Here are some posts on MPEG from AOL, both positive and negative.
You can also find some info at stockup.com
Subj: E-mail
Date: 96-10-04 18:53:22 EDT
From: ARD MIAMI
Just received an E-mail from Mary Giani over at CUBE. This was forwarded to
me from MF Atlas who writes for the fool in the desktop video industry
boards. She states that CUBE has been developing a single chip also for over
a year, and that they will introduce it in 1997 calendar year. This is great
news for MPEG because it validates what they already have developed and more
importantly the software to go with it. MPEG will have samples out to
potential customers in DECEMBER of THIS YEAR. Also, for those bears who
believe that MPEG is trying to blow away cube, please give it a rest. MPEG
can co-exist as market will be big enough for everybody.
thanks, MIAMI
Subj: MPEG for real
Date: 96-10-04 19:04:54 EDT
From: ARD MIAMI
I think you should take MPEG very seriously as there one chip design will
catch on quickly. Cube will also announce a single chip product in calendar
year 97. This can be verified by calling cube. Also, I dont think NEXUS (
formerely dealt IBM eclusively ) would sign on as reps if sales were not
imminent in the near future. MPEG has the first single chip design and other
companies will soon follow. The pie is huge for more than one company to
prosper. Also, the company will have samples available in DECEMBER of this
YEAR for potential customers. So the company was correct when they stated
that they were ahead of the competition .They are the first!
thanks,Miami
Subj: Re:price action
Date: 96-10-05 08:57:05 EDT
From: Maxamiga
Agree with you, Ard.
As I watch the price action between 2-4pm EST, the asked price consistently
at $7 while the bid fluctuate betweem $5.5 and $8! To me, it means that
there is a large stock holder who is taking profit at that time.
I hope this event "publicizes" MPEG some what and more will pay attention.
That's to MPEG's advantage.
Again, MPEG has all of the earmarks for a new technical start-up. However,
do keep in mind that some did not make it. But I believe MPEG will. I am
impressed with Koz's ability to get IBM to say yes to mfg the part, to get
distributor and sales force represent the product for US + Europe, to run his
team the "project management" style in which the team makes decisions and
owns the project, to hire a public relation firm to take care of PR. Even
though Koz isn't an elequent speaker, he seems smart enough to put together
necessary pieces of the puzzle to build a company.
The Key now is EXECUTION of the business plan, and that's what I am looking
for and watching...
In many ways, I am pleased that Koz is not an eloquent speaker. I believe
him more because I know he lacks the ability to "bluff" and bs people. I've
seen leaders like that, leading people into false hood.
Max
Stay long but stay realistic.
Subj: More MPEG Info
Date: 96-10-05 15:22:29 EDT
From: LPWright
Here's an interesting post from the investors network folder:
=========================================
Subj: More info
Date: 96-10-03 12:09:52 EDT
From: Timot74231
Here's what a friend of mine who worked in the industry had to say (The only
disclaimer is that both of us invested in the company) :
Well, I know a bit about Innovacom, for what it's worth:
Basically, Innovacom has just announced the world's first single-chip
realtime MPEG-2 encoder. Checkout quote.yahoo.com and lookup MPEG
to see the press releases.
Innovacom is a very new company, and went public about two and a half
months ago. It was formed by the founder and CEO of FutureTel (another
MPEG company). Apparently FutureTel is transforming itself into a
software company, and divested itself of it's hardware research and
development divison, which became Innovacom.
Other companies make MPEG-2 encoder chips, of course. But realtime
MPEG-2 encoding is extremely difficult and requires *extremely* fast
hardware. Most realtime MPEG-2 encoders nowadays sell for $20-60K a
piece. C-Cube Microsystems (which won an Emmy for it's MPEG work)
markets similar chipsets that use about a dozen chips, where Innovacom
only needs one. IBM Microelectronics and LSI Logic have recently
announced 3-chip encoder chipsets.
Reducing the chip-count is beneficial for a couple of reasons. First,
it reduces the die size of the chipset, making it cheaper to manufacture.
(You get more chips per wafer, which means less ruined chips per wafer,
which means cheaper chips). Secondly, a single-chip encoder is simpler
to design end-user products around, making products that use the chip
cheaper as well.
Here are the technical specs on the chip: full D-1 adaptive field/frame,
on board multiplexer, and onboard ATM AAL5. ATM is the networking technology
of the future, but is extremely complex. Having ATM on the chip makes
possible designing video products that hookup directly into an ATM network
(which MCI and the telcos are rapidly investing in). I wouldn't be surprised
if a telco bought Innovacom tomorrow - they would have a commanding lead
in things like distance learning/video conferencing/video on demand
applications.
MPEG-2 is also used in direct broadcast satellite (i.e. DSS) systems. It's
what they mean when they say "digital video" to the home. Using MPEG
reduces the bandwidth necessary per channel, which means that they can beam
more channels to you. It's also been made the national HDTV standard.
DVD players (which are supposed to be announced this Christmas) also use
MPEG, which imples a demand for MPEG encoders - especially if home DVD
recorders (i.e. digital VCRs) come on the market, which could use Innovacom's
chip.
I think the chip is sampling right now, and should be shipping the first
quarter of 97.
All in all, it looks to be a very promising company.
Kaya Bekiroglu
Subj: Re:News on Company....
