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Technology Stocks : Creative Labs (CREAF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rutgers who wrote (7929)	1/8/1998 10:56:00 PM
From: Rutgers	Respond to of 13925

Got to love Reason #8 8. Creative Technology Gets its House in Order After a dismal 1996 in which Creative Technology Ltd. [CREAF] had to take a loss on excessive CD-ROM drive inventory, demand for the AWE 64 sound card and operational improvements helped the company return to the Sound Blaster glory days when margins were high. Creative also set the stage for entry into the home theater market with an acquisition of Cambridge SoundWorks Inc. for about $29 million in December. The company broadened its OEM presence later that month by spending $77 million to acquire Ensoniq Corp., a low-cost supplier of PCI audio that doesn't require DSPs. The company's stock has yet to show sustained upward movement. Creative offered the most aggressively priced DVD-ROM upgrade kits on the market and should do well in that category this year.

To: Rutgers who wrote (7929)	1/8/1998 11:04:00 PM
From: Rutgers	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 13925

...and the Number #1 Reason boys 'n girls ... be sure to read all the way down ... it's worth the trip... 1. Full-function PCs Dip Below $1,000 Compaq Computer Corp. [CPQ] led the sub-$1,000 PC momentum and pushed low prices to further its position as the market share leader in the consumer market. The price shift caught IBM Corp. [IBM] by surprise and forced the company to redirect its fourth-quarter efforts toward mid-range priced PCs. Look for IBM to continue trimming its high-end multimedia PCs in early '98 and increase distribution of low-priced desktops. Cyrix Corp. [NSM] and Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] gave OEMs the option of low-cost processors, which helped spur the sub-$1,000 movement. For the first time, PC companies have an incentive to buy non-Intel processors, at least until Pentium II pricing dips low enough in mid-'98 so the chip giant can compete in that product sphere. Cyrix got additional fab and respect when National Semiconductor Corp. [NSM] bought the company for roughly $550 million in November. Component suppliers are hoping they can cash in on the trend by moving volume parts in early '98 with scaled back versions of DVD decoders, audio and video cards. Look for C-Cube Microsystems Inc. [CUBE] and Creative Technology Ltd. [CREAF] to take advantage of the sub-$1,000 market in '98.