FIRM'S STOCK MOVES ON SONY NEWS.Byline: Deborah Adamson Daily News Staff Writer Shares of Interlink Electronics Interlink Electronics is a technology company that specializes in user interfaces. History In 2001, Interlink joined Microsoft in designing the controller for the Xbox console. traded heavily this week as news of the company's new deal with Sony hit the streets. The maker of wireless computer mice, touchpads and other peripherals saw a trading volume Trading volume The number of shares transacted every day. As there is a seller for every buyer, one can think of the trading volume as half of the number of shares transacted. That is, if A sells 100 shares to B, the volume is 100 shares. of 349,900 on Thursday, seven times its daily average. On Wednesday, volume reached 1.4 million - 28 times its average. Interlink INTERLINK - A commercial product comprising hardware and software for file transfer between IBM and VAX computers. closed at 4 13/16 Thursday, down 9/16. On Wednesday, the stock ended at 5-3/8, up -3/8. Company officials believe the minimal movement in the stock price resulted from many sellers taking advantage of intraday highs in the price as they saw buyers boost demand. Wednesday's intraday high was 6-3/8; Thursday's was 5-3/4. This week, Interlink announced that its VersaPad touchpad A stationary pointing device that provides a small, flat surface that you slide your finger over using the same movements as you would a mouse. You can tap on the pad's surface as an alternate to pressing one of the touchpad keys. See mouse, trackball and pointing stick. will be incorporated into Sony's new superslim VAIO (Video Audio Integrated Operation) Sony's trade name for its desktop and laptop PCs. In mid-1998, Sony introduced its 505G series of subnotebooks that were the first in ultra-thin Pentium portables. 505G laptop, which will start selling in June. Computer buffs use the touchpad like a computer mouse. They can even write on it, since the product recognizes handwriting. ``This notebook has done very well in Japan and there's anticipation that it will do well in the U.S.,'' said Paul Meyer, Interlink's chief financial officer. Sony's new notebook is less than an inch thick and weighs three pounds. The Sony deal will enable the company to sell its notebook-integrated VersaPad in the U.S. for the first time, officials said. An external version of the VersaPad already is being sold in America. Interlink has been selling the integrated touchpad overseas, mainly in Japan. ``The real market is the U.S. market,'' Meyer said. Touchpads are catching on among laptops as more manufacturers incorporate them into their computers, said Mike McGuire, an analyst with Dataquest, a San Jose-based market research firm specializing in the technology sector. Touchpads are slimmer and more flexible than pointers and track balls, he said. Computer makers can add new features to touchpads more easily. Interlink already supplies Toshiba, Hitachi, NEC (NEC Corporation, Tokyo, www.nec.com, www.necus.com) An electronics conglomerate known in the U.S. for its monitors. In Japan, it had the lion's share of the PC market until the late 1990s (see PC 98). NEC was founded in Tokyo in 1899 as Nippon Electric Company, Ltd. and IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) with computer peripherals. The company hopes to attract the attention of Compaq and other major computer makers with its VersaPad. Interlink reported 1997 sales of $19.2 million and profit of $30,000 (1 cent per share). CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) Interlink Electronics' VersaPad will be sold in Sony laptop computers. |
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