said LaForge. ``We expect the CDMA2000 subscriber base will reach 100 million in 3Q 2004. At least 15 additional networks will be deployed this year and carriers will migrate to the high-speed data capabilities of 1xEV-DO and 1xEV-DV. We also see interest in CDMA2000 at 450 MHz, which will provide significant opportunities for the technology in new markets for CDMA.''
CDMA subscriber statistics and CDMA2000 deployment information are available on the CDG Web site at http://www.cdg.org.
About the CDG
The CDMA Development Group is a trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of CDMA technologies. The more than 100 member companies of the CDG include many of the world's largest wireless carriers and equipment manufacturers. The primary activities of the CDG include development of CDMA features and services, public relations, education and seminars, regulatory affairs and international support. Currently, there are more than 500 individuals working within various CDG subcommittees on CDMA-related matters. For more information about the CDG, contact Valerie Christopherson of the CDG News Bureau at +1-714-540-1030, ext. 14, e-mail vchristopherson@bockpr.com, or visit the CDG Web site at http://www.cdg.org.
Contact:
CDG News Bureau
Valerie Christopherson
Ricca Silverio
(714) 540-1030 ext. 14 or 15
(714) 540-1060 fax
vchristopherson@bockpr.com
rsilverio@bockpr.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: CDG
http://biz.yahoo.com/pz/040218/52823.html
ISSCC: Qualcomm chip covers entertainment
David Manners
A versatile, navigating and games playing chip was described by Qualcomm at ISSCC 2004.
Using the stacked die approach of die-to-die bonding, with an analogue die bonded on top of a digital die, Qualcomm has made a 3G CDMA2000 1X baseband processor which supports GSM, AMPS, GPS, Bluetooth, MPEG4 video decoding, and MP3 audio decoding and has a 2D/3D graphics accelerator for games playing.
The stacked die approach gets around the problem that the analogue and digital portions scale differently, said Qualcomm, also it reduces wire lengths, I/O power and footprint.
The chip integrates a 32-bit ARM processor, two DSPs and hardware accelerators.
http://www.electronicsweekly.co.uk/issue/dailynews.asp#A5
The chip is 6.8mmx6.9mm and is made on a 0.13µ CMOS process using 27 million transistors.
PALADIN Supports 3G CDMA2000 1xEV-DO
17th February , 2004
US : PMC-Sierra announced enhancements to the PALADIN(R) family of digitally-based processors used in wireless base transceiver stations (BTS), the equipment required to link wireless handsets to voice and data networks. The enhanced PALADIN architecture incorporates new features to simplify the design of 3G wireless base stations for WCDMA and CDMA2000. Notably, the updated PALADIN architecture now supports 1xEV-DO, the newest generation of CDMA2000 technology. In Asia, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO is already being used for videoconferencing on wireless handsets. PMC-Sierra's new PALADIN architecture enables OEMs and module vendors to build the next-generation BTS today.
"Our 2G, 2.5G, and 3G CDMA customers in Asia, Europe, and North America can seamlessly upgrade their existing BTS systems with our latest PALADIN architecture and significantly reduce developmental time and costs," said Bill Richardson, manager of Strategic Marketing, for PMC-Sierra's Service Provider Division. "Since our PALADIN processors are designed to accept digital baseband signals directly, as required by new industry interoperability specifications, system vendors deploying the PALADIN architecture will have a head start in implementing emerging standards such as OBSAI and CPRI."
PMC-Sierra's third generation PALADIN architecture utilizes digital pre-distortion (DPD) technology to improve power efficiencies by more than 50 percent over traditional analog feed-forward solutions, providing substantial OpEx savings for wireless carriers. In addition, DPD technology eliminates many complex analog components from the base station systems. By replacing these expensive analog components with simple and compact digital circuitry, OEMs can reduce CapEx today and take advantage of Moore's Law to realize additional savings in the future.
Integrating Enhanced PALADIN Features
The enhanced PALADIN architecture uses the new PALADIN 10/15 Release 03 Firmware. The firmware includes extended support for CDMA2000 1xEV-DO and Automatic Gain Control (AGC) to improve linearization performance and reduce cost and time in the factory. A user-configurable training signal also has been incorporated into the firmware that eliminates the need for factory test equipment and extra circuitry to initialize the PALADIN device's compensation parameters. Using the internally generated signal has the added advantage of reducing factory training time.
