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Technology Stocks : SYQUEST -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RagTimeBand who wrote (5816)	3/10/1998 2:13:00 PM
From: Steven Fischer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7685

Hmmm.... No news releases lately, is something brewing?

To: RagTimeBand who wrote (5816)	3/11/1998 5:08:00 AM
From: Dale Stempson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7685

What happened to SparQ press from the EdHeads? Nov. 3, 1997, SparQ is introduced with availability beginning this month (Nov). Hot Product! Nov. 18, 1997, SyQuest shipped their first 8,000 SparQs. Their unit backlog was greater than the SyJet ever was. They will ship enough volume to meet all retailer's needs and even have product available for reorder, all by the end of the November (within two weeks). Shipping on time and massive demand! Dec. 4, 1997, After the first two weeks of volume production, SparQ shipments surpassed original estimates. They expect to ship all SparQ products scheduled for manufacture this quarter, nearly 50,000 drives and 90,000 cartridges. Demand surpassed the aggressive build schedule planned for the first quarter of production. SparQ backlog continues to grow. Current unit volume backlog for SparQ products exceeds the highest backlog of orders ever reached by any SyQuest product. Penang plant is working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Temporary cartridge manufacturing operations have been set up in Fremont to respond to the demand. Demand, backlog and shipments all better than expected! Dec. 12, 1997, SyQuest is now shipping in volume all SparQ configurations including the internal (EIDE). Expects to ship 14,000 SparQ drives of all configurations during the week of Dec. 15. Confirms expectation to ship 50,000 SparQs by the end of quarter. Sell-through has been phenomenal. Now that all configurations are available, the strong numbers of drives shipped will continue to rise. On schedule and shipments will rise! Feb. 11, 1998, Earnings released. Syquest loses $39 mil on sales of $32 mil. Successful product launch of SparQ with exceptionally strong market acceptance. Plans to significantly accelerate unit growth in the second fiscal quarter. Focusing resources on SparQ, with a strategic transition to this product as the backbone of SyQuest's future. Component shortages constrained shipments of SyJet and SparQ products to meet current order backlog. ________________________________________ As we saw from the exciting SparQ news every couple weeks in the SyQuest press releases, everything was going absolutely great. The news then suddenly stopped. Not a word for two months after Dec-12 until earnings were announced and then nothing at all after that. Those who closely follow the company might have an idea why. Perhaps the conference call and SyQuest's 10-Q give us a clue: 10,000 drives short on Dec-31 when everything was confirmed OK on Dec-12? Production start-up inefficiencies, late delivery of raw materials, additional tooling and capital equipment needed for production to meet customer demand, need for more financing? Perhaps the rumors on the threads have some basis in fact: Quality problems, SparQs not shipping until April? Who knows. The EdHeads have never been shy about tooting their horn. For them to stop issuing positive (or any) press about the product they're risking the future of their company on, seems like a red flag to me. JMHO. Regards - Dale