MontaVista Software Reports Impressive Revenue Surge in 2003
MontaVista Software Reports Impressive Revenue Surge in 2003
SUNNYVALE, Calif., TOKYO, PARIS, Feb. 10, 2004 — MontaVista Software, Inc., the company powering the embedded revolution, today announced it has ended its 2003 fiscal year with revenue growth of 77 percent over the previous year. In 2003, MontaVista captured 500 new customer design wins, many with Fortune 100 and Global 500 corporations. The company became cash flow positive in the fourth quarter of 2003, ahead of plan. By the end of 2003, MontaVista Software had experienced 1 5 consecutive quarters of growth, despite a challenging global economy.
"For the last four years, MontaVista Software has been on a steady growth path, with the company's revenue multiplying 12-fold since 2000," said Jim Ready, embedded industry pioneer and CEO, MontaVista Software. " Our strong brand, global presence and solid products meet the needs of customers in markets ranging from consumer electronics to communications infrastructure. MontaVista Software is perfectly positioned to continue increasing market share in a rapidly growing global embedded software market."
In August 2003, Gartner Inc. reported that the Embedded Software Tools Total Available Market was close to $1 billion. In this survey (2002 Worldwide Embedded Software Tools Market Share, August 14, 2003, Nancy Wu and Daya Nadamuni), MontaVista Software was listed among the top embedded OS companies. Last year, Venture Development Corporation placed MontaVista Software as the #1 commercial embedded Linux company worldwide, based on market share. In Japan, the Fuji-Keizai Group, a leading provider of market and industry information, reported last year that MontaVista Linux garnered almost half (46.3%) of embedded Linux projects in Japan while MontaVista Software represented almost two-thirds (63.4%) of the embedded Linux market revenues in Japan.
MontaVista Software is unique in that it is a pure-play Linux company. MontaVista has enjoyed its spectacular growth by productizing and marketing a Linux-based embedded platform. MontaVista Linux leverages Open Source and gives customers a huge head start in OEM product development. By providing a foundation with rich high performance networking, a robust and reliable runtime environment, and an unparalleled collection of development tools, utilities and deployment components, MontaVista Linux has easily displaced a broad range of legacy, proprietary embedded OS-es, accelerating migration to embedded Linux and shortened time-to-market for intelligent devices.
"Driven by the company's rapid growth as the preferred provider of embedded Linux systems software platforms, we achieved positive cash flow in the fourth calendar quarter of last year, a milestone for us and the embedded Linux market," commented Dave Warner, CFO, MontaVista Software. "For the year, our staffing increased to about 200 people worldwide, productivity improved, gross margins improved and operating expenses stayed flat. Our results reflect the market telling us that we are the safe bet when it comes to using Linux for embedded devices."
MontaVista Software now has secured more than 1200 customers worldwide since it was established in 1999. New customers or product deployments include Samsung Electronics, Siemens, Alcatel, Nortel Networks, Volvo Mobility Systems, Toshiba Personal Computer, Mitsubishi Electric Company, Toyota Communication Systems, Lucent Technologies, Motorola PCS, Motorola Broadband Communications Sector, Caspian Networks, MEN Micro Elektronik, UTStarcom, Iskratel, Datang Mobile, and Thales .
Market focus and growing International presence
MontaVista Linux has been particularly well received in market segments like Telecommunications, Data Communications, Consumer Electronics, Automotive Telematics, Instrumentation & Control, and Medical. Device developers in these markets have been very eager to migrate from legacy platforms to open standards-based operating environments.
MontaVista Software has become a key embedded OS player in Japan and Asia Pacific in particular. Several factors have contributed to its success in the Asian technology market: the robustness and maturity of the embedded Linux platform, enhanced control over technology road maps, the opportunity for customers to consolidate diverse technology investments, and a growing desire to migrate from legacy and proprietary platforms. Impressed by the ease and low cost of developing consumer, networking, communications and other products, leading companies there are now standardizing on MontaVista Linux as a "strategic platform" for current and future product development.
In Japan, it was significant that the T-Engine Forum selected MontaVista Linux as the preferred Linux platform defined in the T-Engine software architecture. Working together with the T-Engine Forum, MontaVista Software will propose a joint solution, combining the long-dominant Japanese embedded OS, TRON, and embedded Linux, benefiting the Japanese electronics industry at large.
In 2003, the company continued to expand its international sales and distribution network with the opening of a new office in Korea and a new distribution channel in Italy. The company has also established software development centers in India, Russia and China. MontaVista now has a strong global presence with eight subsidiaries and numerous offices in North America, Japan, Europe and Asia Pacific.
