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

To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (21196)	11/15/2001 9:30:46 AM
From: orkrious	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 60323

08:49 ET SanDisk Corp (SNDK) 13.15: Merrill Lynch sees significant risk to ests as co derives 50% of revs from flash cards for digital cameras; checks at Comdex indicate overall sales in this sector have been as much as 30% below plans. Believes flash pricing for SNDK should bottom in Q2 FY02, one qtr later than expected; if conditions don't improve within next month, rev and EPS ests may be at risk. Reiterate Neutral/Accumulate rating.

To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (21196)	11/16/2001 6:07:38 AM
From: limtex	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 60323

AB- What is the potential cash drain over this qtr and the next qtr. Looking at the Balance Sheet I saw $420m in cash and short term investments. Best, L

To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (21196)	11/16/2001 9:05:49 AM
From: Ausdauer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 60323

Art, agreed that newer applications outside of digital photography are needed. I have yet to hear how SNDK will market its embedded flash chips that were announced earlier in the year. I am referring to the "Triflash" product line. This has not been mentioned at all at the conference calls. The fact that Nokia is willing to put 64 MB of embedded flash into a cellphone is encouraging. It suggests that the production efficiencies Eli mentioned are encouraging newer product designs. sandisk.com Recall that there were several prior announcements regarding flash interfaces supported by the basic Qualcomm chipsets for smartphones. I believe this included the SD/MMC interface that Triflash is based on (see link). The ML report Jay posted seems accurate. There is substantial pricing pressure. The 64 MB CompactFlash that sold for over $100 last Christmas is now $49.99 at Target (and $39.99 at Amazon.com). SanDisk products are out from behind locked counters and are sold next to standard 35 mm and Polaroid instant film displays. Target is still selling SNDK, LEXR and FUJI branded flash products. SanDisk has price points equal to or below both of these competitors. Also, Target has a much broader array of digital cameras available including the Canon S100 and A20, the Nikon Coolpix 775, several Fuji cameras using Smart Media, the Olympus C3000, and several Sony cameras. Their Kodak selection is down to one of the 3xxx series that sports the docking bay. I was surprised to see this wide array of cameras at Target. Perhaps their market surveys suggest that they need to be more heavily weighted in upper end consumer electronics for the holiday season. I would like to here from Eli that SanDisk is working on exclusive supply relationships with the major retailers like BestBuy, Circuit City, Frye's, CostCo,... and is working with major on-line retailers as well. Perhaps they are pursuing such relationships, but wish to keep negotiations quiet. I think that the growth in digital consumer electronics is a leverage point for SanDisk. They will supply all form factors of flash cards. The will be the low cost producer. They will add to the bottom line of these retailers. SNDK needs to fashion long-term relationships with them to the exclusion of weaker, less vertically integrated flash card assemblers. Aus