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

To: Sam Citron who wrote (27079)	12/3/2004 10:19:10 AM
From: pompsander	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 60323

Webcast on Sandisk presenttion coming up. biz.yahoo.com

To: Sam Citron who wrote (27079)	12/3/2004 5:14:25 PM
From: Art Bechhoefer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 60323

SanDisk is more vertically integrated than Samsung. Sam, even though Samsung is very diverse in its product lines, its flash memory business is limited mainly to manufacture of wafers and flash cards, which then are supplied to end product manufacturers or distributors mainly under private label. Put another way, unlike SanDisk, Samsung does not have a flash card brand but sells under various other names (including SanDisk). Therefore, Samsung does not get the extra profits that often accrue at the retail level. I've often wondered why Samsung doesn't establish its flash card business at the retail level, since the Samsung brand name is quite well respected in TV, cell phones, etc. Maybe it's due to agreements already in place with companies such as Lexar. It could also be due to the fact that Samsung apparently is concentrating on maintaining its position as the world's largest supplier of NAND flash memory and is not ready to devote the extra energy and cost to establishing a retail foothold. Art

To: Sam Citron who wrote (27079)	12/6/2004 1:16:09 PM
From: Ausdauer	Respond to of 60323

One question: You suggest that SanDisk is more vertically integrated than Samsung. How can this be true when you consider that Samsung makes everything from flash to phones to automobiles (not Samsung Electronics, but sister company)? I would agree, Sam, that Samsung has an equivalent level of vertical integration if they manufacture their own controllers, which I believe they do. Samsung does not have open access to SD-based products such as SD, mini-SD and transflash as this is a proprietary standard. However, Samsung has a huge consumer electronics division and can easily fill gaps in demand by embedding or bundling flash with, say, their own cellphone line. SanDisk does not have this level of vertical integration. Aus