7 companies that won't make it to 2020

MSN Money ^ | 12/9/2009 | Michael Brush

[SeekAndFind]

NO SPACE FOR COMPLETE EXPLANATION, CAN ONLY POST EXCERPTS. READ ENTIRE ARTICLE BY CLICKING ABOVE LINK :

Potentially fatal flaws come in many forms. But three crop up the most when you talk to experts: excessive debt, superior competitors and the inability to keep up with technological change.

1. Palm

With the Treo, Palm (PALM, news, msgs) was an early pioneer of the move to smart phones. So it doesn't seem right that stronger competitors such as Apple (AAPL, news, msgs) and Research In Motion (RIMM, news, msgs) are now going to crush it. But that seems to be Palm's fate.

2. Sears

Sears remains one of the great mysteries in retail: It's not clear why it still exists. Yes, we know consumers love Craftsman tools, DieHard batteries and Kenmore appliances. But there's a fuddy-duddy aspect to its stores that makes it a wonder Sears has survived the current decade.

3. Blockbuster

Video rental icon Blockbuster is a great example of how technological change can crush winners that fail to keep up.

4. Eastman Kodak

The company that brought us Kodachrome spent most of its life as a near monopoly. Back in the good old days, it only had to face down Fujifilm.

5. Borders

Like Blockbuster, Borders (BGP, news, msgs) is getting hit by technological changes that leave it dazed and confused.

6. Magellan

Once a novelty, GPS -- the technology that plots your location via satellite -- is now ubiquitous. Besides dashboard GPS devices in cars, consumers can now get GPS access in smart phones and even cameras.

7. McClatchy

Technology has been particularly hard on the news business, as content has moved online but advertising dollars have been slow to follow. For smaller, undiversified newspaper companies burdened with huge debt loads, time is running out.

[padre35]

Odd he did not mention MSNBC or CNBC...

[exit82]

It would be nice if we could add Chicago, Inc. and the DNC to the list.

[exit82]

It would be nice if we could add Chicago, Inc. and the DNC to the list.

[Red Badger]

Palm is gonna get RIMMed?.................

[I cannot think of a name]

Sears and Kodak will linger on, maybe Blockbuster as well now that their competition is thinning. He's probably correct about the others.

[clintonh8r]

1, 3, 5 and 7 deserve it....

[Williams]

The explanation for Sears seems to explain why it should not be on the list.

[dfwgator]

4. Eastman Kodak The company that brought us Kodachrome spent most of its life as a near monopoly. Back in the good old days, it only had to face down Fujifilm.

Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away!

[Le Chien Rouge]

Add to list:

1) Macy’s
2) Wendy’s
3) Hertz rent a car
4) JC Pennys
5) GM
6) Chrysler
7) several NBA teams
8) Yellow Freight
9) DELL
10) Bank of America

[Frantzie]

Actually their parent or partial parent company, GE, is technically broke. They are rolling over short term debt but if rates tick up they will need to go chapter 11.

[2banana]

Any newspaper? AOL? GM? Chrysler? About 50% of states and cities?

[b4its2late]

He forgot a whole bunch of newspapers too. Oh wait, they’ll get a bailout....

[Dr. Sivana]

But there's a fuddy-duddy aspect to its stores that makes it a wonder Sears has survived the current decade.

There's room for one legacy fuddy duddy in retail. By the way, if people "love" Craftsman and Kenmore, and you can only get them from Sears and partner K-Mart, isn't that enough reason to exist?

Fuddy duddy might not be bad with an aging population.

[chrisser]

Re: Sears

I have, in the past, bought Craftsman tools, and still do. That’s the only reason I go to Sears.

Anyone try to search for something on their site? Its, effectively, worthless. If you put in a search term for something you know they have, odds are it won’t be pulled up and you’ll instead be presented with screens full of other items that have similar names - and some that seem to have no relation to your search at all. Total waste of time.

I’ve sent numerous emails (once you’re able to find contact info, which is another problem with the site) to no avail. I’ve just about given up on the brand.

[Little Pig]

Magellan was a better product than Garmin only a couple of years ago, and was the favored brand for geocachers due to better signal reception. Garmin’s stuff has gotten better, but so has Magellan. I just don’t see any of the “real” GPS companies getting shut out by fragile smartphones, at least in the “outdoor” market. Maybe as an urban product, but not for hunters etc. There are several other more technical GPS manufacturers that I would expect to sink before Magellan, such as Loran, Trimble, and DeLorme.

[sig226]

That won’t support two and three floor spaces in premium shopping malls. The only time I bother with any of the department stores is when the stuff is on sale. I can’t justify paying an extra ten bucks an item for the cache of paying an extra ten bucks an item. And I agree with chrisser. Their website could use improvement.

[sig226]

cache = cachet

[netmilsmom]

I don’t see Palm going under.
Sprint has great service and the Pixie is the perfect cheap starter combo. Sprint and Palm are together.

They also just brought out the Pre.

Now Blockbuster is horrible. 5.00 to rent a movie overnight? Right. Redbox and Netflix are killing them.

[SeekAndFind]

GE, is technically broke.

Then why is their corporate debt ( bonds ) still rated close to AAA ?