Where were you when JFK was shot? Kennedy’s dead?

Employ a big firm of highly qualified professionals, pay through the proboscis, get better advice, right.? Well, usually

Back in the 1980’s, one of the world’s biggest telecoms companies, America’s AT&T, asked one of the world’s biggest Consulting firms, McKinsey, for advice on the future of mobile phones

Perhaps focusing on the present more than the future, McKinsey reportedly identified high costs, heavy devices, poor battery life, and patchy coverage as negatives, and  predicted the global market for mobiles would peak at around 900,000 worldwide, by the year 2000 

McKinsey concluded mobiles would remain niche market and recommended AT&T avoid significant investment in cellular technology. AT&T took the advice (well, you would, wouldn’t you?!) leaving the market to others..

In reality, by 2000, there were 109 million mobile phone users, with around 900,000 new subscribers joining daily. There were c7.8 billion by 2024. Oooops!

AT&T had missed the opportunity to lead the burgeoning cellular industry, allowing competitors, like Verizon, to gain a stronger foothold in the mobile sector

Realising their mistake, AT&T re-entered the market in 1994 by acquiring McCaw Cellular for $12.6 billion – one of the costliest corporate mistakes in history at that time. Ouch!

McKinsey’s not unique. Gartner, and others, predicted the Windows Phone would become the second largest operating system by 2015. It was discontinued in 2017. Time Magazine once predicted that remote shopping would fail..

How does it relate to UK tax planning? Well, thanks to advances in digital technology, small firms can compete with big firms in just about every aspect of property, legacy and associated tax planning

And you’re much more important to us!

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All tax advice is provided, in writing, by a Chartered Tax Adviser

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