PMC-Sierra's PALADIN Product Family
The PALADIN family includes the new PALADIN 10/15 Release 03 Firmware, PM7800 PALADIN 10, PM7815 PALADIN 15, and PM7819 PALADIN Waveshaper(TM) devices (see Figure 1). All PALADIN devices support both WCDMA and CDMA2000 technology and work seamlessly together. The PALADIN 10 is suitable for up to 2-carrier WCDMA and up to 8-carrier IS-95/CDMA2000 systems. The PALADIN 15 is suitable for up to 3-carrier WCDMA and up to 12-carrier IS-95/CDMA2000 systems. The PALADIN Waveshaper performs digital multi-carrier combining and crest-factor reduction optimized for WCDMA and CDMA2000 systems.
Availability and Customer Support
The PALADIN 10/15 Release 03 Firmware is now released to full production. The firmware license is included with the purchase of the PM7800 PALADIN 10 and the PM7815 PALADIN 15. The PALADIN 10/15 Release 03 Firmware datasheet is available at www.pmc-sierra.com/products/ or www.pmc-sierra.com/wireless. A comprehensive support package including reference design and application notes is available upon request (registration required). For more information about pricing and availability, contact a PMC-Sierra sales representative at www.pmc-sierra.com/contactSales.
About PMC-Sierra's Full Breadth of Wireless Products
PMC-Sierra provides off-the-shelf Application Specific Standard Product (ASSP) devices that help wireless base station manufacturers lower their costs without compromising system performance (see Figure 2). The company's integrated architectural solutions enable wireless service providers to deploy scalable, feature-rich 2G, 2.5G, and 3G wireless network equipment optimized for both IP and ATM traffic. PMC-Sierra's system-level solutions optimized for the required wireless link density include the following:
-- VORTEX(TM) chip set provides four levels of Quality of Service (QoS) per line in order to support delay sensitive traffic such as voice. The chip set is optimized for use in full-featured, fault-tolerant wireless infrastructure equipment to connect between multiple baseband modem cards and the control cards;
-- FREEDM(TM) and S/UNI(R) IMA product families for complex link aggregation;
-- AAL1gator(TM) Segmentation and Reassembly (SAR) family that allows legacy data to be carried over the new ATM infrastructure using the industry standard AAL1 protocol;
-- SERDES products for low-power RF to baseband card backplane interconnection;
-- COMET(TM) product family that allows network operators to use existing T1, E1 or J1 lines for their initial 3G deployment;
-- S/UNI products that provide uplink paths to higher speed fibre access;
-- High performance MIPS-based(TM) microprocessors to handle the increased management and control functions required in a 3G base station; and
-- New CLK(TM) family of advanced Clock Management products optimized for MIPS-based microprocessors.
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Feb2004/6590.htm
Vodafone Slumps on Reports of $38 Billion AT&T Wireless Bid
February 16, 2004 06:21 EST -- Shares in Vodafone Group Plc, the world's largest mobile-phone operator, slumped on concern the company bid $38 billion for AT&T Wireless Services Inc.
Vodafone Loss of AT&T Wireless Would Force Sarin's Hand in U.S.
February 16, 2004 04:12 EST -- A loss by Vodafone Group Plc in the bidding for AT&T Wireless Services Inc. would force Chief Executive Arun Sarin to assess options ranging from quitting the U.S. to attempting a $120 billion-plus takeover of Verizon Communications Inc.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conews&tkr=VZ:US
Cingular Ups AT&TW Stakes to $38 Billion
1 hour, 22 minutes ago Add Business - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Kirstin Ridley and Siobhan Kennedy
LONDON (Reuters) - Cingular, the second-largest U.S. cellphone group, has thrown down the gauntlet to British rival Vodafone Group Plc by raising its bid for U.S. target AT&T Wireless to $38 billion, a source close to talks said on Monday.
Cingular Wireless, which is controlled by SBC Communications Inc and BellSouth Corp, raised its bid from $35 billion, or around $13-per-share, and the source said Vodafone was expected to hit back with its own improved offer on Monday.
