Best of 2009: ‘Deals’ that came back to haunt their deal-makers
You can bet these companies have their fair share of regrets:
- eBay’s acquisition of Skype, which didn’t include key technologies, resulting in a legal mess
- Nokia Siemens Networks. Despite Synergies, losing market share
- AT&T taking on the iPhone. Sure you have the hottest handset of all time, but no one cares when your network sucks. AT&T first became exclusive with Apple in 2007, but this mixed blessing still haunts them.
- FairPoint Communications’ acquisition of Verizon’s New England voice lines turned into a headache when it couldn’t switch over former Verizon Communications customers to FairPoint’s own back office systems, sparking more customer complaints, state fines and management upheavals – oh, and did we mention, bankruptcy.
Coming next: The top buzzwords of the year.
It’s not too late to enter to win $50. Take the survey here: Best & Worst of 2009 SURVEY
