Connecting the DOTs >> Oki, Intel team up on computer telephony
TOKYO, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Oki Electric Co said on Thursday it had teamed up with Intel Corp's Japan unit to develop computer telephony products, the latest step in Oki's bid to move further into Internet-based businesses.
The companies said in a statement they would develop computer telephony hardware allowing telecom carriers to offer more reliable voice and data services, such as retrieving e-mail in voice form over the phone.
Oki Electric, a major Japanese producer of telecommunications equipment, has slowly been pulling out of its loss-making memory chip business.
It also recently tied up with the Japanese unit of Cisco Systems to develop equipment for high speed data-transmission networks for telecom carriers.
Analysts said it was too soon to assess the potential of the agreements with Intel and Cisco, but they looked favourably on Oki Electric's general direction.
"If you look at Oki's recent moves, it's clear that the direction of management has changed," said Mami Indo, analyst at the Daiwa Institute of Research.
"Investors have tended to look at Oki as a semiconductor company but it's likely that they will begin to reassess it as an Internet-related firm," she said.
Oki Electric's shares have risen seven percent since a newspaper reported on Wednesday that it would join hands with Intel's Japan unit, despite a pullback in Thursday afternoon trade. The shares ended at 517 yen, down 16 points or three percent from Wednesday's close.
Oki Electric and Intel said they would first concentrate on developing products for the Japanese market.
Improved hardware would allow telecom carriers to offer so-called "unified" message services that combine e-mail, telephone and facsimile message functions.
An Oki Electric spokesman said the global unified message services market was expected to grow to one trillion yen ($9 billion) by the year 2003, with Japan accounting for one-tenth of that. >>
Greg |
