Venus settops to enter the market in the second 1/2 of 1999................................
mediacentral.com
03-10-99 05:59 EST Headlines
Microsoft aims to promote Internet in China
SHENZHEN, China, March 10 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp chairman Bill Gates on Wednesday unveiled a new operating system designed to bring Internet access to Chinese homes at less than one-fifth the cost of a personal computer.
Microsoft's Venus operating system would allow Chinese electronics firms to combine a web browser, low-end personal computer (PC) and video compact disc (VCD) player in a single box atop televisions for people who cannot afford a PC, Gates said.
"Our goal is a very aggressive goal, and that is to introduce millions and millions of people to computers and to the Internet," he told a news conference in China's southern city of Shenzhen.
The Venus system is among the first products developed by the $80 million Beijing research laboratory Microsoft set up last year, and tailors its Windows CE and Web TV products for the domestic market, he said.
Venus designers took into account China's mature consumer appliance market, the popularity of VCDs, low market penetration of PCs, and Chinese parents' willingness to spend on the education of the one child allowed them by the state.
"We wanted a product with learning capabilities, as well as VCD capabilities," Gates said. "The VCD is a phenomenal product here in China."
Statistics published in state newspapers show that China has 40 million VCD players and 320 million television sets. This compares with about 11 million PCs installed nationwide and two million Internet users.
Microsoft officials declined to disclose the company's investment in the Venus project but said it was expected to be ready for release by the second half of this year.
Prototype Venus devices showed a simple interface, uncluttered by too many icons.
Although most devices on display were powered by inexpensive, low-speed chips, a Microsoft demonstration showed stripped-down word processor, drawing and money management programmes running at speeds comparable to a PC.
Companies with plans to roll out Venus devices included Taiwan's Acer Inc <2306.TW>, Philips Consumer Electronics of the Netherlands, and China's Legend Holdings Ltd <0992.HK> and Stone Electronic Technology Ltd <0409.HK> and Haier Group Co, a Microsoft statement said.
Legend chairman Liu Chuanzhi also said in a statement that it would establish a laboratory with Microsoft to develop Windows CE applications in China.
"Set-top boxes and low-end PCs are nothing new," said one official of U.S. microchip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) , which aims to supply chips for Venus devices.
"The real attractiveness is low entry cost," AMD Asia-Pacific marketing manager Shane Rigby told Reuters.
Rigby said he had seen estimated prices for Venus products as low as 1,500 yuan ($181), against 10,000 yuan for a domestically made PC with a 350 megahertz processor.
"It's more than just home entertainment," he said. "It's driven by requests for information. People really need information here."
Gates also signed a joint contract with 40 government ministries to provide software for China's "Government On-Line" project to bring China's paper-bound bureaucracy closer to the people through the Internet.
"Instead of getting confused by the paperwork, people just go to the Internet to organise their activities, whether it's import or export or other things," Gate said.
"This is a case where China is at the forefront," he said.
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