Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Rambus (RMBS) - Eagle or Penguin -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bilow who wrote (41406)	5/5/2000 3:10:00 PM
From: Dave B	Respond to of 93625

Carl, On the other hand, 9 months have gone by and the technology is still amazingly expensive. Only 4 months have gone by. Production was suspended when the Camino delay was announced at the end of September and did not seriously restart until January. In those four months it appears that the price of RDRAM has probably halved, if not done better. And, yes, it is still too expensive, but the trend is reasonable. Dave

To: Bilow who wrote (41406)	5/5/2000 6:27:00 PM
From: blake_paterson	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 93625

OK, Carl. I'll take a shot, even though I've sworn off public crusading (for any stock) several times already. If indeed you are a memory systems design engineer, then I will (in advance) say 3 mea culpas, for my hardware development background is limited to bulk separation devices operated with real time process control. NOT computers, IT devices or memory. Nonetheless, here goes... 1. <<...my take on Gelsinger. He was demoted...>> You've tried real hard to convince us all that this is the case. The press releases suggest the contrary: zdnet.com With the reorganization, Gelsinger assumes the title of chief technology officer and will oversee product implementations across all business groups..........Gelsinger described his new role as fundamentally similar to his previous position overseeing the desktop products division......he said. "I now will be as equally worried about server technologies and future directions as I am about mobiles." Gelsinger said he also brings his own special skills to the job. "The other thing I bring is my unique focus on solutions," he said. Nobody at Intel before said how all of the pieces fit together........Now I have that job to look over that whole set." How you jumped from CTO with the responsibilities alluded to above, to demotion (the proverbial Japanese corner window) is beyond me. 2. <<One of the basic tasks of a design engineer is to ensure that he does not use parts that will be excessively expensive..>> Carl, we don't need to recite all of the RIMM, chip, etc. price info, posted near-weekly, which others have kindly researched for us, do we? On the other hand, if we don't want to believe those numbers (which we DO believe) we could solve the dilemma by just calling up Dell and placing an order for one of their desktop solutions w/ RDRAM inside. That is the ultimate price test, isn't it? And I mean one of the personal / small bznz desktop solutions, not higher end. 3. <<...the worst thing that can happen to a memory design is that it gets wedded to a memory type that becomes obsolete or no longer supported during the production of the design. That can make memory costs sky rocket...>> Not supported? INTC and all of the licensees do not count as support? I could even extend you a courtesy and limit my comment to just the licensees in production or assembly. You know, Toshiba, Kingston, etc. etc. Even NEC! 4. <<...If you were the memory industry, and you wanted to kill RDRAM, what would you do? The simplest thing is to make sure that the prices stayed as high as possible, while at the same time assuring your customers (which are design engineers, not moms and pops), that DDR is the memory of the future. This is precisely what they have done...>> a. You and I both know that in this industry (as opposed to others) producers do not control pricing. Only demand : supply imbalances can accomplish that. Again, we have all heard the numbers. If NEC is backing away from production because they have overproduced (you know the allegation: they "vastly overestimated demand")then how could the prices be so gawd-awful high as you claim? My personal yardstick is that in the next 12 months RMBS will likely earn at least US$1.00 from PS2 alone (70MM units). Ahhh, volume. b. I would guess that, for memory designers, their problem with RMBS is that they are NO LONGER in the drivers seat, given that RMBS is providing a complete design solution as part of the license / fees. Hmmm. They no longer have such pre-eminence within the Engineering Dept. Those services are now provided by the BUS. I can now see why, as you have alleged, so many design guys might be fighting this trend. Is it really latency, bandwidth, cost and technological superiority that is driving this supposed rebellion you say is occurring? Or is it a protect your jobs movement? Or a save AMD's valuation at any price effort? All in good will. I am not a memory engineer. You say you are. If so, no disrespect intended. BP