WHAT'S HOT & WHAT'S NOT IN THE PC INDUSTRY - PC EXPO 95

Leading Industry Analysts Reveal the Latest Technology Trends

NEW YORK, June, 1995 -- Hype was separated from high-tech reality at a
recent panel discussion held at PC Expo New York. Using new market
research and their inside knowledge of the PC industry, five leading
analysts revealed which products and trends have caught fire and which are
destined to smolder and fade away.

Moderated by Dan Ness, director of microsystems research at Computer
Intelligence InfoCorp, the computer and communications industries' leading
source of fact-based research on industry trends, product developments and
buyer activity, the panel included Brian Horey, general partner of
Lawrence, Smith and Horey; Dr. Egil Juliussen, chairman of the Computer
Industry Almanac; Jim Louderback, editor-in-chief of Windows Sources; and
Stan Veit, contributing editor of Computer Shopper.

Not surprisingly, Windows 95 is making a huge impact on the industry. It
was described by Juliussen as the largest upgrade cycle in the history of
computing, and research from CII forecasts that Microsoft will ship 22.5
million Windows 95 units this year. Interest in Windows 95 is so great
that a separate mini-session was held to discuss the hot and not-so-hot
features of the forthcoming operating system. Glenn Miller, vice president
of information strategy and research for Entex Information Services, told
session attendees that they should expect a good product with extensive
hardware upgrades, and spikes in install labor and support calls. Miller
also described the major steps a large corporation would need to take to
ensure a smooth transition to Windows 95 and included a detailed
transition cost spreadsheet.

Other products making an impact on the industry include 600 dpi laser
printers, electronic mail and groupware, 120 MHz and 133 MHz Pentium
systems, subnotebook computers, cable modems and client/server products.
Security products and software that simplify access to the Internet are
expected to take off very quickly. Color inkjet printers are also
extremely hot. CII research indicates that more than 1.2 million inkjet
printers were sold through the US dealer channel in 1993, tripling the
volume. In 1995, sales are expected to quadruple to over 5 million.

Among the areas deemed hot by the panel were voice integration; the home PC
market; and the Internet and the World Wide Web, because they have emerged
from use by a relatively small group of professionals and students to very
widespread use. Panel members now see corporations scrambling to launch
their own Web home pages as a way to reach customers. Money transactions
over the Internet, however, are not expected in significant volume for two
years, until both the legal and security issues are worked out and
customers become more comfortable with purchasing over the Internet.

On the what's not side, the panel noted the decline of MS-DOS software;
5.25 disk drives; laptop computers, which have been hurt by the emergence
of notebooks and sub-notebooks; PDAs which have been overhyped and need
time to build momentum before taking off; and slow modems.

While some products were unanimously deemed hot or not, debate swirled
around the acceptance level of ISDN and CD-ROMs. According to the panel,
ISDN products are heating up in the United States as regional bell
operating companies develop their infrastructure and pricing plans. These
products would be hotter, however, if ISDN technology was available in all
areas. CD-ROMs, on the other hand, are readily available but the best use
of these products in corporations remains to be seen. They may only be as
popular as the information they contain.

During the presentation, Ness illustrated how emerging technologies may not
seem exciting to industry veterans, but are very hot to industry
newcomers. To illustrate the point, Ness used Visioneer's PaperPort to
show that what seemed like a small scanner, was actually a machine with
powerful software that quickly and easily integrates papers into everyday
applications, such as faxing, copying, storage and electronic mail. Noting
that most technology does not come with a core of experts to run it, Ness
added, What makes a product hot or not is what the user can do with it.
All of the hype means nothing until you take a product out of its box and
actually achieve something productive.

Copies of the presentations from What's Hot & What's Not may be obtained by
calling Computer Intelligence InfoCorp at (619) 535-6730.

Computer Intelligence InfoCorp is the leading source of fact-based
information for the computer and communications industries. CII's
extensive research capabilities provide a wide variety of products and
services that help computer and communications companies sell and market
more effectively. All of the company's products and services are based on
proprietary information databases built and maintained by CII specialists.
Headquartered in La Jolla, Computer Intelligence InfoCorp has offices in
Boston; Farmington, Conn.; Mountain View, Calif.; and Europe.
 
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