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Technology Stocks : INVX Innovex Comdex Winner !! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Robert T. Quasius who wrote (2380)	4/11/1998 7:30:00 PM
From: Tom Simpson	Respond to of 3029

<I think the key will be price competitiveness with the newer <technology. Since INVX's price is better than HTCH's price, I would <expect INVX to win out. Yes but.....price for WHAT 1. The HTCH TSA product is a suspension with electrical traces integrated into the suspension load beam (a built up structure of insulation and conductive layers on the beam metal). 2. The INVX HIF product is a flexible electric trace substrate (a built up structure of insulation and conductive layers). It does not include the suspension load beam which must be procured separately from HTCH or others. Thus we have apples being compared with oranges and it means next to nothing. Even if we convert the orange to an apple by including the conventional suspension cost with the INVX HIF cost, we have not come to the comparison their customers actually make. What matters to WDC (or SEG or Maxtor or ...) is the total manufacturing cost of putting a suspension into a drive. This has to take account of manufacturing yield, and the assembly steps, in particular the actual bonding of the head to the electrical traces on the tip of the load beam. There are advantages and disadvantages, TSA vs HIF, in the bonding process. It depends on whether the rigid, fixed, TSA structure is easier or harder to work with than the more adjustable HIF structure. The jury is still out, but it won't be just component prices which dominate the verdict. Best Regards.....Tom