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To: Diogeron who wrote (1683)	11/11/1999 1:11:00 AM
From: Tony Peng	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2082

INTERVIEW-U.S. firm eyes Internet on Chinese TVs Thursday November 11, 12:46 am Eastern Time By Matt Pottinger BEIJING, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Silicon Valley start-up EnReach Technology Inc said it plans to market a web browser for televisions in China early next year, challenging products by Microsoft Corp (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) and MyWeb Inc.com (OTC BB:MYWB.OB - news). ''Two million boxes by the end of 2000 -- that's our target,'' EnReach president Bo Wu told Reuters in a recent interview. With personal computers still beyond the financial grasp of most Chinese families, several U.S. and Chinese companies are looking to cheaper television set-top boxes to bring China on line. Wu said EnReach would seek to beat Microsoft's Venus system, scheduled to hit store shelves in December, by offering a slimmer system at a cheaper price. ''We think Microsoft is charging way too much,'' he said. ''We don't want to kill the market.'' The EnReach system, called WebDVD, entails a micro-processor, an operating system and a web browser to be incorporated in a digital video disk player (DVD). The DVD player would be plugged into a TV and telephone line, giving users Internet access. DVD players furnished with the system would sell for around 2,400 yuan ($290), several hundred yuan cheaper than Microsoft's Venus system, which will also run on video disk players, said Gong Yu, general manager of EnReach in Beijing. Microsoft's Venus, however, would include more built-in software applications than the EnReach system, including a word processor and spread sheet programme. DVD-BASED SYSTEM SEEN HAVING AN EDGE Microsoft and EnReach would earn royalties from DVD manufacturers who use their operating systems and web browser software. A third company, San Francisco-based MyWeb Inc.com, has already come out with with a stand-alone set-top box which retails for about $180. Wu said EnReach would have an advantage over MyWeb because its system rides on board video disk players, immensely popular in China. ''I don't think a stand-alone box can sell,'' he said. ''You'll be surprised next year how many DVD players are going to have Internet capability.'' MyWeb said it has already sold about 20,000 set-top boxes since launching them in China in June. While MyWeb also earns royalties from electronics companies which make the boxes, it said its main revenues will ultimately come from electronic commerce over its web site (www.myweb.com.cn), which pops up each time users sign on. Wu said its DVD players would default to an EnReach web portal, www.focus.com.cn, which the company launched in September, giving it the same advantages. NASDAQ LISTING EYED Wu, who graduated from Qinghua University in Beijing with an electrical engineering degree before studying computer science in the United States, founded EnReach in 1997. The company creates embedded software for electronics goods, and expects revenues of $5 million this year, Wu said. About half its revenues already come from China, where more than half of the company's 80 staff members works. The company is seeking tens of millions of dollars in capital early next year so that it can hire more engineers and develop and market its web site. It is eyeing a Nasdaq listing in late 2000, Wu said. ($1 equals 8.278 Yuan)