squawk

Fourth Quarter Sees Decline in Cell Phone Shipments

Re: "Are cell phones no longer a growth business?"

What planet do you live on, Eric?

10 Ways Tech Gets Hurt by the Consumer Slowdown

"Semiconductor companies whose products tend to go into consumer devices include large companies like Micron Technologies (MU), AMD, Intel (INTC) and Qualcomm (QCOM) as well as dozens of small companies too numerous to mention."

QCOM is not a semi-conductor company. It develops, owns, and licenses intellectual property.

Wish you guys would do a bit a research, exercise a bit of journalistic proofing, before publishing. It would enhance the quality of this site, as well as your credibility, which IMHO, could use a bit of improvement.

Research In Motion's 3G Counteroffensive: The Smartphone Arms Race Escalates

I think the "collision" b/w AAPL & RIMM is way overblown, likely b/c those in the media have nothing else to write about, & need something to write to attract an audience.

The iPhone is only available in the US from AT&T, so it's attractiveness is going to be limited to that segment of the market willing to "suffer" AT&T's network.

The iPhone is designed for the consumer, not the business market, though AAPL has opened the door to "compete" in the business market, by making the iPhone compatible with corporate email Exchange servers. Big deal.

I don't think AAPL is so focused on the business market, but for some reason, RIMM, or the so-called "pundits" who write about RIMM, are running scared. If the BlackBerry is all it is "cracked" up to be, why the fear?

In disclosure, I own a BlackBerry Curve, after having a replacement (i.e. re-furbished) Treo from Verizon crash on me. The tech supervisor steered me away from getting another Palm phone. That says a lot. I settled on the BlackBerry, & all I can say is that I'm not impressed. I don't fine the email UI that great, & the browser slow as well as problematic due to the extra relaying that takes place between my phone, BlackBerry servers, and the web page I'm linked to.

Notwithstanding, I would not even consider an iPhone until it was offered by Verizon Wireless, as I value the network more than I value the phone.

Bottom line, I don't think BlackBerry has much to be concerned with, and neither does AAPL for the foreseeable future. But let's re-visit this issue in a year or two, & see what inroads AAPL is able to make in the business market with its 3G iPhone. I'm willing to bet it is not going to be as great as some hope (AAPL cheerleaders), or as some fear (RIMM). JMO.