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Technology Stocks : Western Digital (WDC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kevin Linder who wrote (10423)	7/29/1999 9:01:00 PM
From: Sam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 11057

Fiberman, Kevin, "Shugart didn't really do that bad of a job with SEG." Let's get some perspective here. Back in the late 70s, and early to mid 80s, hard drives were one of the sexiest, hottest items in technology. A couple of hundred companies were formed to make and assemble drives, as well as supply components. Of those couple of hundred companies that were founded as independent drive vendors (let's leave component companies out of it for now) in that time, how many survived into the late 90s more or less intact, without being bought out by another company (like WDC did with Tandon or Hyundai did with Maxtor), but as independents all the time, with some BoD and management continuity? Answer: 2. Quantum and Seagate. Seagate was the only one with the same CEO the whole time, until last summer (though QNTM's transitions were orderly). In case you haven't figured it out yet, this is a brutal business. Just to have survived over these long years was a feat that only a very few could have managed. To have grown and stayed profitable for most of that time was a pretty amazing feat, IMO. Give the guy some credit. His job was a lot harder than buying a few shares of stock and "rooting" for it to go up or whining when bad things happen. A lot harder.