The news shocked the older company but they pressed on by increasing the size of their screen to compensate. They could see the writing on the wall, but they had one huge ace up their sleeve. A trick they learned from watching ENRON tinkering with their own stock price through shell companies. They also saw how another company was moving aluminum between warehouses to manipulate prices.
The old phone company quietly waited for the right moment and was about to launch their final thrust when the recession of 2008 caused them to delay. The company scrambled to shore itself up by making the screen even bigger and touch sensitive in addition to the keypad. They had little choice because the executives were heavily optioned at a stock price that would require a full economic recovery.
A long six years rolled by, and the company was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. The "ace up the sleeve" was almost forgotten. The new phone was launched into the public with mixed reviews, but that was not the "ace up the sleeve."
The "ace up the sleeve" was a magical way of making the stock price go up suddenly by creating the appearance of high demand. The executives could sell their shares of stock and retire, but how? A subsidiary company would flush cash through other companies in the form of vouchers for the new phone.
The company posted a "surprising profit" but revenues continued to decline. The "ace up the sleeve" created only a tiny bump in the share price, enough to start a quiet offloading of shares but not much more.
