Emulex in EMC Deal; PairGain’s Parent Warns About 2001
Irvine-based Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. says it’s talking with wireless service providers about them sending video, news and other data to mobile phones and other devices in a bid to drive demand for a new Toshiba digital media chip.
Toshiba recently unveiled its TC35273XB chip, which has 12 megabits of integrated memory and an encoder and decoder for compressed digital audio and video signals. According to Toshiba, the chip’s embedded memory sets it apart: with integrated memory, the chip consumes less power,a key factor for portable computers and handheld devices.
“We know that battery life is always key with portable devices,” Andrew Burt, director of wireless market development at Toshiba, told ZDNet News. “So we designed this chip to specifically address that.”
Burt said the company has been talking with wireless carriers who could drive demand for devices with the chip by offering enhanced broadcasts to their subscribers. Users could receive video clips, weather reports and traffic information via phones or electronic organizers.
The Toshiba chip has a 70-megahertz processor at its core and handles audio and video signals in MPEG-4, short for Moving Picture Experts Group.
According to market researcher Cahners In-Stat Group, 30 million shipments of MPEG chips are expected from 2001 through 2003, with a jump to 60 million shipments in 2004. Most of those chips are expected to go into phones and other handheld devices.
Toshiba said samples of the chip should be sent to device makers in the second quarter with mass production set for the third quarter. Sample pricing: $55. Handheld computers and cell phones using the chip should start appearing toward year’s end, according to Burt.
In other Toshiba news, the company said printer maker Lexmark International Inc. recently selected its 32-bit TMPR3907AF processor for use in its Optra M410 network laser printer.
Emulex Selling to EMC
Emulex Corp., Costa Mesa, plans to supply its Dragonfly chip for fibre channel storage systems to EMC Corp. Dragonfly is the basis for Emulex’s LightPulse line of fibre channel adapters, which speed the flow of data among computers.
“The agreement marks an important milestone in our relationship with EMC,” said Kirk Roller, Emulex’s chief operating officer.
On Jan. 18, Emulex released better-than-expected results for the quarter ended Dec. 31. Thanks to robust sales of fibre channel adapters, revenue surged 112% to $71.1 million, while net income jumped 120% to $19.4 million. Emulex beat analysts’ profit estimates of 18 cents a share by posting earnings of 25 cents a share. In the quarter, fibre channel adapter sales were up 37% from the prior quarter.
“We experienced rising demand from substantially all of our key customers,” Chief Executive Paul Folino said.
PairGain Parent Sees Slowing
It’s been six months since Tustin-based PairGain Technologies Inc. was acquired by Minnetonka, Minn.-based ADC Telecommunications Inc. Now PairGain’s parent is warning about a tough 2001.
Earlier this month, ADC, a maker of network gear for broadband communications, warned that profits for the quarter ending Jan. 31 would be below expectations. The company sees a quarterly profit in the range of 5 cents to 7 cents a share, while analysts were expecting as much as twice that. ADC blamed the shortfall on reduced spending by communications service providers.
Earlier this month, ADC cut 400 of its 2,300 systems integration employees in a bid to maintain profitability. PairGain is part of ADC Wireline Systems. ADC says it expects to cut expenses further this year and plans to record charges in the current and next quarter.
IMC Lands Distributor
Foothill Ranch-based networking products maker IMC Networks Corp. has signed a distribution deal with Clayton-based Graybar Electric Co., a distributor of electrical and communications products. Under the pact, Graybar plans to distribute media conversion and optical networking products from IMC Networks. Graybar counts nearly 300 branches in North America, Mexico, Singapore and Puerto Rico.
Dateline: Lake Forest
Western Digital Corp.’s name still is on the Irvine Spectrum tower the disk drive maker occupied for years, but the company has issued its first bit of news from its new Lake Forest headquarters. Western Digital said its new WD Caviar drive, a 30 gigabyte-per-platter model, now is in volume production. The drive comes in capacities of 30, 40 and 60 gigabytes.
Bits:
Contract electronics maker DDi Corp. told attendees at the Needham Growth Conference that the plant at its Anaheim headquarters is the most profitable of its four U.S. sites, with products made there selling for an average $1,127 last year, up from $904 in 1999 Procom Technology Inc., Irvine, is integrating QLA2200 fibre channel host bus adapters from Aliso Viejo-based QLogic Corp. into its network storage devices NewTech Infosystems Inc., Tustin, has acquired CD-recording software from a unit of Acacia Research Corp., Pasadena, for undisclosed terms.
