Trend Radar 2008: Turnarounds

Submitted By Sramana Mitra

2008 seems like a year in which several major companies are positioned for turnarounds. Whether or not they would be successful is another matter, but there is enough discontinuity in each of their markets, that turnarounds could happen. Here are some to watch:

Yahoo: 4C:Yahoo’s Turnaround Formula and Web 3.0 and Yahoo. The formula exists. Leadership at Yahoo’s helm doesn’t. Can’t assess timeline until the leadership issue is sorted out.
eBay: Web 3.0 and eBay. eBay just announced John Donahoe as the successor to Meg Whitman. There is wide-spread skepticism on the topic. I will reserve my comments until I see Donahoe in action.
Dell: Dell Needs a Convergence Device Strategy Badly. I don’t see the convergence device strategy yet, and hence, do not have a good sense of the time-window.
Palm: Rubinstein vs. Jobs and my interview with Eric Benhamou on the saga of Palm. Expected date for turnaround signals: Q4 2008 / Q1 2009, after Rubinstein has had a chance to work on a product cycle.
Leapfrog: Leapfrog’s Turnaround Strategy and my interview with Jeff Katz, new CEO of Leapfrog. Expected date for turnaround signals: Q4 2007 earnings call and 2008 holiday season, with the newer reading product lines kicking in gear.