"They (Cingular) have bid $14-per-share," the source said. "We believe Vodafone will at least meet it ... Vodafone couldn't match Cingular yesterday, and they needed today to do that." A $14-per-share bid values AT&T Wireless at just over $38 billion.
Sources familiar with talks told Reuters on Sunday that AT&T Wireless, which put itself up for sale on January 22 after a series of poor results, had asked Vodafone and Cingular for sweetened offers after both groups bid roughly the same price.
Concerns that a takeover would reduce Vodafone's future earnings drove shares in the world's largest mobile phone group down 3.7 percent to 130.9 pence by 1105 GMT. The stock has fallen around nine percent since AT&T Wireless called for bids last month.
"I'm at the point where I really want to see something from the companies," said one London analyst. "If you're buying or selling Vodafone shares today, you're just dealing into uncertainty. Show me the deal."
CALLING FOR A QUICK DEAL
Up to Friday's bid deadline, Vodafone said only it was examining whether a bid would be in investors' interests.
Since then, the group says it makes little commercial sense to show its hand in an auction that was called after Cingular bid an informal $30 billion in cash for its smaller U.S. rival.
But sources familiar with talks said the two camps were battling it out over the long U.S. bank holiday weekend and pressure was mounting for a fast deal.
AT&T Wireless, which is 16 percent-owned by Japan's NTT DoCoMo, has given itself until February 29 to reach a final decision, although an announcement could come as soon as Tuesday.
While some Vodafone investors remain unconvinced about the merits of a bold offer, a growing number are braced for Chief Executive Arun Sarin to fight for an asset that would give the group long sought-for control of a company in the world's most powerful economy and bring its brand across the Atlantic.
Vodafone's camp has been frustrated that auction tactics have prevented it from arguing its case to investors, who have been skeptical of a bid that risks diluting earnings for 10-15 percent for years -- and spells a return to empire-building seen under former CEO Chris Gent.
The market is split on whether Vodafone, which would have to sell a lucrative 45 percent stake in top-ranked Verizon Wireless , can justify out-gunning Cingular. Cingular says it can save an annual $3.0 billion by cutting overlapping staff and businesses in two networks.
"We still see Cingular in the driving seat," said another London analyst. "They have more shareholder support and stand to get more synergies."
Cingular's shareholder SBC said in January it thought the U.S. mobile industry, in which six major national brands and a handful of regional players battle for market share, is ripe for mergers and that it might consider a deal that hurt earnings.
AT&T Wireless is losing both money and customers. The group reported a fourth-quarter loss and in January alone lost nearly four percent of its customers and saw its operating income fall more than 20 percent from a year ago, sources close to the situation have said.
Hopes of a bid war sent AT&T Wireless shares to almost $12 on Friday, valuing the group at $32.56 billion.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040216/bs_nm/telecoms_attwireless_bids_dc_2
Samsung provides camera phones to Verizon
02/16, 2004 19:31
Samsung electronics announced on Monday that it will provide
brand new camera phones (model name: SCH-A610) to Verizon, the
largest CDMA operator in the U.S..
This is the first time for Samsung to provide camera phones to
the U.S. company.
Samsung has provided smart phones (SPH-i700) to Verizon.
Officials of Samsung, however, declined to disclose a
transaction size. Samsung intends to spur new demand of camera
phones in the North American region to strengthen its exports.
The SCH-a610 phones, which will go on sale in the U.S., blend a
digital camera with a rotating flip screen that allows users the
option of turning the main screen to face outward.
(Lee Hyang-hye)
http://english.mk.co.kr/englishRead.php?sc=70000009&cm=Companies&year=2004&no=47933&...
The Floodgates Have Opened
With corporate profits rebounding, stronger global economic growth, and a weak dollar spurring exports, companies that once hoarded every dime are increasingly laying out serious cash on capital expenditures. In the second half of 2003, business spending on equipment and software finally perked up, rising at an inflation-adjusted 14% annual rate (chart).
Most forecasters expect these double-digit gains to continue. Capital spending on everything from software to backhoes should rise at an annualized rate of at least 10% in the first half of 2004 and perhaps considerably faster, says Steven Wieting, a senior economist at Citigroup (C ). The result? Makers of tech and telecom gear and even battered steel companies could see generous profit increases this year.
