1. cpak100's Avatar
    I read an article about the top ten companies that will disappear in the near future with our terrible economy here in America. It was really interesting, most of them were companies we are all familiar with. I thought I would share some aspects of it since many of you are tech heads and tech junkies. It is a bit lengthy so I will keep it short. I left the entire excerpt of #10 because I know that one will peak most of your interests on this forum.

    1. Avis/Budget (CAR) operates two car rental businesses. The primary competition for the company is Hertz (HTZ). Both firms are facing significant problems paying down their debt. Barclays Capital analyst Brian A. Johnson said the companies are �facing an almost perfect storm, with increasing pressure on both revenues and costs, coupled with very large risks on the liquidity and operational side.�

    2. Borders (BGP) has struggled for several years as the No.2 operator of book store behind Barnes & Noble. When Border�s released its last set of earnings it said it would cut the number of Waldendbooks stores from about 300 to 50 or 60.

    3. Crocs (CROX) sold the fastest growing footwear in America at one point. In late 2007, the company�s shares traded at more than $72. Now they change hands at well below $2.

    4. Saturn was created by former GM (GM) CEO Roger Smith to be the company�s platform for manufacturing and marketing innovation. GM, now faced with bankruptcy, will almost certainly close its poorly performing brands. In the first quarter, Saturn sales dropped 59% to 19,843. GM can�t afford to support a brand with poor sales that are falling at such a rapid pace.

    5. Esquire Magazine is published by Hearst which is having substantial problems in both its newspaper and magazine divisions. Hearst recently threatened to close The San Francisco Chronicle after losing tens of millions of dollars during the last several years.

    6. Gap (GAP) Old Navy and Banana Republic. Gap is a three-brand company living in a two-brand body. In March, same-store sales for the Gap North America flagship brand were off 14% following a 14% drop in the same month in 2008.

    7. Architectural Digest Magazine has lost 47% of its ad pages this year.

    8. The Chrysler brand of Chrysler LLC faces a problem similar to the one that GM faces with its weakest brands. As it moves closer to bankruptcy, the automaker knows that it cannot support product design, manufacturing, and marketing for all of its brands.

    9. Eddie Bauer (EBHI) stock trades at $.38 now. Just last September it changed hands at more than $8. The company has said that it may violate debt covenants this year.

    10. Palm (PALM) has been at death�s door for some time. It prospects have improved recently and the company has one last chance to become viable when it launches its new �Pre� product. Recent research shows that almost no one who owns an Apple (AAPL) iPhone or RIM (RIMM) Blackberry will switch to the new smartphone, so Palm will have to essentially expand the market to get share for its new device during a recession. The �Pre� will also be sold exclusively though Sprint (S), the No.3 cellular carrier in the US which has been losing subscribers consistently for more than two years. The launch of the �Pre� is a disaster in the making. Palm�s results for the quarter that ended on February 27th were awful, failing to meet Wall St�s modest expectations. Palm sold only 482,000 handsets for the period, down 42% from the same quarter the year before. Revenue dropped from $312 million to $91 million, and Palm lost $95 million. Palm brought in just over $100 million with the help of its largest shareholder, Elevation Partners, in a recent financing. The bottom line is that Palm has no chance of getting an even modest part of the smartphone market in a severe economic downturn since it competes with two of the premier technology companies in the world�Apple and RIM. Palm won�t be in business in a year.

    11. AIG (AIG) may be the only large company in America that both the management and federal government want torn apart. If AIG succeeds in selling most of its divisions it will be able to repay more than $100 billion in government loans and investments.

    I know its a lot, but if you tough it out it's really interesting and demonstrates the the times.
    04-22-09 06:45 PM
  2. papped's Avatar
    I know why they did it, but for the life of me can't figure out why Palm was stupid enough to release the Pre exclusive to Sprint for launch....
    04-22-09 06:46 PM
  3. PRC's Avatar
    I know why they did it, but for the life of me can't figure out why Palm was stupid enough to release the Pre exclusive to Sprint for launch....
    They are too broke to do research and find out Sprint is losing Millions of customer per quarter.

    They are stupid, hence the reason they are going bankrupt.

    Or Sprint is paying so much money to make it exclusive to them that palm is happy. One company not doing too good helping another company not doing to good. lol
    04-22-09 07:01 PM
  4. redburgundy's Avatar
    Why is this thread in a BB 9000 forum?
    04-22-09 07:14 PM
  5. pinoi's Avatar
    Why is this thread in a BB 9000 forum?
    Its said that majority of people have a apple iphone or a blackberry... Those without those phones will buy the Palm Pre. This is Palms last resort to get back in to the game since apple was successful with the iphone and Rimm's success with the bold, new curve and storm..

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    04-22-09 07:26 PM
  6. DeeBee85's Avatar
    Interesting stuff, thanks for sharing.
    04-22-09 07:28 PM
  7. dershbag's Avatar
    #4 gets my interest! I love my SC-1
    04-22-09 07:39 PM
  8. amazinglygraceless's Avatar
    If Crocs fails my world will be right again.

    Link to OP's post, just for correct attribution. Don't want CB
    accused of plagiarism or use copyrighted material without permission.
    04-23-09 12:57 AM
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