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

To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (18985)	2/8/2001 1:34:11 PM
From: Ausdauer	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 60323

"As to whether other competitors of SanDisk are paying royalties, I have expressed some concerns for well over a year that all the cross licensing agreements between SanDisk and other companies like Intel, Toshiba, Hitachi, etc. may have turned the removable flash memory business into what is hardly more than a commodity business, where the lowest cost producer eventually wins over the others." Agreed. Cross-licensing is a double-edged sword. Art, so do you think '987 is unenforceable? I mean, okay, Lexar has paid, but will others pay? Why doesn't management spell this out for us, at least in general terms? I feel like I have been mislead by the statements made during prior c.c.'s that suggested the there were people actually interested in getting a '987 license, yet none have been announced other the TDK agreement. It is clear that MMC appears to be following the same damn path as CompactFlash. Everyone and their brother is going to have a card on retail shelves and nobody is willing to recognize the portion of the technology that SanDisk developed. That goes counter to my prior understanding of the SanDisk business plan and goes counter to the suggestions Eli has made and what Cindy Burgdorf personally told me in Spring of 1998. I hate living in limbo. Now we have to wait another 3 months in the hope of some brief mention in the c.c.??? That sucks. Ausdauer

To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (18985)	2/8/2001 5:37:11 PM
From: Rocky Reid	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 60323

SNDK looks terrible on a chart reading standpoint, and I'm afraid the business end is getting downright ugly as well. The removable flash business is turning into a pure commodity venture with all of the cross-licensing agreements, not to mention that bankruptcies during this weak consumer market are a very real possiblity (i.e. Lexar, Viking, Simple, and other flash players could dump their inventory on the market in the case of bankrupcty)... ..not to mention the questionable license fees from MMC and SD... these fees may not have merit, be enforceable, or could evaporate -again- should bankruptcies happen. The economy in general is getting ugly and I see and uglier future in the near-mid term..digital camera sales have slowed, mp3 player sales have hit a wall...cell phone sales have slowed...this does not bode well for companies and stocks like SNDK that trade on a compelling story but are realizing disappointing revenues and margins at the same time. I got out of SNDK a couple of months ago butI still follow the story.. but the story is getting uglier and uglier IMO. (However, great for the consumer! flash prices have really come down in the last few months) I see SNDK in the teens in a few weeks. *One bright point for Sandisk is if their joint venture w/ Toshiba comes online nest year, and Tiawan gets hit with another earthquake. Sandisk could benefit from that. Thankfully, the chances are remote for this in the next few years, and not worth investing on.