| Steve, This seems like a good idea for a thread, and it seems to me it will be most useful if the focus stays on the designer's, producer's, and packager's of the chips, as well as on the applications and demand for flash products. I'm particularly interested in the packaging aspect. For instance, I have been told that AMD packages most of their own devices through the joint venture plants with Fujitsu (FASL). Thus, they seem to design, fabricate, and package most of their own devices. Intel seems to farm out most of theirs. Last year they sold at least a portion of their flash packaging biz to Centennial, CENL. CENL has reported two strong quarters since acquiring the INTC biz, and I'm waiting to see how they did this past quarter. I don't know how SSTI, SNDK, and the others do their stuff. Comparison's of the business models of each of the players would also be interesting. AMD seems to have a strong partner, but the joint venture seems to be a vertically integrated model. INTC seems to be more interested in making chips and letting others do the packaging. SSTI seems to license their designs. Each approach has strengths and weaknesses. I'd like to see them discussed, especially in light of pending earnings reports. jbk |
