Here it is~
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Tuesday January 4, 11:00 pm Eastern Time
Intel to unveil Web appliance strategy
By Duncan Martell
PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 5 (Reuters) - In its latest move beyond its core business of microprocessors that power personal computers, Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - news) will announce on Wednesday its strategy for developing Web appliances that would be resold by Internet service providers and phone companies.
The gizmos, due out by midyear and aimed at the consumer market, will be designed by Intel, the world's largest chipmaker. At least initially they will be made by consumer electronics manufacturers, Claude Leglise, vice president of Intel's architecture business group and head of its home products group, told Reuters.
Although estimates for the number of Web appliances -- whether the size of a notepad, cellular phone, or laptop computer -- vary widely, Leglise said the market could expand from several hundred thousand units this year to 2 million or more in the next three years.
``It's just a beginning,' Leglise said of the nascent Web appliance market. ``There will be little ones and big ones but there will be a lot of them.'
Intel, Santa Clara, Calif., plans to provide the building blocks to its customers -- telecommunications firms and other service providers -- that let the devices work, Leglise said.
In addition to designing and making devices that will carry the Intel brand name, it first is developing the software that makes the devices work and striking deals with companies such as Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU - news), InfoSpace.com Inc. (NasdaqNM:INSP - news), which is a portal to other portals.
Intel is already expanding beyond its traditional business of microprocessors -- which it's been in since the late 1980s and which accounts for virtually all of its profits. It's working aggressively to expand its data networking business, which analysts estimate now has about $750 million and sales.
Also in the past 12 months, Intel has started operating vast ``server farms,' collection of powerful computers on which Intel hosts data and Web sites for companies. The move into services is aimed at helping to boost revenue as sales of PCs are showing signs of moderation.
Intel is working with Lucent, for example, on a so-called unified message mailbox that would deliver both voice- and e-mail in one device. ``By offering these services as options and integrating them into our platform, then we can help our customers create more consumer services,' Leglise said.
There will be more announcements, Leglise said, adding that ``we've already delivered appliance prototypes and software to our customers.'
Intel will be showcasing a few prototype designs at the mammoth Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas later this week. The devices will access the Internet via dial-up analog phone lines, through DSL or cable-modem high-speed access, among other technologies.
Intel's latest moves beyond its bread-and-butter business come as some have questioned how Intel can keep sales and profits growing as the PC market shows signs of slowing growth. In the United States, just over 50 percent of homes own a PC, though in Western Europe and Japan, it's about 25 percent.
``We look at this as offering a different model than the PC,' Leglise said, adding that ``it's definitely not an acknowledgment of the death of the PC.' |
