Both the quantity and quality of crystal ball gazing in LISA have climbed sharply over the past year or so. This development has been driven by a number of factors, including a general uncertainty about what the future holds and an apparently greater willingness of industry members to put pen to paper. Indeed, the fact that industry members have the time even to think about whether the industry "has a future" is a sign that at least part of it has achieved a degree of stable maturity.

The single most prominent discussion topic, however, would seem to be "industry consolidation". This featured heavily at the March 1997 LISA Forum - Europe in Mainz, and is examined elsewhere in this edition of the LISA Newsletter. In contrast to the approach taken by many other analysts and industry observers, this article argues that, in reality, what is happening is that there is process of concentration - rather than consolidation - underway in a relatively small segment of the localization industry. Over-emphasis on this trend is masking the dynamic expansion occurring elsewhere.