“In 1999, fat clients accounted for nearly 90% of the $73.2
billion market in 1999 for web-enabling devices (including PCs)
according to Semico, an IT market research firm. That figure is
expected to drop to 44% by 2004 – fat clients will be rapidly
overtaken by the thin clients built into information appliances
such as set-top boxes, web consoles, Internet terminals, smart
phones, web phones, hand-held browsers, and PDAs.”
“Access Co., Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan, established in 1984, is a
world market leader in providing innovative software solutions for
information appliance manufacturers. Access handles all aspects of
software design, research and development, custom engineering and
licensing of original embedded software for producers of
information appliances on a very wide range of hardware
platforms.”
“In October 2000, Access Co., Ltd and Coventive Technologies
announced a joint solution that targets the surging information
appliance market. The partnership will gear to target the IA
manufacturers in Asia for hand-held browsers, PDAs, web phones,
set-top boxes and many other information appliances. With
Access’s micro-browser technology and Coventive’s embedded Linux
expertise along with its strong presence in the Asia Pacific, IA
manufacturers can expect faster time-to-market for new product
launches.”