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Submittedto PFU March8,1996 Submittedby INPUT AtriumatGlenpointe 400FrankW.BurrBoulevard Teaneck,NJ07666 201-801-0050 Fax:201-801-0441 ASSESSMENT OF PFU PRODUCT AND SERVICE DIRECTIONS BACKGROUND I. INPUThasbeenengagedbyPFUtoassessandmakerecommendationsonPFU'sproduct andservicedirections. TheprojectbeganwithaworksessionatINPUT'SofficesinMt. View,CaliforniafromJanuary31toFebruary2,1996. Attheworksession: • PFUbriefedINPUTonitsproducts,organization,anddesiredrequirements. • INPUTreviewedthefollowingmarketandtechnicalissueswithPFU: • Systemsintegrationandoutsourcing • ElectroniccommerceandtheInternet • Client/serversoftware • Network-centriccomputing INPUTsuppliedPFUwithalargeamountofprintedmaterialandanalysesontheabove topics. Atthecompletionoftheworksession,itwasagreedthatINPUTwouldsubmitareportto PFUcoveringthefollowing: • AssessmentandrecommemJationsconcerningPFU'sproductdirections • AssessmentandrecommendationsforPFUserviceopportunities. PFUandINPUT agreedthatemphasisshouldbeplacedonservices,becauseofthelongerterm opportunitiesinservices. PFUalsorequestedthatINPUTsuggestaphraseordescriptorthatwilldescribePFU's expandedmission. (Analogoustotheuseof"network-centriccomputing"byIBM.) Thisreportisorganizedasfollows: • Productanalysisandrecommendations • Servicesrecommendations • Serviceskillsrequirementsandsources • Recommendations 1 If '4 .IS \ o Intheworksessiondiscussions,INPUTandPFUagreedthat,forthenext1-2yearsPFU's primaryfocuswillbeontheJapanesemarket. However,inthelongertermPFUwillbe competingintheinternationalmarketaswell. INPUT'Sanalysisandrecommendations keepafocusontheworldwidemarket: • ThiswillbethemarketthatPFUwillbeincreasinglycompetingin. • Overtime,thetrendsnowevidentintheU.S.marketwillbecomeincreasinglystrong inJapan PFUwillreviewthisreport; afterwards,PFUandINPUTwillmeettoreviewINPUT'S analysisandrecommendations. INPUTwillthenissueafinalversionofthisreport,which willtakeintoaccountthequestionsandcommentsmadeduringthereviewprocess. 2 PCBOa)^WPPORTUNITIESforPFU INPUT PC Card Market Analysis II. ThischapterdescribesthemarketforPCCardproducts. A. MarketSegmentation ThemarketforsmallcomputerboardsthatarePC-compatibleis analyzed. MostmanufacturersdonotsellasimplePC,rathertheyadd valuebyprovidingspecialinterfaces. Themarketsegmentsforsucha productmaybedividedintothefollowing: • telecommunicationsandnetworking • real-timedataacquisitionandprocesscontrol • publishingandprinting • hand-heldcomputersanddevices MarketopportunitiesforPCboardsthatPFUcouldconsider,butarenot recommendedbyINPUTandarenotdiscussedfurtherinclude: • storagecontrollers-largecrowdedmarketwithestablishedplayers • automobiles-establishedvendorsarealreadysupplyingthemarket 1. TelecommunicationsandNetworking Applicationsinclude: • smarttelephones • telephoneequipment,suchaskeysystemconsolesthatconnect severaltelephones • telecommunicationstestequipment ©1996byINPUT.ReproductionProhibited. PFU r RDOPPORTUNITIESFORPFU INPUT • webserversonasmallboards Productcharacteristics: • supportfortelephonyinterfaces • reliability • highvolumes Thisisalargemarket,butitisalsodifficulttoenter. AMDisworking withitspartnerstotargetthismarket. ItisnotrecommendedthatPFU enterthismarket. 2. Real-timeDataAcquisitionandProcessControl Applicationsinclude: • laboratoryequipmentmonitoringanddatacollection • plantmonitoring • remotedatacollectionfromsitessuchaswells,electricitymeters Real-timeopportunitiesareexpanding. Thestringentrequirementsof processcontrolsystemsthatPFUhasexpertiseinthroughits minicomputermaybetranslatedtonewapplications,wherethereal-time requirementsarelesscritical. Themeaningofthetermreal-timehas changedwiththeadventofonlinenetworks. Newreal-timeapplications maynotrequiresynchronousnetworks,theyjustrequirestreamsofdata tobehandledfastandefficiently. Forexample,auserwithahand-held computermaywanttoreceiveonlineinformationfeedsaswellas informationfromlabequipment. ItisrecommendedthatPFUexplore thismarketwithitscurrentcustomerbaseandOEMpartnersfurther. 3. PublishingandPrinting Applicationsinclude: • embeddedcontrollersforprinters,copiers,faxmachinesandprint spoolers • embeddedwebservers Thisisanemergingmarket,butPFUmaynothaveanyspecialized expertisetocontribute. However,itmaybeabletogainsomeexpertise PFU O1996byINPUT.ReproductionProhibited. 4 r a