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

To: Andre Williamson who wrote (20268)	5/10/2001 9:17:01 PM
From: Ausdauer	Respond to of 60323

Andre, Lexar Media's controllers I listened to the Lexar Media c.c. and I think they are for real. Message 15753999 They are aggressively pursuing 3 or 4 CF assemblers as I posted earlier. These are patent infringement cases announced during the last few months. They have a growing list of controller licensees and outlined licensing revenue growth for 2001 that is rather ambitious. I still think that their primary strength is non-CF related NAND controllers that are somehow necessary to enhance the performance of SmartMedia rather than integrated solutions (flash & controller combo) for removable cards. Reimer also indicated that the company will be selling controllers to some OEM's and asking them to assemble the cards themselves rather than risking the Lexar business model by purchasing flash at spot rates and watching the inventory depreciate. These planned OEM sales seem to be CF controllers. Is expertise in controller technology enough? Eli feels that not being vertically integrated will be a pothole in the road to success and that will probably be true once demand picks up again. For the time being, however, selling controllers and buying flash on consignment will probably work for Lexar, as long as the product line they produce remains popular. SDMC is no slouch. Message 15756129 I still believe that the acceptance of SDMC as a flash card standard will be crucial in SanDisk's long term success. Does Lexar have the IP to support controllers for higher orders of multi-level cell NAND flash? Do they have controllers that allow for necessary encryption technology? What about controllers with embedded flash memory instruction sets such as SSTI and Tower are planning? Does Lexar have the goods to cover all of this innovation??? I doubt it. Thus, today's controller technology may not be relevant within a few year's time. Aus