But the company's star dimmed as larger, more diverse competitors like Lucent Technologies Inc. undercut its pricing to grab sales and gain market share.

But Ciena, an early leader in a technology for expanding the capacity of fiber optic networks, has seen its star dim as larger, more diverse competitors like Lucent Technologies Inc. have undercut its pricing to grab sales and gain market share.

Although most said that the company retained a lead in technology, its competitors could not only undercut its pricing, but could also offer a broader and deeper array of products and services.

Jack L. Kelly, an analyst at Goldman, Sachs who is neutral on Xerox shares, noted that after several years of flailing as competitors undercut their prices, Xerox has finally become the lowest-cost - and thus, lowest-price - producer of many of its products.

The attorneys were furthermore assured that their competitors would not undercut them because they would face the same disciplinary action.

That gives American companies an opportunity to raise their prices with less fear that foreign competitors will undercut them.

And Sandoz has exclusive rights to clozapine only until 1994, when competitors may undercut the price.

Or that a bigger competitor doesn't undercut it.

"Poor quality," a small girl said in English when an even smaller competitor undercut her basket price by 80 percent.

These subsidies are possible only in a regulated monopoly environment, because competitors can instantly undercut prices that are far above actual costs.