# Any current companies you see circling the bowl? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 7, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351 "2013-11-07T19:04:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/81 "2013-11-11T17:24:07Z")
I also think that **Apple** has peaked, though I’m not expecting it to “circle the bowl” anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Cell\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Cell\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cell_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/82 "2013-11-11T17:34:07Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Wait a sec. U.S. Cellular paid like a gazllion dollars for 20-year naming rights to the White Sox ballpark, and now they don’t even have service in Chicago anymore? > > I’ll bet someone’s wishing they had their gazillion dollars back. Apparently it’s cheaper to continue the sponsorship than back out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/83 "2013-11-11T18:26:37Z")
I found [this article](http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/05/23/ten-brands-that-will-disappear-in-2014/) from a few months ago. Both Volvo & Mitsubishi are on it. I hadn’t thought much about Volvo (who does?) but apparently, in addition to their dismal US market share and uninspired cars, they’ve had a big problem in China (where pretty much every automaker is making money recently). It seems that Chinese Volvo dealers have been inflating their sales numbers in order to get incentive payments. In other words, they’ve been scamming the company. For Volvo, it’s pretty much just a matter of how long their owners are willing to keep flushing money down the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/84 "2013-11-12T12:58:36Z")
> [@Cell\_Guy](#): > > Apparently it’s cheaper to continue the sponsorship than back out of it. But if U.S. Cellular get absorbed by a competitor, won’t the competitor inherit the naming rights? If only there was a Comisky Wireless or something. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/85 "2013-11-12T14:16:43Z")
> [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](#): > > But if U.S. Cellular get absorbed by a competitor, won’t the competitor inherit the naming rights? Yes, they would. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/86 "2013-11-12T16:32:23Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Wait a sec. U.S. Cellular paid like a gazllion dollars for 20-year naming rights to the White Sox ballpark, and now they don’t even have service in Chicago anymore? Technically, they don’t have local subscribers in Chicago anymore (sold to Sprint, as noted above). A U.S. Cellular customer can still use their phone here – I imagine that they have a network sharing agreement with Sprint, or some other carrier. Interestingly, though U.S. Cellular is no longer in the Chicago market, their corporate HQ is still in the area. I interviewed with them for a position two years ago, when I was between jobs. In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t land there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/87 "2013-11-12T17:29:29Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Amazon are poised to **destroy** all bricks and mortar / online stores. They don’t care about profits _yet_. Once all competition has gone out of business, they will jack up the prices. “All” is a bit strong. You’ll still have to go to the grocery to get fresh food, and there’ll still be a market for “right-now” type purchases that businesses and other people need that very day. However, Amazon’s doing something right- they’ve made it with Amazon Prime such that there’s a real evaluation of whether it’s easier and/or cheaper to find something on Amazon and get it in 2 days, or if it’s worth it to try and hunt something down locally within those 2 days, or to save some nominal amount of money. For example, let’s say we’re talking about toothpaste. If I know that I have maybe a week’s worth left, is it worth it to go get it at the grocery, or have Amazon ship it in 2 days? This only gets more pronounced if there’s some element of rarity or uncommon-ness to it- if I need a 5/16 hex bit for an electric screwdriver, I’ll get it from Amazon rather than scouring the local hardware stores and big box stores. Paying that extra $3 is more than worth not spending an entire afternoon looking for some obscure tool or item. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/88 "2013-11-12T18:04:25Z")
Amazon has added a “subscription” option for some consumable goods like toothpaste or coffee. You can specify that they should send you two pounds of your preferred coffee once a month or whatever schedule matches your consumption needs. They offer a slight discount for this option. It’s meant to compete with Costco. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/89 "2013-11-12T18:26:36Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Amazon has added a “subscription” option for some consumable goods like toothpaste or coffee. You can specify that they should send you two pounds of your preferred coffee once a month or whatever schedule matches your consumption needs. They offer a slight discount for this option. It’s meant to compete with Costco. My only gripe about it is that while they may carry a lot of things, not everything is on that list for subscription. For example, my air conditioning takes a 25"x25"x4" filter, and Amazon sells them, but I can’t subscribe to get one sent to me every 6 months. On the other hand, I can get electric toothbrush ends sent to me every 90 days. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/90 "2013-11-12T19:51:52Z")
