Be Shifts Resources to Focus on Internet
Appliance Market
 January 22, 2000
Be Incorporated today announced that it is shifting
its resources to focus primarily on the growing Internet appliance market.
In order to maximize the visibility and acceptance of Be technology, the
upcoming version 5 of the BeOS desktop operating system will be available
for personal use at no charge beginning later in the first quarter of
2000. At that time, individuals who register with Be at free.be.com
will be able to download BeOS 5 for free. Be also intends to work with
publishers and other partners to make commercial versions of BeOS 5 available
through retail channels.
"The post-PC revolution of Internet appliances has started," said Jean-Louis
Gassée, chairman and chief executive officer of Be. "Our customers
and partners, such as Compaq, National Semiconductor, RealNetworks and
Qubit, have validated our belief that Be is well positioned to play an
important role in this emerging market. We want to do everything in our
power to make the best use of this opportunity. Making the free version
of BeOS 5 available through the Internet and other channels allows us
to aggressively promote our technology, maximize our visibility and obtain
valuable market feedback while aggressively pursuing Internet appliance
opportunities."
As a result of this shift in resources and offering BeOS 5 for free,
Be will not realize the revenues previously anticipated from sales of
the desktop version of its operating system. First Call's consensus estimate
of revenues for the year 2000 has been approximately $16,000,000. Analysts
estimated that desktop sales for 2000 would account for approximately
85 percent of revenues. This shift will negatively impact future revenues
as well.
Be's product for the Internet appliance market is code-named Stinger,
a software solution for appliances that deliver information and entertainment
over the web. Based on BeOS, Stinger is fully customizable, offers a complete
browser and supports popular streaming audio and video standards.
BeOS 5 is the newest version of BeOS, an alternative desktop operating
system designed to deliver the most satisfying experience possible on
a personal computer. BeOS provides a high-performance robust platform
for all applications, excelling in the areas of audio and video manipulation.
Users will be able to download BeOS 5 via a web browser and store it as
a file within their existing operating system (such as Windows). No repartitioning
will be necessary, and launching BeOS 5 will be as simple as double-clicking
an icon on the desktop.
For more information visit Be on the web at www.be.com.
| 
