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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: upanddown who wrote (39584)	4/1/1999 11:41:00 AM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

I can't think of a pure play. No doubt Sony and the other consumer electronics manufacturers will jump into this market, as will the PC makers and alert software companies (with the help of Cube). The disc drive manufacturers will participate as well, because consumers will request larger HDs for their computers, and more importantly, because a HUGE NEW MARKET will develop for hard disks incorporated into settop boxes. I recall an announcement that Quantum was linked up with Sony or perhaps TiVo or ReplayTV.... Of course, increased sales do not necessarily into increased margins, as the PC manufacturers have discovered. Let us know what you find out.

To: upanddown who wrote (39584)	4/1/1999 11:48:00 AM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

Hard Drive for AV Devices to Ship in 2000. Western Digital Sr. VP nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com April 1, 1999 (TOKYO) -- In an interview with Nikkei Electronics, Russell R. Stern, senior vice president of Strategic Business Development, Marketing & Sales at U.S.-based Western Digital Corp., said hard disk drives for audio-visual devices will start shipping in the first half of 2000. The company is co-developing a hard disk drive for AV devices with Sony Corp. Nikkei ElectronicsHow would you characterize the hard disk drive market for AV devices? Stern. I think the hard disk drive market for non-personal computer products, including AV devices, will grow sharply in the future. I expect the market to reach an annual level of 10 million to 20 million units by the end of 2002, and 50 million units by the end of 2005. In my opinion, even these figures seem rather conservative. Today, we have many kinds of non-PC products that use hard disk drives, such as set-top boxes and Internet-capable home electric appliances. I think various types of products are likely to debut before the end of this year. Nikkei Electronics. What is the development status with Sony? Stern. Recently, we finished the first phase of the work, and delivered to Sony a prototype we've developed. Sony is scheduled to use it to develop AV devices in the future. As the prototype incorporates the IDE (integrated drive electronics) interface, users can access a function for AV devices by using a vendor-unique command. Functions in new hard disk drives for AV devices are similar to those of existing hard disk drives for AV devices. The existing hard disk drives for AV devices have a SCSI interface for image editing at broadcasting stations. I think shipments of the commercial products will be realized in the first half of 2000, as originally scheduled. I cannot tell you the actual storage capacity, but think at least 8GB will possibly be contained per 3.5-in. disk by that time. For the disk speed, 5,400rpm will be enough for the AV devices. Nikkei Electronics. Do you think it will cost more to make a model dedicated to AV devices? Stern. A model for AV devices doesn't mean a product completely different from a model for a PC. Actually, the model will be built with the same HDA (head disk assembly) and substrate as used for PCs and firmware for AV devices. So, it can be manufactured on the same production line as for the models for PCs. The only difference will be an inspection device, I think. We also are planning to develop a product with an AV feature embedded in a model for PCs and a model with the same HDA and a different substrate. The latter is to run under different interfaces. The IEEE1394 interface and a completely new interface are likely to debut in the future. Nikkei Electronics. The market will require a lower price than ever for hard disk drives for AV devices. How are you planning to respond to such requirements? Stern. The effective way of promoting low-cost production is, after all, to increase the disk recording density. There's no change in this between now and the past. We can provide the same storage capacity with fewer parts by increasing the recording density. Currently, the annual improvement rate of the recording density is about 92 percent. It was 62 percent in the past, but has been improved by employment of a GMR (giant magnetoresistive) head and advancement of read channel technologies. The recording density of a 3.5-in. hard disk drive will reach 10Gb/sq. in. in 2000, and 20Gb/sq. in. in 2001. But, customers will not be satisfied with only the lower unit price per storage capacity. I think it also will be necessary on our end to reduce the parts cost and rebuild the production line. Even if we employ "PERM," a disk technology developed by Sony and using a plastic substrate, it will be in the considerably distant future. To promote the low-pricing strategy, we'll have to simultaneously increase the production volume. In the future, various kinds of markets will launch different kinds of service requirements for low-price PCs, Internet-capable home electric appliances, set-top boxes and other devices that are not limited to the AV devices. Hard disk drives makers will have to respond to all these requirements. (Takuji Imai, Staff Editor, Nikkei Electronics)