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

To: Ben Wu who wrote (11110)	3/13/1999 9:30:00 PM
From: Marc	Respond to of 16960

OEM = 3Dfx, ATI, S3, nVidia, Matrox; winners? 3Dfx and ATI. You can put matrox in the winners, i heard that they were close to 1 Billion in revenues last years. Marc

To: Ben Wu who wrote (11110)	3/13/1999 10:32:00 PM
From: Joe C.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16960

Ben, you make some very good points. I'd like to take it the next step in looking at after Rampage: 1. Flat Panels - IMO this is going to be one of the next important drivers in the PC industry. LCDfx chip hints at innovations and potential technological advances. Seems to me there's a good margin potential if the technology is must have. 2. Lap tops - TDFX might be able to jump into this market. They have really good technical guys but my guess is that it will be quite a challenge for them. I don't know if the market warrants the additional R&D. They may be able to leverage off their flat panel work but I think this is a low margin proposition. 3. Set top - This will be big - won't make the PC obsolete just yet - but an interactive platform that works on both the PC and the TV may just happen in 2000. This is a big prize but it will be driven on two fronts: technology and content. TDFX is one of the few that has an edge coming from the PC side given their gaming experience and Glide compatibility. ATI and Intel have the money to do well. The Console guys all have BIG money so the battlefield on this one will be bloody. I don't think TDFX will win but I do think they will get a small piece of the pie. Luckily this pie is huge. 4. Workstations - I seem to recall TDFX saying that their new technology may just allow them to enter the low end graphic workstation market. We shall see. This is more of an OEM nice to have. A small company like TDFX could make good money (high margins) with a small percentage of the market. I think the competition on the high end is too strong for them to crack. 5. Internet Play - This will become a huge part of the future of interactive gaming. Wider channels (i.e. cable, etc.) and easier to use interconnectivity could make a difference. This one goes hand in hand with the set top. Technology is important but content, branding, marketing and money are more so. TDFX has some weapons but is light on the dollars even with 100 million in the bank. TDFX will be talking to the gaming community and giving them their roadmap. Hopefully, the hardware advances they've made and the features they've chosen to implement will be exactly what developers want. This is critical for them to remain out in front technologically. It is also important to build upon the other weapons they will need - content, name recognition, compatibility etc. This battle will become more than just a card in the future. TDFX recognized this early. Hopefully, the head start they've had will be enough to keep them in the game when the stakes are raised. Too bad Patrick's got to be a good boy ;) Joe C.