August 7th, 2007
Motley Fool: Vonage will "eventually succumb"
Dave Mock of the financial news and advice website Motley Fool seems to be of two minds about Vonage.
Mock looks forward to this Thursday’s quarterly earnings statement as one which will show that Vonage’s marketing budget cuts and other cost-saving measures have saved the company losses, and will make the red ink smaller.
On the other hand, Mock is not upbeat about Vonage’s mid-to-long-term chances:
Another bell tolled for VoIP providers a few weeks back, when Internet telephony provider Sunrocket quickly shuttered its doors on 200,000 subscribers. Fearing Vonage may eventually do the same, investors have continued to bid shares down. With more than $400 million in cash and equivalents on the books, however, Vonage has lots of time to contemplate its fate.
Most likely, the business will eventually succumb to competition and subscribers will be bought out by more established firms such as cable providers Comcast or Time Warner Cable. Without some very positive developments this quarter, the company will continue a march toward an eventual end.
So to put it arguably more morbidly, Mock seems to be saying Vonage is in a slow death spiral.
Russell Shaw is an enterprise computing journalist, analyst and author based in Portland, Oregon. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