The information technology sector is experiencing a long-awaited revival as companies that deferred purchases in the last few years upgrade software and replace rickety hardware. Worldwide IT spending could rise 5% this year, to $915 billion, according to IDC. But that's a conservative estimate. "If the economic recovery plays out the way most economists currently expect it will, then we should see global IT growth of 6% to 8%," says IDC economist Kevin White. Microsoft (MSFT ), IBM (IBM ), and Intel (INTC ) should all get a boost.
Telecom equipment companies also figure to benefit. Their big clients are improving digital offerings in wireless, data transmission, and other areas. SBC Communications Inc. (SBC ) posted capital expenditures of $5.2 billion in 2003 -- $200 million above initial expectations -- and projects it will spend $5.3 billion this year. Verizon Communications (VZ ) foresees a $3 billion capital outlay. Such spending should help the likes of Nortel Networks Ltd. (NT ) and Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU ).
Old Economy corporations are sharing in the largesse, too. Caterpillar Inc. (CAT ) was the top-performing stock in the Dow Jones industrial average in 2003, and this year looks even better for sales of its bulldozers and other heavy equipment: Profits are forecast to climb 40%, says CEO James Owens. The company credits global economic expansion, including a construction boom in China. Demand for capital goods is also giving the steel sector new pricing power. U.S. Steel Corp. (X ) and Nucor Corp. (NUE ) raised prices on Jan. 1 by about $30, to about $330 a ton. Another hike of $50 to $60 is set for April. Nucor predicts steel will hit $500 a ton by summer. Those prices could help U.S. Steel return to profitability this year.
Many companies are also finally expanding capacity. Rockwell Automation Inc. (ROK ) expects sales of assembly-line equipment and production systems to increase 4% to 6% this year, thanks to spending in the food and beverage and pharmaceutical sectors. "We are finally beginning to see a sustained upturn in our end markets," saysCEO Keith D. Nosbusch.
Even the possibility of higher interest rates may not crimp corporate spending since companies are generating plenty of cash internally. That means many won't have to borrow. "The capability to spend on capex [capital expenditures] has seldom been greater," says James W. Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management. After a long capital investment drought, that's good news for U.S. equipment and software makers.
By Faith Arner in Boston and Michael Arndt in Chicago, with bureau reports
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_08/b3871090.htm
Important year ahead for Qualcomm
Chen Zhiming
2004-02-16 07:00
Wang Jing, chairman of Qualcomm China Ltd, says the firm, the world leader in CDMA (code division multiple access) digital wireless technology, is looking at steps to both empower and energize the industry in order to boost its role in the nation's market.
"2004 will undoubtedly be a significant year for China's wireless development and for Qualcomm and our partners in China as compelling wireless applications and services continue to drive forward market development," Wang told China Daily in an exclusive interview.
He said that the company is going to develop CDMA 20001X EV-DO in China this year, a 3G technology based on CDMA 20001X,.
Qualcomm is now supporting China Unicom, the country's second-largest mobile operator, to deploy its CDMA 20001X networks, a 2.5G technology, across China.
"We believe that the sooner 3G licences are issued in China, the better China will be able to play a full role in the 3G success story that is unfolding across the globe. The early rolling out of the 3G service benefits both Chinese consumers and the domestic industry," Wang said.
It is reported that the nation's big four telecom operators - China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom and China Netcom - will win 3G licenses in the latter half of this year.
Some industry observers actually believe that WCDMA, rather than CDMA2000, in which Qualcomm has the most vested interests, will have the greatest market presence in China.
"We expect to see more than one 3G standard adopted and deployed in China. And we will continue to provide our CDMA expertise and cutting edge technology solutions to support the roll-out of 3G in China", Wang noted, adding that Qualcomm supports all 3G standards - CDMA 2000, WCDMA and TD-SCDMA.
Qualcomm announced last year that it would invest up to US$100 million in new Chinese companies engaged in the development of CDMA based products, applications and services. This will help develop the firms that provide content for mobile phones, another fledgling segment of the nation's CDMA industrial value chain.
By contributing to the growth of the three major segments in China's evolving CDMA industrial chain, namely mobile carriers, equipment vendors and application developers, Wang said he is confident that it is well positioned to help China achieve its full potential as a major player in the coming 3G CDMA era.
