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

To: Maya who wrote (48176)	1/7/2000 4:12:00 PM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

I suspect the CES show and the well-timed announcement of the consumer codec (good job, CUBE PR) have put CUBE semi in the spotlight. It is a good environment for dealmaking.

To: Maya who wrote (48176)	1/7/2000 4:22:00 PM
From: BillyG	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

These PlanetWeb people have no special deal with CUBE -- they are dealing with all decoder manufacturers. "Subsidized" DVD players..... semibiznews.com National, Planetweb create platform for Internet DVD players Semiconductor Business News (01/07/00, 12:06:57 PM EDT) LAS VEGAS--At the Consumer Electronics Show today, National Semiconductor Corp. and software supplier Planetweb Inc. said they were offering the industry's first reference platform for Internet DVD players. The iDVD player platform is based on National's Mediamatics Pantera-DVD chip and Planetweb's software, providing support for personalized entertainment content, Internet browsing, e-mail and advanced DVD features, according to the two companies. The reference design platform is intended to helping system manufacturers reduce the time it takes to develop iDVD players. According to National and Planetweb, several Internet service providers (ISPs) are planning to introduce "subsidized" iDVD players early this year. "With shrinking product life cycles, accelerated growth and intense competition in the DVD space, many OEMs are demanding out-of-the-box solutions," said Prem Nath, president of National's Mediamatics group in Santa Clara, Calif. "Because of the combined strengths of our software-hardware partnership, National and Planetweb can offer our customers complete solutions that allow them to differentiate their products from those of their competitors." The appearance of Internet DVD players is expected to give DVD technology a boost in the consumer marketplace. The Consumer Electronics Association says nearly 4 million DVD players were sold in 1999. The number of units sold is expected to double in 2000, according to a forecast by market researcher In-Stat. National and Planetweb officials said iDVD systems and new Internet capabilities will accelerate growth. "Considering that current DVD market projections don't account for Internet functionality, we believe these figures are somewhat conservative," said Jan Gullett, CEO of Planetweb, based in Mountain View, Calif. "iDVD players could account for 25% of the overall DVD market in 2000, growing to as much as 50% by 2002. And when convergence features like time shifting and recording are integrated into players, the iDVD market could really take off."

To: Maya who wrote (48176)	1/7/2000 5:32:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

CES projects growth of US DVD player sales this year to 6.5M units. They were way too low last year............... cesweb.org Digital camera sales have exploded in recent years, growing more than 590 percent from 1996 to 1999. Sales of digital cameras hit 2 million units in 1999, a 75 percent increase over 1998. This year, unit sales will rise to 2.6 million on $905 million in sales. Sales of traditional lifestyle products also will remain strong in 2000. Within the video category, digital versatile disc (DVD) players are expected to continue their phenomenal growth. In 1999, DVD players became the fastest selling product in the history of consumer electronics, with more than 4 million units sold during the year. That figure is up 371 percent over 1998 sales, far surpassing CEA?s original estimate of 1.6 million units. CEA projects sales of roughly $1.5 billion in 2000 with some 6.5 billion units expected to be sold. ?Consumers love the high-quality picture and sound presented by DVD as well as its interactivity,? said Shapiro. ?The rapid growth of DVD portends good things for new digital video products such as digital television and personal video recorders.?