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Technology Stocks : 3DFX -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: UCLAlumnus who wrote (5765)	7/24/1998 1:46:00 PM
From: James Boritz	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 16960

So, I have been watching this thread for about a month and thought I would take advantage of the free trial to chime in with my own questions and observations. There is no doubt in my mind that 3DFX currently has the best low end PC 3D graphics product on the market. Notice all the qualifications. Low end means < $500, PC means not SGI, SUN or HP. While the technology in the 3DFX chipset is great, it basically consists of things that workstation vendors have been doing for years. Because the basic technology is known, it wouldn't take much for some other upstart company to come from nowhere and supplant 3DFX as the market leader. As an aside, this is currently happening to Creative Labs in the sound card market. My biggest concern with 3DFX is that the 3D market has historically been filled with high flying companies that eventually disappear because the 3D market has a limited size. Customers are willing to switch in an instant because companies are always coming and going in this market so customers have to be prepared to switch. There is certainly a market for a $300 board that will accelerate a handful of games, but how big is this market? Most corporate PC users run word processors and spreadsheets. They have little need for 3D acceleration. Most home users are trying to spend less than $1000 on their PC. If they are as price sensitive as most analysts claim, then why would they buy a dedicated game card in addition to their 2D card rather than a card that can do double duty? As a sample of one, I bought a card based on the nVidia chipset. I have been really happy with it. I won't by a Voodoo anything at the current price level and I'm in the graphics industry. Nonetheless, I would be happy if I were proved wrong.