GROWTH IN WORLDWIDE MARKET FOR RUGGEDIZED STATIONARY PCs STRONG THROUGH 2004.

According to a new study from Venture Development Corp. (VDC) titled "The World Market for Fully Integrated Ruggedized Stationary PCs," the worldwide market for these computers is expected to grow from $735.6 million in 1999 to almost $1,240 million in 2004, expanding at a 11 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the forecast period. Overall growth is being driven by several major factors:

* worldwide economic growth, which VDC expects, will be slightly more moderate in the future;

* the ongoing need for higher levels of factory automation as a means of improving productivity and profitability. Firms are seeking productivity and quality improvements through more automation in order to compete in a global economy;

* increasing integration between the factory floor and the executive level office is allowing companies to gain a greater competitive edge by capturing "data" and turning it into information which can be acted upon to improve quality control, measure employee productivity, and allow for faster response times to changes in market demand;

* increasing use of PCs to complement, or displace PLCs and other controllers in control applications, and

* expanding use in high growth global communications equipment applications where these computers provide customers with:

-- faster time to market

-- more economical solutions

-- greater flexibility and capability in operations

-- high reliability in operations

-- better space saving solutions.