| 1 | 1 | Is retention on par or better than the 16 kilobit array presented in 2013? In a presentation from 2013 4DS mentions retention is greater than 10 years at a relaxation constant of 85 degrees Celsius.
When the company reports speeds "comparable to DRAM" or "near to DRAM", does the company mean faster than DRAM - say less than 10 nanosecond reads, within typical 10 to 50 nanosecond read speeds, or slower than DRAM - say above 100 nanoseconds or more? | Intention: to tease out some performance metrics.
As a Shareholder I want to start to understand the true value of what the team has here. The value is largely hidden in the performance metrics. |
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| 2 | 2 | David Goeckler started as Western Digital CEO earlier this year, one of his first public statements on CNBC in an interview with Jim Cramer was to reduce the debt burden at Western Digital.
The question is, how does the 4DS board see Goecklers intentions affecting 4DS's goals? Particularly with respect to a corporate transaction. Or does this focus on debt reduction in anyway affect 4DS strategy and does the board have a plan in place to deal with and work with Goecklers agenda? | Intention: to gain insight into the Boards understanding of how impactful the debt reduction agenda at WD is.
As a Shareholder I want to know if the board thinks Goeckler's goals change the situation for 4DS. If they do, what are you doing about it? |
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| 3 | 3 | Does the board see a situation where Western Digital fails to enter into corporate transaction talks during 2021?
And does the board have appropriate relationships in place with other potential interested parties? | Intention: to gauge how likely the Board thinks a corporate transaction is, with WD or another party.
As a Shareholder I want some assurance that there is a contingency plan in place if Western Digital fails to acquire 4DS. |
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| 4 | 4 | How will the board maximise shareholder return by only engaging with Western Digital? | Intention: to tease out if the Board is thinking of encouraging a bidding situation to maximise returns.
If there is no bid competition for 4DS IP and technology, then as a Shareholder, I struggle to see how the board will maximise the return to shareholders - enlighten us. |
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| 5 | 5 | The sales bonus pool is a welcome bonding cost. What is the logic behind the 3 tiers of the sales bonus pool / What does 4DS have to do to secure the lowest bracket corporate transaction between $120M - $350M versus what achieves the highest bracket of the sales bonus pool at $550M+?
Is the top bracket of the sales bonus pool a "stretch target"? | Intention: to uncover what a sale in each of the 3 tiers looks like.
Intention: to gain an unofficial rough ball park indication of which tier the the Board expects to achieve without commitment or official market announcement. |
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| 6 | 6 | Can the board relay it's thoughts and sentiments on the rising US-China technology tensions.
Are there any restrictions applied on 4DS selling it's technology outside the United States, if so why?
Has 4DS been in contact with the U.S. Department of Defence or Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)?
Does the recent Chips Act change anything for 4DS? | Intention: to gain insight into how the Board is responding to US-China tensions, and ensuing Government responses such as the Chips Act.
As a Shareholder I would like to be guided by the Board on what the US-China "technology war" means for the company. |
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| 7 | 7 | At last years AGM the board was quite direct in saying that the imec extension was for 12 months only, and that only 2 or so iterations were required to achieve a Mb test chip.
We now have multiple additional non-platform wafer lots, and a 3 step approach to developing a Mb test chip (integration, integration with transistors, integration with transistors and control logic).
Covid aside, what has changed? What is the reason for the adjustment in the roadmap to test chip and the apparent extra time this is taking? | Intention: to get a better understanding of what led to the change in roadmap from 2019 AGM |
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| 8 | 8 | Has HGST / Western Digital been more directly involved this year compared to previous years?
What does this mean? | Intention: to get a direct answer to what message is the board communicating by inferring a more extensive/leading involvement of WD/ HGST in announcements since April. |
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(20min delay)