Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DiViT who wrote (44387)	9/1/1999 8:47:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

VCD Venus box........................ technologypost.com Wednesday, September 1, 1999 INTERNET TCL to put Venus set top box on China market this year NEWSBYTES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- China's TCL International Holdings has announced plans to begin sales in China of an Internet set top box based on Microsoft Corp's Venus platform later this year. TCL said it plans to begin selling its Venus-system in October this year for around US$300. The device will also include a Video CD player and will connect to the Internet with an internal 56 kilobit per second modem. Speaking at a news conference to unveil his plans, TCL chairman Li Dong Sheng said the company hopes to sell 300,000 of the devices in the first twelve months on the market. Announced amid much fanfare in March, the Venus platform is a Microsoft developed platform based on Windows CE and designed for use in set top boxes in China. The US-based software company has already licensed the system to several other Chinese consumer electronics manufacturers and has forged a deal with China Telecom to supply Internet access to users of the Venus devices. When the device comes on the market, it will not be the first Internet set top box to be offered to Chinese users. Malaysia-based MyWeb Inc.com has already begun shipping its MyWeb set top boxes to Beijing Telecom as part of a 200,000 device deal announced earlier this year. Because of their low cost compared to a personal computer, set top boxes are seen as a massive potential market in China and could become the dominant means of Internet access in a few years. Should MyWeb and TCL succeed in meeting their combined sales targets of 500,000 devices, the two companies alone would have a respectable slice of the Chinese Internet market, which is expected to reach 7 million users at the end of this year. In addition to TCL, Microsoft has also signed Venus platform licensing deals with nine local and international companies: Acer Advanced Labs, BBK Electronics, ESS, Haier Group, Integrated Technology Express, Legend Group, Philips Consumer Electronics, Stone Jinbin and Xuxing Electronics (Group). Copyright (c) Post-Newsweek Business Information, Inc. All rights reserved.