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Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ausdauer who wrote (2379)	6/1/1999 2:28:00 AM
From: Uncle Frank	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

>>Semiconductors or "chips", if you will, have short life expectancies, shorter product life cycles, and transient competitive advantage periods (CAP's). Don't they? Yes, in general, the semiconductor fields are poor breeding grounds for Gorillas, though they are the basic enabling technology for the entire electronics industry. Add to that the cost of a modern fab (>$2B), the cyclical nature of the industry, and predatory learning curve driven pricing and it is not a pretty picture. I've been a worker in the semiconductor industry since 1964, when germanium power transistors were leading edge, and I still can't understand why an investor would choose to put their stash into this chaotic industry. BUT, Intel found a way to achieve Gorillahood in semis, so there is precedent for incredible long term success. I hope you will touch on the following points sometime during your presentation: Is their approach to flash a discontinuous innovation and how long do you think it will remain the standard? Does their approach have strong patent protection, and is there potential for a significant ipr revenue stream? Does sndk have its own fab, and what geometries are they employing now (one of your links refers to .5 micron line widths, but that may be dated). Your first chapter was a grabber. I'll look forward to the rest of your presentation. Frank