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To: Ally who wrote (529)	3/20/2001 2:00:08 PM
From: ColtonGang	Respond to of 589

SNDK news........THE SD CARD GAINS MOMENTUM AS MORE THAN 50 PRODUCTS WITH SD SLOTS ARE INTRODUCED AND MEMBERSHIP IN THE SD ASSOCIATION CLIMBS TO 225 COMPANIES New Specifications Are Finalized And An E-Commerce Work Group Is Formed BURLINGAME, CA Mar. 20, 2001 – The Secure Digital card is rapidly emerging as an industry standard as more than 50 mobile electronics products designed to use the card have been introduced and more than 225 companies have now joined the SD Association (SDA). Those reports highlighted the SDA’s first meeting of 2001, a session that attracted more than 150 people. The SDA is an open industry standards organization established in January 2000. Its mission is to set industry standards for the SD Card and promote its wide acceptance in a variety of applications. “I am extremely bullish on the outlook for the SD Association and the card standard for this year.” stated SDA president Ray Creech. “Our membership continues to grow rapidly and new products are being announced on a monthly basis. To-date, there are over 50 products that have been announced or are in the market. We believe that the unique benefits of size, security and interoperability that SD brings to the market are helping to lead this groundswell of interest.” The SDA’s technical committee has now submitted three new application specifications; Video (MPEG-4, Motion JPEG), PIM (Personal Information Management) and Image (Bit Mapped Images), for final review and approval by the general membership. These applications are expected to be approved by the end of April 2001. (A complete list of all specifications available from the SDA is attached) The SDA Application Specifications are critical guideline documents that describe a recommended method for storing data onto SD memory cards. Adherence to these specifications provides a means of ensuring interoperability across a wide range of devices. Beyond memory applications, the SDA has now completed a final I/O specification. “The specification will enable the SD Card slot to become a multi-purpose expansion port for a variety of new capabilities such as Bluetooth, GPS, Imaging and Communication.” stated Bill Stanley, Principal Engineer for Palm Inc. and Co-Chairman of the I/O working group. “This will extend the capabilities of any SD enabled device.” The I/O technical working group has submitted the specification to the General Membership for final approval that is expected to be complete by May 2001. The SDA also formed a new eCommerce working group during the meeting, which is chartered to develop a specification that would enable SD host devices to perform secure financial transactions. An eCommerce enabled SD card will have the capability to register, authenticate and exchange information with a secure network server – particularly useful in emerging wireless applications. The SD Card is being built into a wide range of new digital products such as cellular phones, audio players, automotive multimedia systems, handheld PC’s and video and digital still cameras. The association’s web site can be referenced at www.sdcard.org for more information about SDA membership, applications usage, member companies and upcoming meetings.

To: Ally who wrote (529)	3/20/2001 2:07:28 PM
From: ColtonGang	Respond to of 589

Philips sees chips, phone losses in Q1 Weakness in U.S. 'continued further in recent weeks' By Raymond Frenken & Bernard Hickey, FTMarketWatch 5:31:00 PM GMT Mar 20, 2001 AMSTERDAM (FTMW) - Europe's biggest electronics firm Philips [US:PHG] [NL:PHI] warned on Tuesday that profits from its semiconductor division would fall 10 percent in the first quarter and that its consumer electronics unit would post a loss. The consumer electronics division includes Philips' mobile telephone unit, which reported a loss in the fourth quarter. Philips also said it expects a loss for its electronic components business. Philips had been facing market talk on a possible profit warning for more than a week, as it had provided guidance to several analysts while other chips and telecoms companies were issuing warnings of their own. The company on Tuesday also said it had imposed cost-cutting measures and cut back capital spending in response. It did not say what the cumulative effect of these changes would be on the group's overall profit result for the first quarter and beyond. Read commentary. 'Very strong warning' "If you translate all this into the profit and loss statement, you're looking at a decline of 35 to 50 percent in income from operations in the first quarter," said Lukas Daalder, analyst at Dutch brokerage Amstgeld. "This is a very strong warning." In the first quarter last year, Philips earned €1.14 billion in income from continuing operations. Philips shares fell on Tuesday after they had gained 4 percent in U.S. trading on Monday. At the Amsterdam close, Philips had lost 1.8 percent to €31.95. In New York, it fell 5.2 percent to $28.81, after having set a new 52-week low here of $28.01. Part of the weakness in chips and mobile phones will be countered by improvements elsewhere, Philips said. It said that the operational performance at its lighting, domestic appliances and medical systems divisions will be "equal or better" than last year. Analysts already guided In the past two months, Philips has fallen from a high of about €43. In recent weeks it provided guidance to analysts that led them to lower earnings estimates for 2001. But in talks with media, Philips repeatedly referred to its February 8 forecast, in which it said the current slowdown was only "temporary". See last Friday's story. Analyst Marco Schram at Delta Lloyd Bank in Amsterdam said though that the guidance that Philips' provided on Tuesday is "clearly below" what he had expected. Schram cut his 2001 estimates for Philips to €1.57 per share from €2.40. Most analysts had already lowered estimates to below €2. Philips' Consumer Electronics division is "negatively impacted by tough market conditions for mobile handsets and economic deceleration in the U.S.," Schram said. Daalder said that further weakness in Philips shares must be expected. "The reaction so far is reasonably benign," he said. Joining the crowd Philips' warning is the latest in a series from European and American tech leaders. It follows a slump in its share price last week to a 52-week low as markets braced themselves for Philips to join the crowd predicting a slowdown in the global electronics market. See previous FTMarketWatch story. "The weakness in the U.S. economy and the slowdown in telecommunication and PC markets that was already mentioned on February 8 has continued further in recent weeks," Philips said in a statement before the market opened. See Feb. 8 Philips story. Philips said semiconductor sales would rise 7 percent in the first quarter, but that first-quarter income would fall about 10 percent. Screen venture Philips said its results from unconsolidated companies were being impacted by the slowdown in markets and the low level of LCD prices. The display screen venture that Philips agreed last year with Korea's LG Electronics [UK:LELD], the world's biggest producer of television screens and computer monitors, is one of these unconsolidated companies. On Friday, fellow Dutch technology group ASM Lithography [US:ASML], which produces machines that make chips and is a former Philips unit, also issued a warning. See story on ASML warning. Last Tuesday Germany's largest electronics and engineering company Siemens [DE:723610] [US:SI] said that a slowdown at its chip making operation Infineon [DE:623100] would hurt profits. See story on Siemens warning. France's electronics and industrial group Alcatel, which competes with Philips and Sweden's Ericsson [SE:000010865] in the market for mobile telephones, [FR:013000] also recently issued a warning. Ericsson said last week it had misjudged growth in the mobile phone market and and as a consequence was reported to be reviewing all areas of the business for cost savings. See story. Raymond