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Technology Stocks : DELL Bear Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rudedog who wrote (1999)	10/1/1998 9:59:00 AM
From: Bilow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2578

Hi rudedog; I should mention some of the engineering advantages of vertical integration, as I have experienced them... (1) Typically, you have a jump on your competitors in planning on what the next generation of component will be. This allows you to design products that are more easily upgraded to the next level, when needed. (2) Reducing the number of suppliers for a given component tends to reduce the effort required to: (a) Qualify the vendor, (b) Verify that the specifications (which is an incredibly long list of things, typically,) of the part are compatible with your requirements. (c) Maintain a supply of the part. (Wouldn't want to mix those Motorola 7404s with the TI ones!) (3) With an in-house supplier, you can influence the design of the next generation part, maximizing its suitability for your particular application. I have noticed that the asian manufacturers seem to tend to be more vertically integrated. Oftentimes I have ended up using a specialty Korean or Japanese ASIC. The parts are always designed with the manufacturer in mind, rather than as general purpose parts. An example that immediately springs to mind is LCD controllers. While the asians are not doing particularly well right now, I believe this is due to the state of their economies rather than their level of vertical integration. Plus, I suppose, those long years of excessively low interest rates caused them to spend too much on research. -- Carl On you guy's authority, I'll try the MacCallan's. I'm not much of a drinker, but there are a few things I really like the taste of. I had difficulty sipping some of my mom's single malts straight. A little too intense... But I'll give the MacCallan's a chance.