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

To: Jason Rooks who wrote (20391)	6/4/2001 6:01:10 PM
From: Art Bechhoefer	Respond to of 60323

Jason, here are a couple of suggestions. Regarding the MemoryStick, I'm sure SNDK would not accuse anyone in public of violating a patent. One way to get at this issue is to ask if the MemoryStick design uses SNDK proprietary technology. If so, have any arrangements been made for licensing, royalties, etc? Does SNDK receive, or expect to receive royalties, directly or indirectly (e.g., through Lexar) from sales of the MemoryStick? Regarding other parts of the business, it would be useful to know whether any of the kiosks for printing image files from CF cards are currently operating. How many, and where? This is the joint venture with PMI. Initially SNDK had expected to have a few kiosks in operation early this year, but a software problem made it difficult for novices to use them. A second, and possibly more important issue concerns progress on the "P-Tag" or cards being designed to store personal medical information. This would be an application where demand would be more stable and less subject to consumer whims. Are the cards being tested or actually being used by any health service providers? If not, when might we expect some action on this product? The FD regulations of the SEC guards against providing information privately to analysts, without first notifying the public or the shareholders. If anything, SNDK management should be more forthcoming at a shareholders meeting, because that is, in effect, a public meeting. However, I doubt that they will want to make any specific earnings predictions for the second quarter. They might be willing to give a status report on excess inventory problems, and whether they still have excess inventory, and what they are doing about it. In general, do they see any pickup in sales of either CF or MMC/SDMC cards, or are sales still weaker than expected? Note that they may be willing to report on sales, rather than on earnings, which won't be released for another 6 weeks or so. Finally, they recently announced a patent infringement suit against Viking, which asked for a temporary injunction to prevent Viking from selling any products which might infringe. Was SNDK successful in getting the court to authorize the injunction? Has the court acted on that motion, pro or con? I'm sure all of us will appreciate whatever impressions you get, whether general or specific. You might also consider non-verbal communications. For example, when asked a possibly embarassing question, does the speaker hesitate, look like he's trying to cover up something, or does he remain calm, as if everything's under control? Art Bechhoefer

To: Jason Rooks who wrote (20391)	6/5/2001 8:13:08 AM
From: Ausdauer	Respond to of 60323

Jason, Shareholders' Meeting I hope that the format of the meeting isn't a pep rally that will be followed by another earnings warning! I am interested to learn your impression of the tone of the meeting as much as the content that is presented. I would appreciate it if you could ask the person sitting next to you at the meeting to inquire about SmartMedia as it relates to current revenues... Is SmartMedia a profit center for SanDisk? Last year I inquired about the SanDisk-Toshiba JV and whether the shared production of the FlashVision NAND would allow SanDisk to sell SmartMedia at a profit, rather than as a sell-through, private labelled product that benefitted only Toshiba. Eli indicated that the cooperation would benefit SanDisk in this regard, but did not mention any details. Also, if you would ask the person to the other side of you to ask about '987 licenses and why Lexar Media seems to have "beaten us to the punch" in this regard. Where do we stand with '987 licenses currently and will this technology be leveraged against competitors manufacturing MMC or other SanDisk form factors? Is it too expensive to go after smaller assemblers one-by-one? Does Lexar Media have a more comprehensive IP in this area? Please give my best to everyone at the home office. Aus