I originally wanted to write a technical analysis and share my thoughts, but after discussing with colleagues these past few days, it turns out even they don't know what cold storage is! 🤷 So awkward! It seems no matter what kind of advanced tech you're building, most people just care about tightening their own screws?

Although it's very busy at year-end, I still found some time to roughly listen to the earnings calls of several storage companies this quarter. The questions from those Wall Street "elites" were almost all about 💰 and the market. They sure know how to play their little game.

Currently, the news flow regarding this sector seems very chaotic. Some people are even bringing up old news from years ago. The valuations of the major players seem to move in lockstep. This is actually a good thing, indicating that this wave of hype might still be in a relatively early stage and hasn't yet differentiated into its proper structure.

Alright! It seems even after all that technical analysis, the final result is: "This is too boring, just tell me which stock to buy!" Hahaha 🫠

Let's take it easy then and just talk about feelings!

Remember back in middle school, whoever had a 32M mp3 player was the coolest kid in class!

When I first started senior year, I spent over 100 yuan on a 1G USB drive!

Later, desktops became laptops, laptops became pads, boot-up speeds got faster and faster!

Now we have SSDs with several terabytes as a matter of course.

Until last month, the leather-clad prophet said SSDs have become a necessity for AI infrastructure!

While NAND continues to increase capacity, it's fighting on two fronts: read/write speed and cost! With a left jab of DRAM and a right cross of HDD, it's forcefully carved out a path right through the middle. This path, though bumpy, is exciting! With the development of AI and robotics, even the limitation on read/write cycles could become an advantage for it to become a daily consumable? Can it break free from the cyclical nature of the storage industry and become a growth industry? We'll wait and see!

If I must evaluate these four existing US-listed companies and the industry ecosystem, my answer is:

$Sandisk(SNDK.US) is the forward,

$Micron Tech(MU.US) is the midfielder,

$Seagate Tech(STX.US) and $Western Digital(WDC.US) are the defenders.

Please evaluate for yourself. 🫥

Always remember one thing: risk and reward go hand in hand!

The above is only a personal opinion, intended to start a discussion!

Comments and exchanges are welcome! 🫣