Date: 96-10-05 18:45:50 EDT
From: IGalan1067
Hey ARD MIAMI on 9-30 -96 i TOLD YOU GUYS TO WATCH OUT FOR THE HUGE DROP!
this co is going to have a lot of trouble now because they no nothing about
business. They might have the first kind of chip but making a profit is
another thing. I was in business for 50 years ( very successfully) and it is
almost impossible for an engineer to run the day to day operations of the
business. Moreover he will get eaten alive in price by IBM or the dist. If
they don,t get a tough businessman to run this part of the business they will
fail! I bought at 4 and got out at 9. Their rep. called me 4 times to buy
the stock at 4 and I knew it was going to drop as soon as the volume did ,so
I sold. TOO MUCH HYPE. Maybe IBM will buy the out! Soundes like you no
nothing about making money the hard way in business. This co. won,t make a
dime for the next year or more . Let them fall to 1 or 2 then buy!
Subj: Re:More MPEG Info
Date: 96-10-06 17:08:42 EDT
From: Maxamiga
LP,
Thanks for the additional info. Very good!
This input makes sense. One of the things I've read about MPEG-2 multichip
solution is that many of these chips are MUX (multiplexer, or essentially
video signal switches). The notion that the InnovaCom chip pulls these MUXs
on-board is realistic. We do that all of the time in the chip business. It
brings significant economic value to the customer, and as a result, whoever
offers the lowest chip count solution, if everything else held constant, will
likely to win contract to supply. It works with automotive customers,
communication customers, disk drive customer. I expect it to work with every
OEMs.
One thing you mention which I've also been thinking about: buyout
possibility. This, is very real! Why wouldn't IBM pay cash for MPEG???
MPEG has the technical competency and the experts which IBM needs, and it
needs business competency from companies like IBM. It looks like a pretty
good fit to me. If this happens, we all know what will happen to the value
of our holdings.
stay in and stay long (< 1 year).
Nhiem
Subj: What orders?
Date: 96-10-04 13:44:03 EDT
From: Maxamiga
Pga, I saw the $40M order on WWW. STOCKUP.COM as follows:
< InnovaCom Corp.'s(MPEG) DVImpact Chip is priced ten times less than
competitors and it first order is for $40 million dollars. An
endorsement for the
chip has come from Jim Fancher, who did post production on Jurassic
Park.
What the Pentium Chip did for the PC Industry, the DVImpact Chip will
do for
the DVD Industry. With a capitalization of less than 50% of its first
order, MPEG
is an extremely undervalued high tech company. At its current price,
you got to be
crazy not to buy this stock !>
Investor relations told me that initially the number was $32.5M order, then
$40M. But neither number is accurate according to him. There is NO order
placed as yet, but one order is pending. There are two "minor" items waiting
to be agreed upon. I asked him the size of the order, he could not
comment... for good reason since I could be a competitor!
In two weeks, MPEG will have its first audited financial statement. In a few
weeks, we should also see news about this pending order.
Cause for concern: Risk, as perceived by the customer if they were to count
on MPEG. Will the supply stream be steady enough??
MPEG is essentially a "design house" who has no IC mfg competency, much
similar to Cyrix. A few years ago, Cyrix asked Texas Instr. to make the 486
chip for them. The relationship was fine for a couple of years, then came
law suits accusing each others of trade secret violations. TI had a lot to
gain and with their "army" of lawyers, they won. Cyrix could not afford such
legal maneuvering. As a result, I watch MPEG closely here. Partnership
with a smaller but proven IC foundry has its advantages & disadvantages.
MPEG choses IBM to make the chip. That's the lending of IBM brand name, a
correct step for now but does have its disadvantages. IBM does this because
they have something to gain: complementing their computer product line,
etc... but what else?
I did the patent search. Found a few Koz patents (3) regarding MPEG-2.
Others were IBM, Sony, AT&T (now Lucent), HP, Matsushita, RCA, SGS Thomson,
etc...
Apparently, SGS Thomspon is the #1 supplier of MPEG-2 chips with 71% of the
1995 market, followed by TXN at 10%. I am getting more recent market data...
These companies are MPEG's leading competitors.
VLSI is also in it, too. VLSI and NEC have MPEG-2 chips priced at $30. I
don't have the technical data to make a judgement on chip capability. Let me
know if you have/can get them.
However, my initial impression is that these $30 chips requires many
pheripheral chips (memory -DRAM and Buffer circuits) to operate. I'd like to
know what the "total solution" would cost. On the other hand, MPEG offers
1-chip "solution" with software!
Later,
Max
Subj: Relax!
Date: 96-10-06 19:48:06 EDT
From: MahinS
Hello All,
As the folder will indicate, I have been with MPEG since the beginning. (I
started buying at $1.50).
I am still holding on to this baby. As I have mentioned previously, I have
met with Mark Koz - the CEO - on numerous occassions. I have really checked
this company out quite thoroughly - IT IS FOR REAL!
They do not have only one product. They are working on several items, and are
planning on diversifying their product lines.
The recent price drop is simply the result of some profit taking on the
stock. What else do you expect when IT HAD NEVER PREVIOUSLY CLOSED LOWER THAN
THE DAY BEFORE?!
Onward MPEG, onward!
mahins |
