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

To: AJ Berger who wrote (6980)	9/8/1998 10:26:00 PM
From: Joe C.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16960

AJ, I know where your coming from on the silence - it's hard not to worry when the stock is so far down. Ignoring all the percentage faster here and incompatibility there, there is one factor that will sell Banshee (not Banchee by the way) to at least one if not several of the OEM's. He who runeth the Banshee, runeth ALL the games out there. If your trying to sell boxes this is a very powerful marketing tool for the consumer. Kids are smart, they'll plug their parents on the school work advantages, promise their grades will go up, point out how so and so's kid uses it for his homework, etc. meanwhile they will have already bought/borrowed Unreal, Madden football or some such game before they even got the box. Naturally they will point out the inherent advantages, cost savings, performance of the XXXX PC that everyone has and will probably forget to mention the Banshee card inside. No point in setting off any warning alarms with Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad will say, hey, sounds like a good idea he does need something for school and junior knows more about this then we do ... Joe "I'd be happy with 20% of the 2D/3D market" C.

To: AJ Berger who wrote (6980)	9/8/1998 10:39:00 PM
From: Andrew Fenic	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16960

AJ, Here's why I think Banshee will capture a chunk of the OEM market: 1. It is inexpensive 2. It is fast as greased lightning for a "low end" part 3. It is the only 2d/3d part to support all 3 major API's 4. It is the only 2d/3d part supported natively by most ISV's 5. It has the fastest 2D core 6. 3DFX has incredible name brand recognition The only risk I see is if it becomes another Rush. I think this time, however, 3DFX took the time and effort to do the job right. They built their own 2D core and they have clearly spent a great deal more time than anyone expected tweaking drivers and refining the hardware. I also wouldn't say a Banshee failure necessitates doom and gloom for 3DFX. 3DFX has done astonishingly well as a 3D add-on maker; that market is worth about a quarter billion a year and should continue to grow at a healthy clip. OEM's will continue to stuff boxes with low end parts like G200 and I740... fueling demand for Voodoo2. What surprises me about many of the posts during TDFX's stock decline is the general attitude that Banshee and Voodoo2 are somehow the last products 3DFX will ever release. 3DFX has one enormous competitive advantage; they can adapt Glide to support new and innovative 3D technology much more rapidly than Microsoft can upgrade Direct3D. Historically Glide games have always been sexier than Direct3D for this very reason; the competition and MS are always playing catch up. I see no reason why that trend won't continue through 1999 and beyond. In short, rumors of 3DFX's death were GREATLY exaggerated. I look forward to a strong Christmas and a full rebound in the stock price. Whether we become millionaires on this issue long term remains to be seen. May well depend on how much you are willing to buy in at this outrageously low valuation :)

To: AJ Berger who wrote (6980)	9/8/1998 11:09:00 PM
From: Simon Cardinale	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 16960

AJ: Banshee has already been picked up. <<OEM's are lining up their suppliers NOW for the Xmas season, and if Banchee does not get picked up this month, it probably never will.>> It's been picked up, just not announced. The STB conference call said that one of the major OEMs had already picked STB's Banshee and the other two were looking seriously. The CC also said Compaq was going with an STB card, but they didn't say which. I add this up to yield: Compaq will offer Banshee as the default graphics card in a home/multimedia offering targeted at the Christmas consumer. OEMs are waiting until the last minute with their announcements because they want to be sure they can get what they want: a reliable product in large quantities. Simon