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Technology Stocks : General Instrument Corp.'98 (GIC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John F. Dowd who wrote (363)	7/27/1998 7:59:00 AM
From: John F Beule	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 615

Here you go: July 23, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Susumu Furukawa, chairman of Microsoft Co., Ltd. of Japan and chairman of WebTV Networks KK, was interviewed by Nikkei Personal Computing on the present state of WebTV after seven months of operation in Japan and prospects for the future. Fujitsu Ltd. is expected to follow Sony Corp. in going into production of WebTV-compatible terminals shortly, while Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Japan's largest maker of home electric appliances, is preparing to start producing the terminals before the year is out. At the same time, WebTV plans to enhance consumer recognition through volume advertising. <Picture>Nikkei Personal Computing: How would you evaluate WebTV's achievement since the start of services at the end of last year? Furukawa (photo): We commenced the domestic services Dec. 1, 1997, but to tell the truth, we seem to have stumbled a little at the outset. Advertising was not quite sufficient, and we couldn't supply the year-end market with enough products. We feel that if we leave it as it is, we'll have a hard time attaining our initial goal of selling 150,000 units in Japan by the end of 1998. So, we've decided to beef up our advertising efforts, including publicity campaigns. We expect that the participation of such big names as Sony, Fujitsu and Matsushita will spur the spread of WebTV. We'll probably be able to clear our the sales target for the time being. Nikkei PC: How are you coming along on the introduction in Japan of WebTV Plus terminals that enable connection with TV broadcasting and electronic program guide (EPG) functions which are already available on the U.S. market? Furukawa: There is no doubt about introducing them in Japan, but the exact timing hasn't been decided. We feel that we need to have general consumers recognize and firmly establish the image of our present services in their minds first. Of course, we'll keep improving the software versions for the present terminals, too. Just the other day, we introduced an improved version for the second time. With the new version, users can send or receive sounds and images attached to an e-mail. The new version also has a display screen printing function and functions to keep minors from having access to undesirable sites. Nikkei PC: After joining hands with Sony, you've also become affiliated with Matsushita. What are your plans for the future? Furukawa: I'm in no position to discuss the strategies of different partners, but I can say that WebTV is compatible with DVD, CATV and even BS tuners. We intend to keep adopting these existing services in the future. WebTV Plus terminals already on the U.S. market, for example, are equipped with CATV tuner functions. About 24-25 percent of all TV viewing households in the Tokyo metropolitan area living in areas where broadcasting frequencies are hard to pick up depend on CATV for relaying service. Actually, though, WebTV Plus terminals purchased in the United States can't be used readily in Japan because of the differences in specifications, but with a WebTV Plus terminal, one can receive CATV's free broadcasts. That being the case, there would be no need to differentiate set-top boxes for CATV from WebTV terminals. Nikkei PC: WebTV's business models have their own servers and are about to become Web broadcasting stations. Won't they conflict with existing TV stations in the future? Furukawa: That won't be any problem. When WebTV Plus services are launched in the future and TV programs can be linked with Web, watching TV would be much more fun than at present. Instead of posing a threat to existing TV stations, it would give added values to the present broadcasting services. The ultimate purpose of WebTV is to recreate TV into something more interesting.