Telecom Monthly – December: Merry Crashmas

Editor’s Note :

Happy Holidays everyone!

Jingle bells, Wall Street smells, finance laid an egg. Oh what fun it is to watch our retirement slip away. . .

That may not be the way the song goes, but it sure did feel that way last month. It was a hard month to find something to be thankful for. December didn’t start off much better; as we were preparing this month’s newsletter word came that the United States did in fact enter into recession . . . a year ago! Well, hit me on the head and call me lumpy. I’d never have guessed what with all the layoffs and bankruptcies. I thought things were going just peachy.

Enough of my sarcasm. I’m actually quite relieved for several reasons. With the election finally behind us as well as the admission that the recession is already one year old, perhaps we can begin to move forward. Sure, this will be a really bad recession which might just extend into 2010, but the fact that we finally seem to know where everything is headed is actually a good thing. Regardless of our political views, there is little doubt that the new Congress and White House will move swiftly to deal with the economic crisis, flooding trillions of dollars into the economy. Bailout may not be a pretty word, but just think of it as your children’s children giving you a little gift.

The economy may be down as well as consumer spending, but smart companies are launching creative new products to capture the few dollars remaining in consumer pockets. As an example, the smart phone market is trending down – except for Apple, which is booming thanks to a revolutionary product line. We see this across the telecom industry.  Age old products are stagnant but exciting new products are still gaining market share.

The lesson is to be different, break new ground. In the wasteland that was the technology frontier, there are still a few success stories. We’ll keep our eyes open for them, we hope you’ll do the same.

Now, get out there and enjoy the holidays before the Grinch steals it from you!

– iTodd