"Qualcomm succeeds only when our partners are successful," Wang noted, a point that has been borne out by the company's steady growth in recent years as it earned profits by providing chipsets and collecting technology licensing fees from telecom equipment vendors who use Qualcomm's patents in their manufacturing.
As one of the telecom industry's major players, Qualcomm benefits greatly from China's rapidly growing CDMA user base.
For example, China Unicom, one of Qualcomm's major partners in China has recorded a rapid growth in its CDMA network in the two years since it launched CDMA-based services. With more than 20 million CDMA subscribers, China Unicom has now grown into the world's second biggest CDMA carrier, challenging the top spot currently held by Verizon Wireless, the leading mobile carrier in the United States.
"With technological support from Qualcomm, Unicom has successfully launched a whole host of value-added services designed to improve and enrich the lives of millions of users," noted Wang.
China Unicom sources said the company is also scheduled to launch a dual-mode handset based on Qualcomm's GSM1X technology.
GSM1X is a deployment option allowing GSM carriers to deliver efficient CDMA2000 1X voice, data and enhanced services utilizing commercial CDMA2000 radio infrastructure equipment, while preserving their GSM SIM distribution model, authentication, roaming and GSM back-office systems and processes.
(China Daily 02/16/2004 page10
http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-02/16/content_306287.htm
BAKRIE TELECOM TO EXPAND ESIA TO BANDUNG
Sunday, February 15, 2004 10:32:26 PM
Jakarta, Feb 15 (ANTARA)- PT Bakrie Telecom will expand the coverage of its cellular phone technology dubbed "Esia", which was based on Code Division Multiple Acces (CDMA) 2000 1X, to Bandung, West Java province, in March 2004.
"After covering Jakarta and environs, we will expand the Esia coverage to Bandung scheduled in March," said President Director of PT Bakrie Telecom Anindya Bakrie here on Sunday.
He explained that Bandung was Esia`s next target after Jakarta, as the West Java provincial capital has a potential market
http://www.antara.co.id/e_berita.asp?id=136542&th=2004
Korea adopts mobile Internet platform
Qualcomm considers filing complaint, citing concerns over trade barriers
The Korea Wireless Internet Standardization Forum said that it has adopted the wireless Internet platform for interoperability 2.0 version as the formal standard for Korea's mobile Internet technology.
Wireless Internet platform is middleware that allows mobile phone users to access the Internet with their handsets and download multimedia data. With the formal endorsement of the platform by KWISF, handset makers like Samsung Electronics Co. are set to launch version 2.0-enabled phones in the second half of this year.
The move is now expected to touch off protests from the United States during forthcoming trade talks between the two countries slated for Feb. 24-26 in Seoul.
Korean mobile carriers are promoting WIPI as a single standard to promote mobile Internet data services, but U.S.-based wireless technology developer Qualcomm Inc. is opposing the standard, saying it could become a trade barrier.
Qualcomm, whose code division multiple access technology is used in Korea as the dominant mobile phone standard, is keen to promote its own platform called BREW. KTF Co., Korea's second-largest mobile carrier, has adopted BREW, but Qualcomm fears the joint move by Korean carriers could derail its efforts to spread the platform.
Qualcomm is known to be considering filing a complaint to the U.S. Trade Representative, claiming that adopting WIPI is an unfair trade practice in the telecommunications field.
The platform caused a dispute with another U.S. company, Sun Microsystems, over the alleged violation of patents and royalties last year. Afterward, SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom struck a deal with Sun on royalties and agreed to jointly develop the 2.0 version.
Although Qualcomm is striving to take issue with WIPI in Korea, the Ministry of Information and Communication repeatedly said that it does not pose a trade barrier to the U.S. company.
KTF, for instance, is the first mobile carrier in the world to have adopted BREW as its formal platform and use it as a full commercial version. Information Ministry officials also said BREW and other platforms will be compatible with the WIPI standard as the country's policy is not to block foreign technologies but to streamline the complicated and conflicting standards.
The ministry also stressed that local mobile carriers are jointly promoting WIPI in order to kick-start the fledgling wireless Internet content market on their own initiatives, so the platform is not a government-set standard. There are about 140,000 phones featuring WIPI 1.0 since its debut in June 2003.
