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Technology Stocks : Maxtor (MXTR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam who wrote (127)	3/4/1999 4:17:00 PM
From: TWICK	Respond to of 467

Time will tell. I'm betting that this DELL/IBM deal will not impact MXTR. Bought more at the 7 5/8 - 8 levels.

To: Sam who wrote (127)	3/4/1999 4:50:00 PM
From: fiberman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 467

< Maybe not being "replaced", but DELL is being given "incentives" to buy from IBM in the future. Which means that current programs may be it. This is not news that can be sugar coated, it is bad for MXTR, it is bad for SEG, for QNTM, and, perhaps especially, for WDC, since the latter is the shakiest of the big vendors. It also signals that IBM is becoming yet more aggressive in the merchant market. It means that business for the other big PC vendors will become even more competitive as people try to maintain market share and production lines.> I agree with your assessment, except that WDC could actually benefit from this deal. The reason is WDC is very close to IBM, and if IBM's capacity takes off, I would not be shocked to hear that they are using WDC to make IBM drives for them. There is also a possibility of IBM just purchasing WDC, and get the relationship even closer. Afetrall, the upper managemnt of WDC came from IBM. They are considered one of their own. As far as MXTR is concerned, I just do not know. I bailed at a loss, which sucks, but I think MXTR is going down more. Just give it a few days for people think about this relationship. WDC has had almost no business from DELL, so that does not effect it as much as MXTR, SEG & Some of the Japs. I also hink that QNTM does not ahve any business at DELL. Their largest account should be AAPL.

To: Sam who wrote (127)	3/4/1999 4:56:00 PM
From: Ramesh Manne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 467

Are we assuming DELL is stupid enough to replace all its suppliers and rely on IBM? DELL is a smart company and its business model keeps its suppliers to be at 100% efficient, otherwise they will not be able to compete for DELL's business on price. To be a DELL supplier, you got to be lean and efficient and change to market conditions rather quickly. I am amazed that all analysts simply forgot the fact that IBM is neither lean nor efficient. No doubt, IBM has a great technology and they are ahead of their competitors in this respect. This is what DELL is interested in the deal. If other suppliers make same components (with same or better quality) as IBM at a lesser price (or with bigger volumes, or with better logistics etc.), DELL is not stupid to pay high price to IBM. DELL is successful company and they compete and win with their their competitors mainly on price and logistics. They can not marry to IBM and pay high prices to IBM and still compete in the market. DELL is a very successful company and to be that way in the future, they need to go to the most efficient supplier. So bottom line, is IBM a competitor to MXTR and SEG? The answer is Yes. Can IBM compete and win with MXTR and SEG on technology? The answer is Yes. Can IBM compete and win with MXTR (and to some extent SEG) on price and logistics (and to some extent on quality) efficiently? NO. Can IBM manufacture disk drives more efficiently than MXTR and SEG? No. Can IBM change to market conditions better than MXTR? No. So DELL is not going to pay high price to IBM for the components that it can get cheaper outside. It is a panic selling without much analysis. Think of it, all panic selling (or buying) is based on no analysis. I am betting on MXTR to be much higher 12 months down the road. I could be wrong but my bet is they are not going to loose business to IBM based on price. Thanks, Ramesh

To: Sam who wrote (127)	3/4/1999 6:50:00 PM
From: Stitch	Respond to of 467

Sam; <<Maybe not being "replaced", but DELL is being given "incentives" to buy from IBM in the future. Which means that current programs may be it. This is not news that can be sugar coated, it is bad for MXTR, it is bad for SEG, for QNTM, and, perhaps especially, for WDC, since the latter is the shakiest of the big vendors. It also signals that IBM is becoming yet more aggressive in the merchant market. It means that business for the other big PC vendors will become even more competitive as people try to maintain market share and production lines.>> Amen. Best, Stitch

To: Sam who wrote (127)	3/4/1999 10:17:00 PM
From: Frodo Baxter	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 467

>Maybe not being "replaced", but DELL is being given "incentives" to buy from IBM in the future. Which means that current programs may be it. This is not news that can be sugar coated, it is bad for MXTR, it is bad for SEG, for QNTM, and, perhaps especially, for WDC, since the latter is the shakiest of the big vendors. It also signals that IBM is becoming yet more aggressive in the merchant market. This is ridiculous. Even IBM buys their desktop drives from the mass market players. IBM has never been and will never be, a mass market supplier. For a long time now, Dell has danced with the devil by supplying from IBM, something that HWP and CPQ will NEVER NEVER NEVER do. This is a buying opportunity, as much as that term applies to these silly drive stocks.