"The wireless segment is approximately 50 percent of our business... we believe this is an industry-wide phenomenon and that we are, in fact, maintaining if not gaining market share"
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A perfect bureaucratic two-step: concede trouble, then reframe it as strength. The first clause, "approximately 50 percent of our business", plants a stake in the ground - a reminder of scale meant to steady nerves. It signals, quietly, that whatever is happening in wireless is not a side story. It is the story. Then comes the rhetorical pivot that every statesman learns early: if conditions look bad, insist they are not unique to you. "Industry-wide phenomenon" is an absolving phrase. It launders accountability into fate, shifting the listener from judgment ("What did you do wrong?") to weather-report thinking ("Everyone is dealing with this").
The final move is the boldest: "maintaining if not gaining market share". That "if not" is doing heavy diplomatic labor. It offers two optimistic outcomes while avoiding the one people fear: losing ground. The sentence is engineered to be un-disprovable in the moment, because it relies on belief, approximation, and comparative ambiguity. It's a statement designed for a room where confidence is currency - investors, rivals, cabinet colleagues, or any audience primed to punish weakness.
Contextually, it reads like crisis management in an era when communications tech was becoming infrastructure and therefore power. Whether talking about literal wireless networks or metaphorical lines of influence, the intent is the same: normalize the downturn, claim competence, and project momentum. The subtext is not "we are winning" so much as "do not panic, and do not defect."
The final move is the boldest: "maintaining if not gaining market share". That "if not" is doing heavy diplomatic labor. It offers two optimistic outcomes while avoiding the one people fear: losing ground. The sentence is engineered to be un-disprovable in the moment, because it relies on belief, approximation, and comparative ambiguity. It's a statement designed for a room where confidence is currency - investors, rivals, cabinet colleagues, or any audience primed to punish weakness.
Contextually, it reads like crisis management in an era when communications tech was becoming infrastructure and therefore power. Whether talking about literal wireless networks or metaphorical lines of influence, the intent is the same: normalize the downturn, claim competence, and project momentum. The subtext is not "we are winning" so much as "do not panic, and do not defect."
Quote Details
| Topic | Business |
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