Word: potter
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...painfully long time, people have been asking David Potter, chairman of British computer maker Psion, "When are you going to die?" It's nothing personal, only that Potter's company--the maker of sleek hand-held computers, with annual sales of just $235 million--is sitting astride a market now being targeted by Bill Gates and giant Microsoft Corp., plus a dozen of the world's leading computer-hardware manufacturers. The battle became so intense earlier this year that Potter was forced to issue a warning about reduced profits, and Psion's stock price took a beating...
Seized upon as a David-vs.-Goliath tale by Britain's press, Potter's duel with Gates may well have a surprise ending. A South African-born physicist with a flair for brilliant chess moves, Potter last month finished stitching together an ingenious alliance with three of the world's telecommunications heavyweights: Sweden's Ericsson, Finland's Nokia and Motorola of the U.S. The three firms account for 70% of global sales of mobile telephones and have the kind of financial muscle to make even Bill Gates sit up and take notice...
With his business under threat from Microsoft, Potter has cleverly realized that the mobile-phone companies would be as nervous about Bill Gates as he was. The history of the PC business showed that hardware companies were caught up in a cycle of steadily declining prices, while Microsoft and chipmaker Intel captured the lion's share of the profits. "I think there is a great deal of concern in many industries that the added value in their industries doesn't get taken away by Microsoft," Potter says...
...That led Potter to approach Nokia, Ericsson and later Motorola--which has agreed in principle to join Symbian--with an offer to use Psion's operating system EPOC as the basis for smart phones. He offered a remarkable deal, taking only 31% of Symbian and selling the remainder to the three phone giants for $50 million. "Companies like Nokia and Ericsson are concerned about ending up like the manufacturers of personal computers, becoming box shifters for Microsoft," says Martin Butler, a British computer consultant. "Potter could become the Bill Gates of the portable-device marketplace. It's there waiting...
...last couple years, we've seen achange," says Bruce L. Potter, director ofmembership services for the MassachusettsRestaurant Association. "Many chains are cominginto the area...