I can’t believe nobody has mentioned Boeing. When they moved their headquarters to Chicago I predicted that they were starting a long slow slide to oblivion. It’s always a bad sign when management divorces itself from what they really do. Prediction: Boeing gone. Replacement: Tesla Prediction: USPS gone. Replacement: Amazon Pretty bold. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/91 "2013-11-12T19:59:33Z")
Boeing makes large commercial passenger jets. Tesla makes passenger cars. In what way is Tesla going to replace Boeing? Similarly, the USPS delivers stuff to every address in America. Amazon warehouses and sells stuff, much of which is delivered by the USPS. In what way is Amazon going to replace the USPS? ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/92 "2013-11-12T20:17:47Z")
I said bold, not accurate. Though Amazon is taking the first step. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/amazon-and-us-postal-service-will-offer-sunday-delivery-for-amazon-prime-members/2013/11/11/6c6e6506-4ada-11e3-bf60-c1ca136ae14a\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/amazon-and-us-postal-service-will-offer-sunday-delivery-for-amazon-prime-members/2013/11/11/6c6e6506-4ada-11e3-bf60-c1ca136ae14a_story.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/93 "2013-11-12T20:20:33Z")
The article is about the deal between the USPS and Amazon for the Postal Service to deliver packages for Amazon on Sundays. How is that a first step towards Amazon replacing the USPS? ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/94 "2013-11-12T20:29:21Z")
First of all, not actual predictions, just wild speculation. But, that said, the USPS is in Serious Trouble. They are talking about not delivering on Saturdays any longer and as far as I know have NEVER delivered on Sundays. For Amazon to make this kind of deal is pretty startling. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/95 "2013-11-12T20:51:51Z")
> [@steatopygia](#): > > But, that said, the USPS is in Serious Trouble. They are talking about not delivering on Saturdays any longer and as far as I know have NEVER delivered on Sundays. Not true about never having delivered on Sundays. From the article you linked to, “Sunday delivery isn’t an entirely new territory for the USPS. Priority Mail Express, its fastest service, offers Sunday and holiday delivery for a small fee. And during the holiday shipping rush in December it delivers packages on Sundays in major metropolitan areas.” ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/96 "2013-11-12T21:04:07Z")
OK , I’m a dummy. I read a short AP article about it yesterday. Just now when looking for a link, I Google searched , and picked the Washington Post article because it wasn’t Foxnews or the HuffingtonPost. Didn’t read it. At least I added an AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/97 "2013-11-12T21:13:25Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Suzuki pulled out of the US market a few years ago, so I’d say things aren’t doing too well for them these days. I believe they still sell motorcycles and ATV’s, however. American Suzuki Motor Co. pulled out of the US in Nov. 2012 but their worldwide auto business is quite strong in Japan, SE Asia, and India. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/98 "2013-11-13T01:36:15Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Boeing makes large commercial passenger jets. Boeing also makes a huge chunk of the nation’s military airplanes and helicopters, including the F/A-18, AH-64, and CH-47, and on the missile front, the Minuteman ICBM and the Air Launched Cruise Missile. They’re one of the largest aerospace conglomerates in the world, and their stock price has nearly tripled since 2009. They’re hardly circling the bowl! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/99 "2013-11-13T03:22:49Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Boeing also makes a huge chunk of the nation’s military airplanes and helicopters, including the F/A-18, AH-64, and CH-47, and on the missile front, the Minuteman ICBM and the Air Launched Cruise Missile. > > They’re one of the largest aerospace conglomerates in the world, and their stock price has nearly tripled since 2009. They’re hardly circling the bowl! Yeah, I am not seeing why Boeing got nominated at all. They are huge and almost irreplaceable taking into account all their assets and industry expertise. It is basically them and Airbus that forms the global manufacturing market for airliners at a cost ranging up to hundreds of millions of dollars for a single order. Boeing has had a few setbacks with the Dreamliner battery failures but that is solvable. Boeing is a literally a semi-monopoly in an industry that will not see significant other competition for at least several decades because the start-up costs and lead time from conception to deliveries is so long (15 - 20 years at an absolute minimum even if several billionaires wanted to dump everything they had into a new venture). That isn’t happening. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351/100 "2013-11-13T03:30:26Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Blackberry still gets a lot of corporate business since their email handling and other business features are excellent without having the distractions of SmartPhones (or the Smartphone’s horrible email handling). But going backwards at a million miles an hour. They will continue to lose market share and have even admitted that they are looking at becoming a software company, nt as much margin as their old hardware stuff. Rim are dying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-current-companies-you-see-circling-the-bowl/673351.md?page=6)