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Technology Stocks : VALENCE TECHNOLOGY (VLNC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bigcue2000 who wrote (22388)	11/17/2000 12:15:06 PM
From: ikonoklast53	Respond to of 27311

Hi Bigcue, Just musing, but I can just imagine seeing Lev going to these Asian and European Battery mfgs with licensing proposals and telling Valence's story and saying, Look, I have all these battery orders on the table for new laptop design-ins but I need a second source. Can you help us <G>? Sign here <VBG>.

To: bigcue2000 who wrote (22388)	11/17/2000 12:24:42 PM
From: Dennis V.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27311

Bigcue, that's a murky area. It looks like the joint venture is to be converted to a licensee. One upside is that Hanil, in particular, could bid on contracts outside Korea. Whether this "second source" will have laptop battery capability anytime soon is questionable. Hanil was being prepared for cellphone batteries. The financial arrangements would include upfront fees and royalties which is favorable, IMO. I think the latest Bellcore patent has been known to licensees for some time and could account for Lev's projections of millions of batteries at very low cost. Unfortunately, there has been a hitch resulting in delayed delivery of the German assembly machine which may be based on the new technology. However, existing equipment should be capable of servicing a laptop order. It would probably even be profitable, or at least produce better gross margins than we've seen so far.

To: bigcue2000 who wrote (22388)	11/17/2000 1:04:38 PM
From: mooter775	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27311

Bigcue, For some weeks now, I've felt that the laptop orders have been more a function of delivery and installation of the high speed packaging equipment and, to a lesser extent, design-in cycles. Apparently now (1) Globalstar and other Qualcomm HDR production has been switched to one of the Arcotronics assembly machines; (2) a second Arcotronics assembly machine is currently producing batteries for (a) the telematics order, (b) Alcatel, and (c) Kyocera (per a question on the conference call); (3) the FABL machine is producing orders for Alliant; and (4) the Klockner/David machine is 'available'. I don't know where the Quantum batteries are being produced - perhaps the FABL???? I am still uncertain where the 2nd high-speed packaging line is now - I've heard "delivered and being installed" and I've heard "soon to be delivered"... It is this line that would seem necessary to have installed prior to a large laptop order. But I don't know what size order the Klockner/David machine could undertake - perhaps several hundred thousand cells per annum? I have heard that the VLNC cells are being demonstrated upstairs at COMDEX, tho I'm not sure with whom and how extensive....