Those sales and profit worries have scared investors, leading many wireless stocks to plunge with the rest of the technology malaise. As the market has matured, replacement sales to second-time wireless customers also have changed the market. But some industry analysts say the wireless industry doesn't need to dial 911 just yet. Rather, the wireless industry, which has had as much hype in recent years as the two weeks preceding the Super Bowl, has in many ways fallen victim to its own success. Subscriber numbers have simply failed to meet the many irresponsible, grandiose predictions made for the market.
Growth continues at a pretty healthy pace.
Some analysts now say the hype and brash predictions for growth have created a mess of the wireless industry. Nokia raised expectations with grand predictions. It had originally forecast 1 billion cell phone users by the middle of 2003. Now it says that will happen as early as 2002. But Wall Street's reaction to Nokia's recent sales warning was negative, and related wireless stocks also have slipped.