Not only local carriers but multinationals like IBM Korea, Microsoft Corp., Sun Microsystems and Motorola joined the development of WIPI 2.0. Other partners include handset manufacturers, mobile content providers and software developers.
According to industry estimates, Korea has paid upward of 500 billion won in CDMA technology royalties to Qualcomm between 1995 and 2002. Despite the huge amount of money contributed by Korean carriers and handset makers, Qualcomm allegedly offered more favorable royalty conditions to Chinese carriers, sparking an uproar here. Qualcomm, however, declined to reveal the specific terms reached with Chinese partners.
(insight@heraldm.com)
By Yang Sung-jin
2004.02.16
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/02/16/200402160005.asp
Longtime reader and first time poster.
I enjoy reading all of your posts regarding Qualcomm. A special thank to Data_rox and Jim Mullens for many up to-date news and analysis on Qualcomm. below I found a good article regarding Qualcomm and would like to share with all of you:
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.asp?Feed=PR&Date=20040213&ID=3393217&Sym...
'The Wireless Revolution Has Begun'
February 13, 2004 1:00:00 PM ET
LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- An article was issued today by Randy Durig of Durig Capital, LLC.
To see this and other articles written by Randy Durig, go to www.durig.com. We invite your comments and questions at Contact Durig Capital or email Randy Durig
Years ago I authored my investment theorem 'Forecasting a Revolution' or 'Durig's Law' which forecasted a 'Wireless Revolution'. Since then I've been using my Monopoly Strategy to identify and invest in companies that I think will be future monopolies. I've believed in my strategy even through the worst market conditions in nearly 80 years. The 'Wireless Revolution' I predicted back then began last quarter and the winds of profit are not just blowing, I think we're in a tornado!
I say the Wireless Revolution has begun!
Based on history, I came up with a simple formula to forecast revolutionary growth markets. I found that the companies who owned the essential elements of past revolutions had created some of the world's greatest wealth. Some of past winners include Intel (INTC), Microsoft (MSFT), Cisco (CSCO), IBM (IBM), GE (GE) and AT&T (T). If you had identified and invested in these companies before they became the 'standard' of their industry, you would have realized some tidy profits.
Who do I think will end up on top of technology this time? I hope you'll enjoy reading the full article to see what I have to say now about Openwave (OPWV), Qualcomm (QCOM) and ARM Holdings (ARMHY).
To view the full article, sign up for complimentary early releases of our future articles, read past articles or for more information about the Monopoly Portfolios, Click Here: http://www.durig.com .
Randy Durig has been in the investment industry for over 19 years. He spent most of his early years analyzing monopolistic companies. Unable to find an existing investment model that utilized the advantages of a monopoly approach, he introduced and became the manager of the Monopoly Portfolio in 1997. This portfolio is a simple, long-term, tax efficient model. He believes his Monopoly Strategy can successfully forecast the next great dominator. He defines "Monopoly" as a company with several tangible advantages over the competition. Randy Durig, CEO/RIA rdurig@fwg.com Durig Capital, LLC -- 17020 Pilkington Road, #200 -- Lake Oswego, OR 97035 Client & Investor Contact: 503-697-7800 or toll free 866-277-7800 Media & Institutional Contact: 503-697-6217
Registered Representative of and Securities transactions through
FINANCIAL WEST GROUP, INC., MEMBER NASD / SIPC / MSRB
This is for informational purposes only. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell securities and offers no assurance to potential investors that the Monopoly Strategy will be successful in the future. The information contained herein is based on sources believed to be reliable but is neither all-inclusive nor guaranteed to be accurate. Information sources are available upon request. Opinions contained herein reflect our judgment at this time and are subject to change. Durig Capital does not undertake to advise of changes in its opinion or the issuers of securities that are the subject of our research. The securities discussed in this report may be unsuitable for investors depending on their specific investment objectives and financial situation and needs. Randy Durig may or may not be an owner of common stocks mentioned here and takes no fees from them. This report was written by Durig Capital and does not contain the opinions of Financial West Group.
Randy Durig is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, CRD number 1269163.
© 2004 PRNewswire