<<<I think we all understand the merits of the 12MB board today & going forward. No need to get carried away. Remember, this is not the CREAF thread.>>>
Sorry....ha ha...
Hey, I forgot to ask, what do you make of all the volume in DIMD last week?
The heat problem I find interesting because of all the animosity its generated in the 3dfx newsgroups. It'll be interesting to see how it'll play out.
<<<Why is Voodoo 2 much more important to DIMB than CREAF? I don't understand. Explain to me. If anything, I would speculate the reverse to be true. DIMD has established relationships with other graphic chip producers. DIMD has an established reputation in the manufacture of graphic cards. CREAF, on the otherhand, is trying to establish itself as a quality graphic card producer. I would say CREAF, between the two, has a lot more riding on Voodoo 2.>>>
Ahhh, your forcing me to make an argument "in writing" for CREAF, before I'm ready. I usually do this as a part of my decision making process, but here goes. Here are some things that stand out in my mind vis a vis the two companies.
In my previous post I was speaking from the perspective of the companies as a whole. CREAF has a much broader product line.
First, I've been meaning to go over DIMD's financials more closely, but from what I have gleaned the blossoming interest in 3D and DIMD's fortune to be on right side of the chipset game with the Monster 3D in addition to the Viper and Fire cards accounts for DIMD's 100% quarter to quarter revenue gains. Each of these cards came fully into their own this past quarter, with the Monster 3D simply outstanding.
diamondmm.com
While Voodoo sales specifically, and 3D card sales broadly speaking, have played NO PART in CREAF's recent record earnings.
In reference to Voodoo sales and the profitability of each company, one could conclude from the above that CREAF has little to lose and everything to gain, with DIMD having more to lose. A good deal more taking into consideration DIMD's 1997 overall performance and significance of Voodoo to their Q4 earnings.
Some other thoughts,
Unless I'm mistaken (someone please correct me if I'm in error), DIMD owns no technology, and is basically an implementer and marketer of technology others have developed.
CREAF is an owner and developer of technology, the obvious is their cash cow soundblaster audio cards. They own it, define the standard and receive very nice margins on it. I suspect good growth in the changeover from ISA to PCI. More interestingly, they've leveraged and are in the process of extending this dominant position with the acquistions of E-mu and Cambridge Soundworks and the resultant products.
In case your not familiar,
PCI audio
creaf.com
creaf.com
Audio for the 21st Century
creaf.com
Desktop Theatre 5.1
creaf.com
This is an impressive product, and the price points are fantastic!
CREAF seems to be, by design it appears, uniquely positioned for the coming 3D audio boom and directly threatening DIMD's burgeoning Monster Sound card.
From what I understand CREAF also has the first "2nd generation" DVD product, Encore, and a few other products as well. Despite the sale of a few hundred thousand DVD players, I view prospects on the DVD front to be dubious, as there is yet to be a DVD standard and the outlook for one soon is anybody's bet. Besides CREAF doesn't own the technology.
But its the ownership of technology that stands out. There are fat margins in owning and even fatter in standard setting.
What does DIMD own? This nags at me.
Almost forgot, CREAF's boards are going for $299 and $229 (undercutting DIMD) respectively, I don't recall accurately re the rebate.
<<<If I'm a gamer, maybe I want to buy an 8MB card now, & when I can truly realize the benefit of 12MB, go out & buy another 8MB, probably for less than $199, maybe $149. So if I wait, let's say, 6 months I pay $50 more & get 4MB more than had I purchased a 12MB card. Just another way of looking at the issue here.>>>
Re the above, I'm either confused, tired or both. Personally, if I truly was a must have guy, I'd pay whatever for the card with the most potential sell my present voodoo 1 for $100 or better and then 6 months from now (Christmas) I'd buy another card for use in SLI mode (dual) along with the new game that takes advantage of it all. Hopefully, the second card will be cheaper than the first, but unless there's a price war its not likely. Do you believe that the retail stores are still selling Voodoo 1s at full pre "V2" prices and the "Intense 3D" sales appear still to be strong.
Voodoo Exchange
bushido-dojo.com
I hope I haven't gotten carried away. |
