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Technology Stocks : The New QLogic (ANCR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lhn5 who wrote (20189)	1/16/1999 1:46:00 AM
From: Kerry Lee	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29386

Excerpts from ANCOR ARTICLE from January 15/99 "City Business" publication..( those of you from Twin Cities, please comment/explain where this publication is circulated and if I've got the publication name right ): Title: "Ancor switches key to firm's rebound" Author: Henry Breimhurst, Staff reporter << ...executives at Minnetonka-based Ancor Communications Inc. say that, with "new management, a new board, a new market and new products", Ancor is now poised to get its share of the rapidly-growing storage area network ( SAN ) business. And people are listening. Ancor's stock has risen from just $1 per share in September to almost $6 per share. "Six months ago, I think the world thought they were dead", said Clint Morrison, an analyst with John G. Kinnard & Co. in Minneapolis. Kinnard raised its rating on the stock to a "buy" when it was trading below $1.50.>> The author then goes into describing Ancor's original business of selling FC switches directly to customers and the circumstances leading to a new OEM strategy ... ..<< New management with OEM experience was brought on board. A shareholder lawsuit left over from previous management was settled. Ancor licensed its technology to a major switch maker, gaining credibility for its technology and raising $9 million for cash needs. And a new, lower-cost product was released into the emerging SAN market.>> << Now, Morrison said, comes the waiting. Some smaller OEMs have chosen Ancor switches and will integrate them into networks they build. According to Morrison, the real prizes are the household-name OEMs, such as IBM, Compaq, Dell, Hewlett Packard and others. A large OEM might bring $5 million to $30 million in annual revenues to its fibre-channel supplier. Such announcements are expected in the coming quarters.>> << Ancor CEO Ken Hendrickson said Ancor's new MKII switch is now in evaluations with "many" OEMs.>> The article then details the Company's failure to sell FC into the LAN market which led to the SAN market strategy. It also talks about Ancor premium pricing of $1,300 per port versus alternatives selling for $650..( fast ethernet? ) << Despite the erosion of its old business in the past two years, Hendrickson said Ancor tried not to cut costs too much. Engineers and others had to be retained to come out with a new, SAN-focused product, and the saleforce had to be rebuilt to pursue OEMs.>> Closing paragraph is a statement from Clint Morrison the Kinnard analyst: << "We're right at the verge of this market starting to heat up", said Morrison. "These guys are well-positioned".>>