|
Lucent: riding wires high
|
 |
October 23, 1998: 12:15 p.m. ET
Telecom innovator sets its sights on the networking market of the future
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - After handily surpassing Wall Street estimates for its fourth fiscal quarter, Lucent Technologies is poised to use its leverage in the telecommunications industry to become a key player in the burgeoning data network, a Lucent executive said.
Carleton Fiorina, president of the company's global services provider group, was recently named "most powerful U.S. businesswoman" by a prominent business magazine. A partial transcript of her "Business Day" comments follows.
JOHN METAXAS, CNNfn ANCHOR: I want to talk about Lucent, but first let me talk about Fortune magazine calling you the most powerful American businesswoman. Do you feel like you're the most powerful?
CARLETON FIORINA, PRESIDENT, GLOBAL SERVICES, LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES: Well, first of all, I was, of course, flattered, but very surprised. But I think that cover story is as much about Lucent Technologies and the industry that we serve as it is about me. We are in an incredibly exciting, dynamic industry.
METAXAS: There have been a number of earnings warnings lately coming from the telecom-equipment sector, which was formerly perceived as the hottest group. Many of these warnings have been because these companies are competing against you.
FIORINA: Well, we like to think so, frankly. We've been very consistently bullish on the industry that we're in and very consistently bullish about our prospects in that industry. And we've warned people that in a competitive industry such as ours there are going to be winners and there are going the losers. We think we're a winner, we think we're taking share.
METAXAS: You don't see any slowdown in demand? Any overcapacity in the business?
FIORINA: No, we don't, and we've been consistent in that. We see strong growth in the United States, strong growth outside the United States, and as I think our quarter demonstrates yet again, we're growing faster than that market in taking share from competitors.
METAXAS: Lucent's biggest business in the past has been as a provider of equipment to traditional telephone companies in the voice-communications segment. But Lucent is moving more into the data area. Are you basically spoiling for a fight with Cisco Systems here?
FIORINA: Well, I'm not sure I would call it spoiling for a fight, but I think we clearly are setting our sights on the networks of the future. Networks of the future will carry both voice and data as well as entertainment. We think we are poised to deliver on the promise of convergence for our customers. And I think that we feel very confident about our ability to win with customers and beat Cisco (CSCO) as well as other competitors.
METAXAS: Oct. 1 was an interesting day for Lucent because due to accounting changes after your initial public offering, you are allowed a certain period of time to treat any mergers as pooling of interests. Now, many have speculated this means that you're now setting yourselves up a to do a blockbuster merger deal. Is anything like that in the works?
FIORINA: Well, you know, Oct. 1 has been, as you mentioned, a date of much speculation. But frankly, it hasn't changed our strategy. We don't have a strategy to acquire companies, we have a growth strategy. And what we do is in the particular growth areas that we've targeted, we use a combination of internal development of acquisitions and of partnerships to help fuel our growth.
That will continue to be our strategy. We'll continue, I believe, to make acquisitions and also to rely on Bell Laboratories.
METAXAS: You talk about the global growth. Has the Asia crisis slowed down your growth worldwide?
FIORINA: Well, clearly our revenue would have been even stronger had Asia not slowed down, despite the fact that we reported, on a continuing operations basis, 20-plus percent revenue growth. For a $30 billion business, that's not bad.
Our business, overall, in Asia was flat year over year. Nevertheless we are taking share in big quantities in Asia.
METAXAS: The question I always get asked is what's the best time to buy Lucent stock? Do you had any thoughts?
FIORINA: Well, my thought would be anytime is a great time to buy Lucent stock (LU), and I hope our record demonstrates that. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lucent Technologies
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
