"Globe and Mail " REPORT ON BUSINESS "
Cowpland's bravado notwithstanding, Corel's Linux stradegy still faces a steep uphill clinb. On
the positive side, Linux has at least temporarily enabled Corel to escape the reach of
Microsoft. As Michael Goulde, senior consultant with the technology consulting frim Patricia
Seybold Group in Boston, puts it, " Corel's greatest leverage is with its office suite. Microsoft
won't touch Linux, so Corel has the field mostly to itself."
Corel still has to persuade computer manufacturers to buy and install Corel's Linux OS on new
machines, much as Microsoft does with its Windows OS. But Cowpland says the
manufacturers' quest to market sub-$700 computers will create the demand. Computer
makers typically paying $80 for Windows for Windows will jump at a $5 LINUX OS. Of course,
buyers of such machines would also be a prime target for Corel's office-suite software---which
sells for about $599( Canadian ). " We're creating a whole new mass market with tens of
millions of desktops which just haven't existed before," Cowpland says.
Manufacturers don't disagree. " System integrators are always looking to maximize their
margins," says Basat Khalifa, marketing director for IPC Direct, a manufacturer owned by PC
Chips(Canada) which serves the low-end computer market. " If we can put Linux on a
computer, we eliminate $100." But by late 1999, PC Chips was the only manufacturer on
board, and even it was hedging: It ships its motherboards with both Corel's Linux and its
WordPerfect 8 Suite for Windows included on CDs.
This should help answer your question Peter. Market penetration is the key. They are doing
that now."
(Source: ragingbull.com )
Later...Gator |
