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Technology Stocks : C-Cube
CUBE 37.23-0.3%Nov 28 9:30 AM EST

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To: John Rieman who wrote (29017)2/1/1998 2:42:00 PM
From: CPAMarty  Read Replies (1) of 50808
 
C-Cube Readies Low-cost MPEG-2 Encoder/ Consumer Market Version Will Ship this Year

January 29, 1998

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newspage.com

MULTIMEDIA WEEK via Individual Inc. -- C-Cube Microsystems Inc. [CUBE] isn't letting the slow adoption of DVD slow down technology developments related to the emerging platform. The chip company is pushing ahead with an MPEG-2 codec and expects demand to spike early next year when rewritable DVD drives are expected to ship in volume.

C-Cube expects to ship a consumer version of the DVx single-chip encoder and decoder in the second half of this year.

Company officials are confident at least one third-party upgrade kit marketer will sell a board-level implementation of the technology for $299 by Christmas. That means the cost to OEMs for the DVx chip will be sub-$100. C-Cube also is reaching out to drive manufacturers as a potential distribution source.

The consumer-level codec will be a scaled-down version of the $1,800 DVx product available to the broadcast market today. (see MMW, Aug. 25, for related story.)

C-Cube has started showing DVx to potential OEM customers. The company expects after-market peripheral makers to account for the bulk of sales this year and interest from PC OEMs to pick up in 1999.

Sony Deal in the Works?

Officials told Multimedia Week they have received a positive response from one supplier but would not name the company.

Sony Electronics Inc. [SNE] sems the likeliest candidate for DVx, based on the company's PC introductions to date. Sony dubbed the second-generation VAIO PC the creativity PC and bundled it with more consumer-level authoring tools than any other vendor to date. C- Cube officials view the technology as a way for PC OEMs to put content creation into the hands of consumers at a very low cost and spark new applications.

The company also expects to sell a version to peripheral makers pushing non-linear editing boards and software. Companies such as Truevision and Pinnacle Systems Inc. [PNCL] are likely targets.

The product could appeal to multimedia developers and prosumers looking for inexpensive MPEG-2 encoding. And DVx could gain even more support from vendors targeting those buyers when the company releases a DVC to MPEG-2 transcoder in the second half of the year.

Adaptec Inc. [ADPT] is co-developing the transcoder, which will allow digital camcorder users to put their creations onto the PC. (C- Cube, 408/490-8000.)

Company at a Glance

C-Cube Microsystems Inc.

1778 McCarthy Blvd.

Milpitas, CA 95035

tel 408/490-8000

www.c-cube.com

Target OEM markets

* Consumer

* Prosumer

* Broadcast

Recent Design Wins

December 1997

* Dell buys ZiVA decoder for Dimension PCs

* Zenith Buys AViA chipset for set-top boxes

November 1997

* Toshiba buys ZiVA decoder for Tecra notebooks

[Copyright 1998, Phillips Publishing]
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