It
seems to me that cashflow from operations will be unaffected by this change.
Probably true in a steady state environment where either:
1. No new products are ever introduced; or,
2. $ Value of new products sold, and the customer acceptance period, remains absolutely constant each Q.
Unfortunately, I think SAB 101 has substituted one set of issues for another without any immediate benefit to the investing community. Every time a wave of new products gets introduced, we're going to see volatility in the reported earnings; and deterioration in the the balance sheet. I fear that it may make things much more difficult when assessing a company's prospects.
So when products are shipped for evaluation prior to final acceptance, we may or may not see payments prior to final acceptance. We'll never see revenues prior to F.A.; we may or may not see cash flow; and I don't know what will happen to inventory numbers but I fear they'll go up until F.A.; etc.
With Cu, lowK, < 0.18µ feature sizes, and 300mm tools being evaluated, it's going to be very difficult to understand what's really happening with companies. Thus I, for one, will be happy to have the old as well as the new to help us through the transition.
Ian |
