Hi Rick, that's a tough question because we really don't know how the pieces will fall into place yet. It's quite possible that none of the patents will be critical since there is a general push toward open standards in order to avoid proprietary implementations. As far as ATHM and Roadrunner, they aren't competitors with COM21. Com21 is an integrated hardware provider of broadband communications equipment. It's possible that a cable MSO providing ATHM or R/R service could use COM21 equipment in one of their networks.
Here's what the S-1 says re: competition (they've got a big job ahead of them):
The Company's current and potential competitors include 3Com, Cisco, the LANcity division of Bay Networks, Inc., Hybrid Networks, Inc. ("Hybrid"), General Instrument Corporation, Motorola, Inc., Terayon Communication Systems and Zenith Electronics Corporation. Some of these competitors have existing relationships with many of the Company's prospective customers.
There can be no assurance that the Company will establish relationships with cable operators who have existing relationships with those competitors, and failure to establish such relationships could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, the Company
anticipates that some large consumer electronics companies, such as Matsushita Electronic Industrial Co., Ltd. (which markets products under the brand name Panasonic)("Matsushita"), Sony Corp., Thomson Consumer Electronics International S.A. ("Thomson") and Toshiba America, Inc., will likely introduce competitive cable modem products in the future.
As the MCNS specification is adopted for the North American market, the distribution of cable modems may move into the retail channel. If this occurs, the large consumer electronics companies could gain a
competitive advantage, due to their well-established retail distribution capabilities.
dh |
