Allan,
Part of the Wind River investment package is a report by Utendahl on 26 Sept 1995 that lists two main competitors - Integrated Systems (INTS) and Microtec Research (MTEC). Here are some comparisons and other info I gleaned from this report, the wsj briefing book on INTS, and Lombard, to complement your information. Zack’s and wsj apparently don’t follow MTEC so I have less info on them. However, MTEC has a web page that includes press releases, etc., which was helpful.
1) All three companies supply development tools and real time operating systems for the embedded systems market. INTS is a member of the group that will standardize the I2O architecture, as is WIND of course; I don’t know about MTEC. INTS says in a Feb 1 press release that their "pSOSystem is the world’s most widely adopted full multi-tasking operating software for embedded microprocessors..." They highlight its support of Java and note that their "SNIFF+ integrated software development environment fully supports the Java language specification". It seems Microware is also moving towards the embedded internet applications market, but how large this will be is anybody’s guess. MTEC merged with Mentor Graphics in October 1995, apparently to acquire their hardware design tools for 32 bit embedded applications. On Sept. 11th 1995 MTEC announced support for Intel’s i960 processor with its VRTX RTOS and Spectra development system. I’m not sure how this relates to WIND’s more recent deal to support Intel’s i960 processor.
2) In 1995 INTS had the largest market share ($52M sales) followed by MTEC ($45M) and WIND ($32M).
3) MTEC had the highest rate of sales growth between ‘93 and ’95 (37%) followed by INTS (25%) and then WIND (17%).
4) INTS has the best net profit margin (11%), then MTEC (9.6%) and WIND (7.7%).
5) INTS has the highest current P/E (84) then WIND (66) and MTEC (23).
6) 29% of INTS shares are held by institutions, compared with 15% for WIND. I don’t know about MTEC.
7) Since Jan 1 WIND and INTS shares have appreciated 20-25% whereas MTEC price has declined 28%.
Where does this all leave us? It seems WIND hasn’t done as well as INTS over the past couple years, but WIND is betting heavily on Tornedo for its future. For those in the know, how does Tornedo compare with the analogous products of INTS and Microware?
Cheers,
Ray |
