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Technology Stocks : WDC/Sandisk Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Craig Freeman who wrote (10713)	4/28/2000 9:50:00 PM
From: Ausdauer	Respond to of 60323

Craig, While SST and SNDK may compete for fab space their product lines are totally different. Also, the SST CompactFlash cards are difficult to find because SST sells the majority of their products to the electronics industry, not the consumer market. They have not developed the retail channel for finished consumer goods as SNDK has. To establish a brand name and a leadership position in the retail channel (as SNDK already has acheived) will cost them a significant sum. I wish I had kept my few SSTI shares a while back. The best part about owning both would be the very fact that they don't directly compete so both can grow without encroaching on the others turf. I still see SNDK as a much better long-term investment. At today's closing prices I would invest in SNDK every time. SNDK has the financial power to invest in their own fab, thus eliminating their dependence on others. SNDK has far stronger royalty streams and the potential for greater growth in this facet of their business. SNDK will be supported by several simultaneous consumer-driven mega-markets. SNDK will not be impacted by competing technologies like FRAM as quickly as SSTI will, if ever. SNDK has sufficient operating revenues and cash reserves to fund a formidable R&D effort while expanding production capacity through major capital investments at the same time. These very features make SNDK the potential Gorilla that I believe they eventually will become. SNDK and SSTI have both done superbly this past 12 to 18 months. I hope that this trend continues and that shareholders in both companies prosper. Ausdauer

To: Craig Freeman who wrote (10713)	4/29/2000 7:51:00 AM
From: Ausdauer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 60323

"I beg to differ. SNDK and SSTI clearly are competitors." With all due respect, Craig, I think you posted the above remark hastily. Your remarks spurred me on to further d.d. I listened to the SSTI c.c. last night while taking a nice warm bath and I had the following remarks... SSTI specializes in low density (512Kbit to 4Mbit) embedded applications for code storage and flash based microcontrollers. SanDisk specializes in high density removable storage used in consumer mega-market applications and the telecommunications industry. SSTI products are hidden inside the housing of various consumer digital products. SanDisk products are tangible, highly visible, highly personalized products designed specifically for the end-user. SSTI's proprietary NOR flash memory cell architecture, a highly scalable and inexpensive cell type, has been leveraged primarily to secure production capacity at the expense of licensing revenues. SanDisk's proprietary innovations have been leveraged to build an ever increasing and substantial licensing and royalty stream. SSTI's success is based on the continued release of new product lines and an increasing dependence on specialty ASIC's. This will undoubtedly lead to significant R&D efforts and investment in production runs as new prototypes are developed. *SanDisk's success is based on the enhancement of industry standard de facto* standards such as CompactFlash, the dominant removable digital film standard, and MMC/SDMC, dominant players in the MP3 market. SSTI remains dependent on others for securing foundry space. SanDisk has a planned JV with Toshiba to become the dominant player in low cost, high density flash storage using patented MLC technology and advanced lithographic techniques. SSTI is a very young company competing against industry giants. It was not profitable in 1999. Net income is not fully taxed as of the current quarter. It is still striking fabless foundry agreements to enhance production. SanDisk is an adolescent company competing against industry giants.** It has been profitable for several years. It is fully-taxed. It is well capitalized with a significant foundry investment and planned expansion to meet the exponentially growing needs of the consumer market. Should I stop now? Ausdauer