As an investor, whether going for growth or dividends, we like to own companies that are near-monopolistic, or at least having a wide moat, as they are seen to be financially stable and strong given their steady or growing user base of their products and services. However, due to some poor management decisions and foresight, a great company may devolve into good, then bad, and then gone, either being bought over by someone (partially or fully) or doing business in some other fields. There are a few classic examples of these companies; the oft-reported stories would be Kodak and Nokia, where they had lost their dominance in their main products.
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While it is easy to point out the causes of past declines due to hindsight, at present we do not know if a company and/or its product and/or service is facing obsolescence. While there are many potentials out there now, sometimes...