Perspective
2nd Quarter '98 has been reported and CREAF did, in fact, achieve an earnings increase of 23% per share and gross sales did increase by $9 million dollars compared to same quarter last year. Another victory under our belt, we look forward to calendar 1998 and all that it promises:
1) DVD-ROM will blossum with the arrival of DVD software (besides the plethora of Hollywood hits and DVD porn already available) - so far we have Encarta '98, soon Grolier's Encyclopedia, and it looks like Feb 11 before the first one that I'll buy which will be Overseer from Access. If you're unfamiliar with Tex Murphy and Under a Killing Moon, Pandora Directive, and Martian Memorandum they're well done, great fun and big sellers. Access has been
so successful with these games that they are planning on producing their own movie based on their games for release this year. The game Overseer will be on 5 CD-ROM disks and also will include one DVD-ROM disk. The sales clerk at Software Etc was hep to the fact it was on DVD format because when I asked about Overseer he immediately asked me if I had a PC DVD-ROM. It will send a message to the gaming community like a lightening bolt.
2) The impact of CREAFs acquisitions, ENSONIQ and the NetMedia group of OPTi will kick in with active participation in the under $1000 PC market and the rapidly expanding notebook market.
3) The accolades garnered in 1997 by AWE64 and Cambridge Soundworks will show up at the cash register as both have received prominent shelf and endcap visibility.
4) CREAF will ship the Blaster Voodoo II graphics accelerator, the planet's fastest 3D graphics accelerator.
As a veteran retailer myself I always advise my store managers to try to walk through their doors again for the first time and imagine a first impression. Well, after the ride from 26 to 29 to 16 and now to 20, I feel like a veteran CREAFer and I'd advise my fellow CREAFers to do the same when evaluating their CREAF holdings. We're now a 10 to 1 P/E ratio stock based on earnings last 12 months ($1.92). Cheap. We dominate our niche market, PC
audio and computer peripherals. So far, we have weathered the Asian financial crisis like troopers. Our recents news releases, acquisitions, awards, and new products, are very impressive. We are in the right industry with the right products. One of our individual products, the Encore DVD-ROM is potentially explosive. At $20/share, we are probably the best bargain on Wall Street. And the more lookers check us out, the better we look.
Best of luck,
Steve
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