Alcatel

            
            
             000 employees in more than 130 countries is a world leader in high-speed access and optical transport market. Furthermore, it is a major player in the area of telecommunications and the internet. With its expertise in communications systems, its line of products and services as well as its strong global presence, the company can fulfil its customers' needs, from operators and internet services providers to businesses and consumers. .
             2. Financial Performance over the last years.
             In million of euros 1999 1998 1997.
             Net sales 23,023 21,259 28,335.
             Cost of sales 16,412 15,426 21,389.
             Gross profit 6,611 5,833 6,946.
             Income from operations 1,275 997 1,220.
             Net income 644 2,340 711.
             Diluted earnings per share 3.44 13.16 4.44.
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             For the year 2000 the expected net sales are 27 millions of euros. .
             3. Target markets.
             There are mainly three fields Alcatel concentrates on. The first sector contains the service-providers and net operators, the second one comprises companies using networks and the last one consists of private persons using cellular phones produced by Alcatel. It is planned to develop new cellular phones-but only for corporate customers.
             4. Positioning in the main markets.
             Alcatel is a world leader in submarine networks with over 40% market share. Moreover, it is also recognized as one of the leaders in terrestrial transmission and possesses skills and first-rate technology in opto-electronic components. It is positioning itself as a world leader in convergence and applications that constitute a vital link to e-commerce. It is also the number one supplier in Europe of private automatic branch exchanges (PABX) with a 24% market share. In the area of call centres its market share in Europe is about 11%. Concerning the world GSM terminal market, Alcatel holds an average of 8%. At the end of 1999 Alcatel was the third-biggest manufacturer in Europe and fourth biggest worldwide. Furthermore, it is a world leader in ADSL equipment, public switching, fixed wireless access and intelligent networks.