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Technology Stocks : Seagate Technology - Fundamentals -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LK2 who wrote (957)	6/29/1999 10:47:00 PM
From: Stitch	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1989

Hi Guys, You aren't completely alone. I check in once in a while to try to catch up. Just buried here in my regular business while trying to launch a new small E biz. Many 18 hour days and much travel lately. Duker wrote: <<But, I think that SEG is firing on all cylinders. I am starting to believe the U-4 is just that type of product -- perfectly positioned, well-designed (i.e., profitable at its price point), and incredibly well-timed. >> I could not agree more. Seagate is doing exactly what it must and doing it very well IMO. This current malaise the DD industry is in is the storm before the calm. That they are well positioned to crank up the gain and make life uncomfortable for the competition is exactly what we all envisioned and liked about this company for some time now. Now that we know for sure that they have the products (U4 at the low end - net surfer level, Barracuda at mid range-serious desktopper level, and Cheetah at the high end - dataphile/server level) we can take confidence in what we all knew before, for a long time now. Seagate has the treasury and the asset portfolio to win this war...and for sure it is one. There is one more product arena to keep an eyeball on guys, the 2.5 inch. Stay tuned as it promises to be a donnybrook. In a thoughtful post on the DD thread Robert recently said: <<I hope Seagate, or whoever is driving this price war, has the courage to hold out for unconditional surrender. It is the only way out of your endless cycle.>> Amen my man. As usual you got it right. By the way, the whole post is well worth reading: <<https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=10312224>> Another comment, this time about frequent poster Lawrence Kam. It seems I missed his last post on the thread for a while as he goes off to pursue an investment career. While I fully understand that Lawrence was never the most diplomatic poster, and while I disagreed with him occasionally, his insight in the world of corporate finance and strategy was invaluable to me here, and I will miss his sometimes acidic but always informative comments. I will just mention here that I wish him mucho success and the best that life can offer. Back to Seagate for a sec. Here is what I know for sure. They are about midway (in my opinion) in a complete overhaul of operating strategy and philosophy. They are honing ever so much more on actual methodology of manufacturing which embraces assembly (moving heavily towards automation), contamination control (huge intitiatives here), materials (some brand new basic materials from their bright mixologists including some clever things with doped aluminum and plastics even), supply line management (no more lip service to partnering- this time they mean it and there is palatable evidence of it which I cannot discuss but is real), and test (honest to goodness closed loop, instant process control in some steps for instance). Their managers are, to the man as near as I can tell, fired up and firing on all cylinders. Gentlemen, I know this reads like an advertisement, but I will share with you that as recently as 14 months ago I advised a client that they did not want to be a Seagate supplier. Today I think that is exactly where you want to be. So Kevin, and all the rest of the great Seagate watchers here, I am here, still waving the SEG flag, and thinking BIG TIME buying opp! By the way, if anyone wants to buy antiques on the internet PM me. <G> If anyone is or knows a very good e commerce marketeer for the small businessman PM me again! Best, Stitch Best, Stitch