MontaVista Customer Product Deployments MontaVista Linux is remarkably scalable and device OEMs deploy it in next-generation highly available communications infrastructure servers running high-end databases like Oracle 9i, and equally in the latest mobile phones like the Motorola A760.
In 2003, numerous MontaVista Linux customers brought their products to market. These intelligent devices include the first Linux-based mobile phone from Motorola; a home server from Sharp; a telematics application from Volvo; an AdvancedTCA telco platform from NEC; a universal remote control for the home from Philips; and a broadband terminal and a broadband TV tuner from Panasonic, to name only a few. There are also several brand name High Definition Televisions running MontaVista Linux available to consumers.
MontaVista Product Line
In 2003, MontaVista successfully launched its first product for the consumer electronics market — MontaVista Linux Consumer Electronics Edition 3.0 (CEE). CEE was quickly embraced by customers worldwide and has become the strategic development platform at leading global consumer electronics companies for exciting new products expected to hit the market soon. The company also delivered MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition 3.0 and 3.1 for the telecommunications market, and MontaVista Linux Professional Edition 3.0 enabling many hardware platforms. Moreover, MontaVista Software introduced a new Integrated Development Environment (IDE), MontaVista DevRocket™, based on Eclipse technology and offering developers a comprehensive tool suite. DevRocket is already a key element of MontaVista Linux Professional Edition and will be incorporated into the Consumer Electronics Edition and Carrier Grade Editions very soon.
Industry Recognition and Participation
In 2003, the "Silicon Valley and San Jose Business Journal" recognized MontaVista Software as #5 on its list of "Fastest Growing Private Companies" in Silicon Valley. The company made the "AlwaysOn 100" list of top technologies companies and was a finalist in the "Best of Show" awards at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Francisco. A MontaVista Linux-based product was also selected as the "Best Embedded Linux System" at the inaugural Linux User & Developer Awards in the UK.
MontaVista was also active in a variety of industry organizations including the Open Systems Development Lab, the Service Availability Forum, the Eclipse organization and the Embedded Linux Consortium. In 2003, the company joined the Open Mobile Alliance and the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum, a group, founded by Sony and Matsushita, to promote the use of Linux for digital consumer electronics devices. The company was also invited to join SH-Mobile Consortium, a development community established by Renesas Technology (formed last year by Hitachi and Mitsubishi) .
Vibrant Partner Ecosystem A major factor in the MontaVista Software success story has been the company's laser-like focus on building an extensive ecosystem of partners from a broad array of semiconductor, software application, middleware and systems integration companies, to provide solutions for manufacturers in key markets including telecommunications, mobile, home entertainment and automotive telematics.
Last year, MontaVista Software's strong partner ecosystem topped 270 members. The company welcomed new alliances and solidified strategic relationships with semiconductor vendors including IBM, Texas Instruments, Intel, Motorola, Renesas Technology, Broadcom and Force Computers. MontaVista is also the Linux vendor of choice for MIPS Technologies, Inc. New software partners included Aplix, Atheros Communications, Beatnik, Cavium Networks, Elematics, Emuzed, Fathammer, Interpeak, Objective Interface, OpenWave, Packetvideo, RealNetworks and Superscape.
Moving Forward
MontaVista Software fully expects that Linux will become the #1 platform of choice for new embedded design starts in 2004 and that MontaVista Software will play a significant role in this development.
About MontaVista Software, Inc.
MontaVista Software is a leading global supplier of systems software and development tools for intelligent connected devices and associated infrastructure. MontaVista powers the embedded revolution by providing Open Source GNU/Linux-based software solutions. Founded in 1999 by real-time operating system pioneer James Ready, MontaVista offers a family of products that address software developer needs encompassing applications ranging from communications infrastructure to consumer electronics. MontaVista products include MontaVista Linux Professional, Consumer Electronics and Carrier Grade Editions. MontaVista DevRocket, a powerful integrated development environment, delivers state-of-the-art development tools across all the product Editions. MontaVista Graphics offers a rich GUI development tools platform.
Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley, in Sunnyvale, Calif., MontaVista Software is a privately held company funded by leading investors such as Alloy Ventures, US Venture Partners, RRE Ventures, WR Hambrecht + Co., IBM, Intel Capital, Sony, Panasonic (Matsushita), Toshiba America and Yamaha Corporation. For more information about MontaVista Software, please visit http://www.mvista.com .
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. MontaVista is registered trademark of MontaVista Software Inc. All other names mentioned are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Contacts:
MontaVista Software
Joe Samagond
Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications
MontaVista Software
Phone: (408) 328-9234
E-mail: jsamagond@mvista.com
Patricia Colby
PR Strategy and Business Development
Pacifico, Inc.
Phone: (408) 293 8600 x340
E-mail: pcolby@pacifico.com
