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Friday September 19 6:04 PM EDT
Quarterdeck to Sell Automatic Software Updates
Company's web site - qdeck.com
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuter) - Quarterdeck Corp. (Nasdaq::QDEK), looking for a new niche in the software
business, Monday will begin selling TuneUp, a program that uses the Internet to automatically update popular
software products, the company said.
The $39 product is another attempt by Quarterdeck to revamp its product line to expand in the so-called
"helpware" software market. The rising complexity of personal computers has led to explosive demand for
programs that help computer users keep their machines running smoothly.
In the past two years, Quarterdeck has been scrambling to find a new source of revenue. Its flagship QEMM
products, which increase the memory capacity of PCs, were made obsolete by the introduction of Microsoft
Corp.'s Windows 95, which contains many of the same features.
"TuneUp is an important product for us," Quarterdeck Chief Executive Curtis Hessler said. "We expect the
competition to be considerable, but we have every confidence that we can get our share of the market."
TuneUp automatically updates about 3,000 popular software products. Most commercial software is periodically
updated by vendors because they contain minor glitches or do not work properly with certain models of PCs or
printers.
Usually, the computer user would get the updates from a vendor on a floppy disk, or would have to visit the
vendor's site on the World Wide Web and download the software.
TuneUp monitors which programs computer users have on their machines, and automatically downloads and
installs the updates for those programs when they become available.
Quarterdeck faces intense competition in the field from bigger companies like Symantec Corp., Cybermedia Inc.
and McAfee Associates Inc.
Hessler also conceded it was "conceivable" that Microsoft could include similar capabilities in its operating
systems.
But Quarterdeck, after a painful year of big losses and a 40 percent cut in its workforce, is poised to grow again,
Hessler said.
The company also has made several acquisitions in recent months to broaden its products into fast-growing
areas such as antivirus utilities.
In its third quarter ended June 30, Quarterdeck earned about $1 million, or 2 cents a share, on sales of $24.8
million, compared with a loss of $23.3 million, or 57 cents a share, on sales of $27.9 million a year earlier.
StockProClub
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suggestions@stockproclub.com
Maybe it will turn around like BORL with new products rolling
out in the next few quarters. |
