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

To: NHP who wrote (5109)	3/16/1999 9:04:00 PM
From: Art Bechhoefer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 60323

To All: Just a couple of general comments on possible LIMITATIONS for SanDisk compact flash products. I live in upstate NY near Rochester, in an area where there are a lot of Kodak executives, from whom I obtain a certain amount of info on Kodak strategies. These sources, together with news reports in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle are the sources for the following comments. It seems that Kodak has made a decision that consumer digital photography should not interfere with sales of 35 mm film aimed at serious amateurs. Thus, the latest report is that Kodak is quite satisfied with the 1.6 megapixel resolution in its DCS 265 model and feels no need to compete with recent higher resolution models being marketed by Fuji and Toshiba, with resolution around 2 megapixels. The Fuji and Toshiba models use the SmartMedia card. To me, this is ONE MORE EXAMPLE (I could give you dozens more) of Kodak shooting itself in the foot. It also will affect SanDisk because it means that SmartMedia cards will get a greater percentage of the high end market. I've been an avid photographer for more than 50 years. Believe me, no one EXCEPT a serious amateur or professional would pay even $500 for a digital camera unless its resolution gave results close to what you can get from a reasonably good 35mm camera. People want utmost detail and are willing to pay even $2000 for it. Kodak is cutting itself off from a market, thinking that by doing so it will help traditional sales of film for high end applications. I can't even think about this for very long without going for the Tums. Even so, I think SanDisk has enough good patents and enough applications outside of simply photography to ensure that it will remain the dominant player for several years. On this basis, given the rapidly growing market for flash memory, the stock looks like a good buy at present prices for the next five or ten years. Art Bechhoefer