CONFERENCE CALL - additional info
Thanks Dave, Jason, Darryl and Ronald for posting summaries of the conference call. Your notes gave me a cross check on what I heard in the call.
My $0.02 worth on the call:
* Business is developing according to plan. Market, revenue, staffing, facilities, etc. are falling into place, to enable evolution to a much larger operation. Expenses are under control.
* The management of Wind River wants to expand the services available to WIND's customers beyond the typical vendor support relationship. More and more people are working with 32 bit processors. The management recognizes that many of these customers will need help with their methodology and applications. WIND views this as an opportunity to help customers get their products to market in a timely manner. In fact, WIND may offer to do the whole application if needed. Additional
senior management is needed at Wind River, to develop these professional services. They are currently searching for a VP of Customer Service to lead the program.
* I2O Revenue
Ron Abelmann wants to see 1 or 2 Quarters of I2O shipments, before making any runtime revenue projections. Intel will pay WIND for I2O shipments on a quarterly basis. Intel reconciles I2O shipments at the end of each quarter; then pays WIND 60 days later. I2O shipments will ramp in a hockey stick, starting PROBABLY with a couple hundred thousand units worth in FQ1,1998 (the February,March,April 1998 Q).
During the I2O discussion, Digital's I2O contract was mentioned, and I heard them say that another company has signed a contract for I2O. I understood this to refer a third company.
Did anyone else hear this?
Is this a third I2O contract?
* DSP
WIND will be doing marketing/missionary work for a while before they expect to see significant results. Most DSP projects are currently developed using in-house OS software. The available software tools are in a crude state, about where microprocessors tools were, 5 to 10 years ago.
* Mars Pathfinder
The press coverage of the Mars Pathfinder mission generated many sales leads. It also helped to recruit new employees.
The Pathfinder underscored:
- the mission critical nature of WIND software
- the robustness of software and support
- that Wind River Systems is a high quality, high reliability provider
Frank
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