Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (5697)	5/13/1999 6:12:00 PM
From: Ausdauer	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 60323

Art and Thread, "Sunnyvale, Part III" (The following information is paraphrased, but a great effort has been made to keep these remarks accurate. I hope that Rex can help me out if I have misquoted or mispoken here.) There really was only a handful of questions from the audience including... Q) "Would solid state drives ever become affordable so as to enable every day use in a PC?" A) Basically, No. That is not a market that Eli mentioned as a target "megamarket" during his powerpoint presentation. Also, Alan Shugart was in the audience and Eli joked that at one point it may have been feasible, but that question may have been germane many years back when disc drives had meager capacity. Q)"When will the company reach a billion dollars in annual sales?" A)Who knows. Q) "What price pressures are ahead and how has the company been affected in 1999?" A) There is a constant pressure on the margins. This is a particular concern because profitability depends on a constant renewal or turnover of the product line with the introduction of newer technologies, testing, upramping of production, bringing product to market, assessing market demand so as not to end up with significant inventory, and then product obsolescence (not in the true sense of the word) to make room for the next generation of cards. If SNDK gets tripped up at any step there could be a significant effect on any given quarter. The good news is that demand for flash products should increase exponentially beginning in 2000 and the relatively fixed overhead costs will become proportionally much smaller. Eli was very happy with the fab investment in Taiwan and its productivity, as well as the arrangement to move a portion of card assembly overseas. (Now all we need is for all of the stars and moons to align and we will be in business.) Q) Will SanDisk be able to challenge competitors such as Lexar and SSTI with respect to issues regarding card write speeds. Is write speed a mission critical step for the consumer electronics market? A) SanDisk is working on improving write speeds, but currently the real demand for such enhancements is in the professional photography arena with higher resolution cameras. It is not really noticeable with currently available digital cameras for the mass public. The company with the greatest write speeds really owns no more than "bragging rights" for the time being. This angle has been played to the extreme by competitors like Lexar essentially as a marketing ploy. SanDisk is working on creating their own controller and still uses controller chips from Motorola. Clearly, card function, compatibility, durability and reliability are key issues at SanDisk and it is apparent that these quality issues take precedence over pushing specs and risking a product recall. Q) "SanDisk has a substantial retail presence currently. Can we expect any effort in the near future to develop the brand name? For example, will SanDisk employ any advertising targeted for the internet audience currently shopping at e-malls?" A) (I asked this question and I kind of regret it now, but somebody had to do it! Eli seemed a bit steamed about it, so I know it is a sensitive issue.) The reply was that this issue comes up frequently among the company officers at staff meetings. Advertising is expensive. It would take a serious bite out of profitability currently. Also, the digital camera market is still a nascent market. To their credit, SanDisk has been relying primarily on design-in wins and endorsements from OEM's, even though these endorsements may not be as evident on the consumer level as we as shareholders would like. There are also issues regarding respect for OEM's concerns about getting stuck with a shipment of private label cards due to overly competitive pricing or advertising by SanDisk. Thus, the whole issue about brand name promotion is intricately intertwined with other business issues. I personally believe that an OEM endorsement by Nikon or Kodak or Casio or RCA is PRICELESS. Sooner or later these associations will begin to pay dividends. In the mean time I believe that focusing on creating a highly reliable, quality product will have a profound effect down the road. Look at the problems with SmartMedia currently!!! I think we are going to have to wait for a while before SanDisk will turn to print or internet advertising. As shareholders we should all be doing our best to publicize the SanDisk product line. Also, let's come up with some innovative ideas to help SanDisk out. I think Limtex or somebody else mentioned recycling the Intel publicity stunt by having OEM's include a red and white sticker that says "SanDisk Inside" on product boxes. You all have to have other ideas as well! Q) What is SanDisk's stance on the unrest in China given the recent developments there and the planned SanDisk presence there? A) Eli stated that was a big unknown and that it is not really possible to know what could happen given the complexity of the situation. He also said that he wasn't losing any sleep over it for the time being. If production were to be interrupted due to political unrest they would have to move card assembly to an alternate site. That is all that I can remember. Have a good night everyone. Ausdauer

To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (5697)	5/14/1999 7:54:00 PM
From: Ausdauer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 60323

Art, I wanted to let the thread know that I used my NEC MobilePro 770 on vacation. I used it to view web pages that I had downloaded before the trip (which I can retrieve off-line with active links if the links were viewed while on-line), to take notes at the meeting, to read e-mail off the AOL NetMail site, and to read/post to SI. This is a dream machine in 65K color. I wanted to show the device to some of the SNDK folks, but the receptionist made most of us wait like 20 minutes to a half an hour in the lobby area so there was no time for schmoozing before the session began. (Rex had a better lay of the land and reported directly to the site of the meeting.) I also wanted to show off some of the Windows CE software that I downloaded, but several of the trial versions expired the weekend before. I wanted them to see my mp3 program, the Sierra Image Expert photo editing software, and Windows CE Internet Explorer. I had also intended to download the audio software from Audible.com which is designed for palm PC's (I actually have a H/PC) and some language translation software (dictionaries), but did not have time to download them before leaving home. I firmly believe that Windows CE and content providers such as Audible.com could be a big boon for SNDK in carving out a niche for removable memory in the portable computing market. This will only be a matter of time...then Dr. Harari can add PDA's to his list of potential megamarkets. BY THE WAY, THE MEETING WAS IN THE EMPLOYEE CAFETERIA WHICH HAD BEEN REARRANGED INTO AN AUDITORIUM-LIKE SEATING CONFIGURATION. WE COULD NOT FIND THE BULLETIN BOARD WHERE ALL THE INSIDE INFORMATION IS POSTED FOR EMPLOYEES TO READ. YOU KNOW, THE BOARD WHERE ALL THE "SAFE HARBOR" DISCLAIMERS ARE LEFT OFF THE RELEASES (wink, wink). SEEMS LIKE THEY TOOK THAT BOARD DOWN JUST IN TIME FOR THE MEETING OR MAYBE THEY ADDED ANOTHER SANDWICH VENDING MACHINE AS A PROP JUST TO COVER IT UP. NEITHER REX NOR I HAD THE GUTS TO ASK THE QUESTION..."By the way, where is that little board just for employees?" (WE JUST COULD NOT THINK OF A TACTFUL WAY OF SLIPPING IT INTO THE Q and A SESSION, ALTHOUGH WE BOTH TOYED WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF JUMPING IN AFTER THE "When are we gonna see a billion in annual revenues."-volley.) ALTHOUGH WE BOTH LOOKED HIGH AND LOW, IT WAS TOO WELL CONCEALED. NOT EVEN AL SHUGART COULD FIND IT. HE DID HELP US LOOK FOR IT, TOO. THEN HE EVEN BOUGHT EACH OF US AN EGG SALAD SANDWICH (THE KIND IN THE SQUARE PLASTIC BOX WITH A SARAN WRAP WINDOW) AND A DOCTOR PEPPER. ALL IN ALL THE TRIP WAS WORTH IT EVEN JUST FOR THAT HANDSHAKE, THAT SANDWICH, and THAT SOFT DRINK. Ausdauer