Panasonic Takes Equity Stake in MontaVista Software; Reinforces MontaVista Drive to Target Next-Generation Consumer Products.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 12, 2002 MontaVista Software MontaVista Software develops systems software, development tools and Embedded Linux-based software targeting embedded systems such as automotive electronics, communications equipment, and television set-top boxes and other connected devices and infrastructure. , the company powering the embedded revolution announced it had received an equity investment from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (MEI) through its subsidiary, Panasonic Digital Concepts Center (PDCC PDCC Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control PDCC Parallel and Distributed Computing Centre (Universiti Sains Malaysia) PDCC Project Document Control Center PDCC Pendleton District Camera Club (South Carolina) ). MontaVista Software is focused on meeting the needs of developers of the next generation digital consumer devices. Development of consumer products such as mobile smart phones, wireless PDAs, set-top boxes and more are characterized by the demand for smaller footprints, improved performance, lower power consumption, flexible and scalable architectures, robustness and openness. Using proprietary solutions, these new consumer devices are not merely more complex but in fact more costly to design and develop. MontaVista Software offers a portfolio of Linux-based solutions, which can minimize deployment cost and time to market constraints. "As embedded applications become more network oriented, consumer electronics companies are looking to Linux as a robust and cost-effective development platform," said Charles C. Wu, Managing Director, Investments, of PDCC. "Panasonic Digital Concepts Center recognizes the tremendous traction that MontaVista has gained in the increasingly important area of embedded software Instructions that permanently reside in a ROM or flash memory chip. Embedded software may be immediately available to the CPU or, for faster execution, may be transferred to RAM first and then executed. solutions. We look forward to a strategic relationship that will meld MontaVista Software's strengths with Panasonic's global leadership in consumer electronics." MEI joins a list of high-profile investors, including 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) , Sony, US Venture Partners, and others who also invested in MontaVista Software in its third round of funding announced earlier this year. (Refer to http://www.mvista.com/news/2002/MV_Fund.html) "Consumer electronics and communications infrastructure are the two markets we believe hold the most opportunity for Linux," said Jim Ready, MontaVista CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. and embedded industry pioneer. "Manufacturers of high-volume, competitively priced consumer electronics devices especially appreciate the non-proprietary nature of Linux, which does not lock them in to paying royalties and licensing fees." About MontaVista(TM) Linux(R) MontaVista Linux, the company's flagship product A primary product of a company, which is typically why the company was founded and/or what made it well known. For example, MS-DOS, Windows and the Microsoft Office suite have been flagship products of Microsoft. CorelDRAW is a flagship product of Corel Corporation. boasts unrivaled development support for the broadest range of embedded processor A CPU chip used in a system other than a general purpose workstation, desktop or laptop computer. Such chips are used by the billions every year in a myriad of products. See embedded system. architectures, supporting more than 22 CPUs, over a dozen desktop hosts, more than 60 COTS and reference board platforms and including in excess of 215 application packages. This feature-rich product enables a wide variety of embedded applications, providing a standard platform for designs in communications infrastructure, networking, consumer electronics, instrumentation and control. About Panasonic Digital Concepts Center Panasonic Digital Concepts Center is a business unit of New Jersey-based Panasonic Technologies Co, which is itself a division of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America. The Center directs Matsushita Electric investment and incubates technologies and services that provide value for the next generation of networked consumers. Drawing on Matsushita Electric's rich consumer electronics heritage and the Panasonic brand name, the Center brings a consumer sensibility to Silicon Valley technology innovations. Panasonic Digital Concepts Center offers its early-stage portfolio companies incubator facilities in Cupertino and San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden Calif., start-up expertise, and access to service providers including Matsushita Electric's deep manufacturing and R&D resources. In addition, Matsushita Electric recently renewed its' commitment to support the growth of the Center's portfolio companies by initiating Phase II of the Panasonic Venture fund. Panasonic Digital Concepts Center also serves as a home base for various Matsushita Electric divisions seeking to develop alliances with key Silicon Valley partners. Additional information is available at http://www.vc.panasonic.com. About Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, Ltd. ("Panasonic") Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :MC), best known for its Panasonic brand, is a worldwide leader in the development of technologies for and the production of electronic and electric products for consumer, business and industrial use. The company recorded sales of $61.45 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001. Additional information about Matsushita Electric and its Panasonic brand products is available at www.panasonic.com. About MontaVista Software, Inc. MontaVista Software Inc. powers the embedded revolution by providing open-source systems software solutions for embedded developers. Founded in 1999 by real-time operating system (operating system) Real-Time Operating System - (RTOS) Any operating system where interrupts are guaranteed to be handled within a certain specified maximum time, thereby making it suitable for control of hardware in embedded systems and other time-critical applications. (RTOS (1) (RealTime Operating System) An operating system designed for use in a real time computer system. See real time system, embedded system, process control and OS-9. ) pioneer James Ready, MontaVista's principal products include MontaVista(TM) Linux(R), a Linux-based embedded source and binary distribution, cross development platform and set of tool kits for x86/IA-32, PowerPC, StrongARM, MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second) The execution speed of a computer. For example, .5 MIPS is 500,000 instructions per second; 100 MIPS is a hundred million instructions per second. , SH, ARM, XScale and other microprocessor architectures. MontaVista offers a family of products and services for embedded design and development of applications for a variety of technologies ranging from communications infrastructure to consumer devices. MontaVista Software also provides several technology add-on products addressing specific customer needs such as the Java development environment, High Availability technology, powerful graphics toolkits and more. Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley in Sunnyvale, Calif., MontaVista Software is a privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. funded by leading investors such as Alloy Ventures, RRE RRE Red Rock Eater (News Service) RRE Road Race Engineering RRE Remote Roof Easy RRE Residential Real Estate RRE Rise-And-Run-Length Encoding RRE Royal Radar Establishment (Great Britain) Ventures, US Venture Partners, and WR Hambrecht + Co WR Hambrecht + Co. is a full service investment bank with headquarters in New York and San Francisco. It specializes in using its unique auction process called OpenIPO to compete with the traditional methods of larger and more established banks. ., as well as IBM, Intel Capital and Sony Corporation. For more information about MontaVista Software, please visit http://www.mvista.com, email to info@mvista.com or call 408/328-9200. Note to Editors: Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. MontaVista is a trademark of MontaVista Software Inc. All other names mentioned are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective companies. |
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