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Technology Stocks : Disk Drive Sector Discussion Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mark Oliver who wrote (7597)	12/23/1999 1:49:00 PM
From: Z Analyzer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9256

<<I saw a video camera from Sharp that would record over 2 hours on a 64 meg cf card the size of a postage stamp. The camera was hardly bigger than a pack of cigarettes. >> Mark, Did I misunderstand something? Surely, you aren't saying they can record 2 hours of video on 64 MB?

To: Mark Oliver who wrote (7597)	12/23/1999 2:31:00 PM
From: Sarmad Y. Hermiz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9256

Mark, Of course you are correct that new applications are sprouting for flash all the time. The growth in disk storage is the same old stuff, just more of it. I wonder if you can clear one point. Regarding disk storage in routers. Is that just for holding routing addresses (that do not change very often) ? As far as I know writing speed on flash is still in the many milli-sec range. So flash is not suitable for frequent writing. However one reason I am not totally despairing on disk drives is that the technology (heads, actuators, channels, media, etc...) is getting more sophisticated all the time. This will have 2 effects 1- hasten the departure of less up-to-date vendors. 2- make entry difficult for new players. Both these items will restrict supply, while demand keeps going up. I read somewhere that 30 disk drive vendors have left the business in the last couple of years. I don't know this as fact but my guess is that the technology left them behind. The assumption I am making is that the disk drive demand is getting close to the supply. The question is when will they balance? I wish I knew. The only thing I can say is that retail disk prices are holding steady. Is that good enough to restore profits ? Today, the stock market's answer is no.