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Technology Stocks : WDC/Sandisk Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rex Dwyer who wrote (4810)	2/20/1999 6:59:00 PM
From: Bill Zeman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 60323

Rex Pardon my ignorance, but what are ICs and what is an ATA interface? I would like to better understand SNDK's patent strength. If Sony is paying royalties in order to sell memory sticks, then shouldn't we desire that they sell a lot of them? Either way SNDK makes a pile of money. This aspect of SNDK is what made it one of my favorite stocks. Long ago I reasoned that as long as flash memory was the storage technology of the future, SNDK would make a lot of money no matter who ended up selling most of the product. Of course we would like to see SNDK's designs and product lines do well, but don't we have almost a no lose situation? I guess that is what most of the discussion on this thread is about, (SNDK's products, etc.). I am, however, continually trying to understand more about SNDK's royalty picture. To me, that is what makes this stock so wonderfully unique. Somebody please correct me if my reasoning is in any way flawed. Bill Z

To: Rex Dwyer who wrote (4810)	2/20/1999 8:45:00 PM
From: Craig Freeman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 60323

Rex, re: "ATA "FlashDrives" need to pay a royalty to SNDK" You are incorrect. SNDK donated the CF specs and there are no royalties with respect to the ATA interface. SNDK does collect royalties on certain memory concepts but there is little to stop a manufacturer from side-stepping those patents and still producing a CF-compatible card. As to Sony, there is nothing to stop them from writing Stick interfaces and giving them to MSFT. From what I can see from their website, they have already done so. Thread ... Wake Up! Sony is the #1 name is advanced consumer electronics. They OWN the monitor market. They OWN the TV market. They OWN the video game market. They OWN the Handicam market. And they have the #1 selling ecam. If they add "Stick" slots to all those devices, they will soon OWN the flash memory market too. Craig