NEW YORK-In this year’s RCR Wireless News Major Players Vendors listing, Nokia Corp. and Ericsson Inc. each moved up a notch, rising to first and second place respectively among equipment vendors that are net income leaders.
Lucent Technologies Inc., which had previously topped the charts in this category, slid into sixth place. ADC Telecommunications Inc., which ranked seventh in net income last year, rose to third, while Motorola Inc. held onto fourth place.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. displayed a precipitous rise into the lucky No. 7 spot, up from 47th a year earlier. Likewise, NEC Corp. sprinted nimbly into 10th place, compared with 50th in 1999.
By contrast, DSP Communications Inc., which had ranked 10th in net income last year, dropped out of the major players’ rankings in this category in 2000. Cellstar Corp., ranked eighth a year ago, dropped to 56th. Interdigital Communications Corp. declined to 32nd from ninth, while Phone.com disappeared altogether from these rankings, compared with its 37th place spot in 1999.
Corsair Communications Inc., which was not among the top contenders in net income growth last year, touched down in the top position, displacing Lucent, which declined to 22nd.
Others not present among 1999 leaders in this category included: Wireless Facilities Inc., number four; Metro One Telecomm Inc., which placed seventh; Alcatel, ranked eighth; Lightbridge Inc., ranked 10th; Palm Inc., holder of the number 12 spot; Motorola Inc., which finished at 15th.
The revenue rankings were somewhat less dramatic in terms of rises and falls, although there was a bit of a domino effect from a reshuffling of the deck.
Matsushita Electric and NEC held onto their respective first and second place rankings, according to this criterion. Compared with last year, Motorola and Lucent traded places, with the former rising to third and the latter dropping to fourth.
Nortel Networks Corp. rose two notches into fifth place, the spot Ericsson had held in 1999. Ericsson moved into sixth place, Alcatel’s standing last year. Alcatel, in turn, dropped into seventh.
Nokia retained its eighth-place finish. ADC Telecommunications rose three rungs to ninth, bumping Qualcomm from that spot, which it held last year, into 10th place.
The revenue growth picture told a different story because seven companies among the top 10 in 2000 were not in the rankings as measured by this yardstick last year.
Aether Systems Inc. made its debut in this category in the top spot, displacing last year’s leader, Phone.com, which fell to fifth. Conductus Inc., number five last year, fell to 60.
Newcomer SignalSoft Corp. took the second rung from last year’s holder, Crown Castle International Inc., which fell to 19th. Another tower company, Spectrasite Holdings Inc., improved upon its relative position of 1999 by moving up one notch into third place. Another new face, 724 Solutions Inc., grabbed the fourth place finish. Pinnacle Holdings Inc. held steady at ninth.
Newcomer GoAmerica Inc. landed on the sixth rung, while Powerwave Technologies Inc., holder of that ranking last year, dropped to 23rd.
O2Wireless Solutions Inc. and Airnet Communications Corp. took seventh and eighth place, respectively, as newcomers. American Tower dropped to 11th from seventh, and Research in Motion to 27th from eighth.
Wireless Facilities, also not present in this major players’ ranking last year, eased into 10th place. By contrast, Audiovox Corp., number 10 last year, finished 25th.
