Editor’s note: On the previous page are five charts ranking major telecommunications vendors according to revenues, net income, percentage change in revenues from 1995 to 1996, percentage change in income from 1995 to 1996 and two-year total return on investment.
Nordby International Inc. of Boulder, Colo., compiled the information for these charts using companies listed on RCR’s StockWatch. Data for all companies was compiled using total figures, even though some companies derive only a portion of their revenues from wireless operations.
This feature is not intended to be an endorsement for any of the companies listed.
NEW YORK-Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. took the lead last year on revenues with numbers more than five times those reported for 1995 when it was fifth among equipment vendors in this ranking.
A domino effect of sorts occurred as a result in the revenue category, as Matsushita nudged NEC Corp. down a notch. NEC had topped the revenue chart for 1995. Motorola Inc., which had placed second, closed out 1996 in third place.
Lucent Technologies Inc., the AT&T Corp. spinoff, moved into fourth place last year, displacing L.M. Ericsson, which finished 1996 in fifth place. Nokia Corp., whose data was unavailable for the 1995 ranking, completed 1996 with the rank of seventh in revenues. Northern Telecom Ltd., which ranked fourth the prior year, pulled in at sixth last year.
While a revenue leader last year, Matsushita was at the bottom of the major vendors ranked by net income for 1996, although the company placed fifth in this category among equipment makers for the prior year.
Motorola moved up one place into the top spot in this key category, while NEC, last year’s leader of the pack, moved into fourth place. Nortel, in fourth place for 1995, moved to sixth place for 1996. Ericsson retained its third-place rank for both years.
They were joined in the top of the top tier by some newcomers that weren’t among the major players for 1995, notably Lucent, which placed second, and Tellabs Inc., which ranked seventh. Nokia, for which no 1995 information was available, ranked fifth.
InterDigital Communications Corp. dropped out of the major equipment vendor rankings altogether in terms of percent revenue change 1995-1996 after topping the chart for the prior period. Instead, DSP Communications Inc. took top billing.
Qualcomm, which placed ninth in last year’s published rankings for year-to-year revenue growth, moved into second place. WinStar Communications, which had been 12th, ranked third.
Besides DSP, there are a number of newcomers to the major players in revenue growth for the 1995-1996 timeframe. These include: Lightbridge Inc. at sixth; ADC Telecommunications Inc. at seventh; Brightpoint Inc. at eighth; Tellabs at ninth; and Spectrian at 20th.
Brightpoint and Tellabs also clocked in first and second respectively in the rankings for total return on investment for 1996. Last year’s leader, WinStar, dropped into fifth place.
Filling in the third and fourth spots were two other newcomers to the major players in this category: Specialty Teleconstructors Inc. and ADC Telecommunications Inc.
NEC, which had been number one in profit growth leaders during 1995, moved down to sixth place for 1996. Topping the 1996 list was Datamarine International Inc., which ranked fifth among equipment suppliers for 1995.
Second in the 1996 lineup for profit growth was Specialty Teleconstructors. Moving into third place from ninth was Brite Voice Systems Inc. IFR Systems Inc., the sixth place holder for 1995, moved into fourth, with Lucent assuming the fifth-ranked position.
