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To: Bill DeMarco who wrote (24780)	11/3/1997 7:41:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

25% of world wide chip sales are in the Asia-Pacific region.................. scmp.com TuesdayÿÿNovember 4ÿÿ1997 Chip sector to see rebound REUTERS in San Jose The worldwide semiconductor industry will end 1997 with sluggish 5.5 per cent growth, but rebound next year, the Semiconductor Industry Association says. The association, in its annual forecast, expects this year's sales to reach US$131.9 billion. "This year can be characterised by one word - recovery - and 1998 should be even better for the industry," association president George Scalise said. The industry this year was recouping from its first sales drop in about 10 years due to a collapse of memory-chip prices and inventory glut last year. The association said for the first time growth was hampered by the stronger US dollar in Europe and Japan. Before the impact of the stronger dollar, the association said this year's growth would have been 10.4 per cent. "This is the first year in memory when currency fluctuations have had a demonstrable impact on dollar-based growth rates," the association said. Global chip sales fell 8.6 per cent to $132 billion last year, the first drop in about 10 years. Sales last fell in 1985, tumbling 30 per cent. The association said it was confident the industry's historical double-digit growth rates would return next year, 1999 and 2000. Semiconductor growth also would come from continued expansion of the Internet and the development of applications for personal computers and other consumer electronic devices. Microprocessor sales grew 27.6 per cent this year and were the best-selling product, surpassing Dram (dynamic random access memory) chips in total sales, the association said. Total sales climbed to $23.6 billion, up from $18.5 billion last year. In the Asia-Pacific region semiconductor sales grew 10.2 per cent this year to $30.3 billion.

To: Bill DeMarco who wrote (24780)	11/3/1997 8:07:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

DTV DVD competition................................................. onlineinc.com <Picture>Live Cryptolopes and Waves of DES Months before the Divx (Digital Video Express) announcement regarding that nascent DVD pay-per-view system, other technologies were already moving into the DTV, DVD, and Web convergence market with encrypted electronic commerce schemes of their own. Two electronic commerce systems, IBM's Cryptolope Live! and Wave Systems' WaveMeter, illustrate how Java and silicon might enable online transactions and royalty collection across convergent media. IBM's original Cryptolope product for enveloping Web content into an encrypted envelope first appeared as a Netscape Plug-in client that would download and open a proprietary CZP file of purchased content. IBM has now announced Cryptolope Live!--a Java-based persistent object--in which content and envelope are combined into an object that manages not only whether the Cryptolope can be opened, but how it can be distributed, protected, accessed, and used. Some applications that IBM lists for Cryptolope Live! include intelligent Web forms that automatically update information, applet-based services that can be sold over the Web, Web content that can be activated after sales, controlled distribution of digital assets, and electronic publishing with multilevel authentication. Cryptolope Live! consists of the following components: Cryptolope Builder, Cryptolope Clearing Center, Cryptolope Player, and Cryptolope Cashier. The Builder transforms digital content into an optionally encrypted object that contains business rules for use and distribution, extensible with Java and Java scripts. The Clearing Center logs events, provides back-end processing and an audit trail of transactions, and manages the exchange of encryption keys, providing an interface for the Cryptolope Cashier. Cashier provides processing of real-time credit card transactions, along with payment and tax calculations. The Player is the Java runtime applet, which can be embedded in a Web page or installed on a user's PC. Pricing and availability of Cryptolope Live! will be announced by the end of 1997. Wave Systems, Inc., of Lee, Massachusetts, originally introduced the WaveNet concept to the public in its electronic commerce Web site, The Great Stuff Network. This first use of Wave's DES-encryption-assisted electronic commerce scheme can be viewed as a test of the more elaborate Wave Systems hardware partnerships that are now rolling in. These partnerships are based on the WaveMeter chip that measures the flow of digital content and stores decryption keys, consumer credit information, and user transactions. This summer, Wave Systems announced strategic relationships with Berlin-based ACOTEC GmbH and Kuwait-based ZakSat General Trading Co. ACOTEC will be including the WaveMeter chip in its low-cost ISDN cards (scheduled to arrive in early 1998), which are targeted at the burgeoning market for ISDN in Europe. This follows a July 1997 announcement in which British modem manufacturer EPL Ltd. announced a plan to incorporate the WaveMeter chip into its next-generation ADSL modems. ZakSat General Trading Co. will be aiming the WaveMeter at ZakNet PC cards and new television set-top box products. ZakSat is a provider of cable TV services in the Middle East and the developer of a satellite-delivered MPEG2 DVB-compliant Internet service that will be known as ZakNet. (IBM Corporation, Route 100, Somers NY 10589; 914/766-1330; Fax 914/766-1067; cryptolope.ibm.com. Wave Systems Corporation, 480 Pleasant Street, Lee, MA 01238; 413/243-1600; Fax 413/243-0045; wave.com) --Ron Gustavson