Acorn and Element 14 - Questions and Answers. Why have you decided to rebrand ACL? The Acorn brand worked well in the Eighties, but it continues to be associated with the education market - specifically the BBC Micro. It was becoming increasingly obvious that the brand wouldn't stretch to fit the markets we have been addressing for the past four or five years. We also want to signal a change reflecting the new focus, the additions to the team - and to generate a more contemporary brand. Why did you choose Element 14 as the new brand for the Digital TV division? Element 14 has a high stand-out value, and that suggests work of great importance. It is also an intriguing name. The 14th element on the periodic table is Silicon - which is the World's second most abundant material. Elements are the building blocks of matter, and Silicon is the building block of Digital technology. What will be the main components of Element 14? Element 14 Ltd will encompass the following product areas - the Active range of interactive digital video receivers; the development of silicon and software Intellectual Property (IP) for the Digital TV and multimedia markets; as well as the Acorn branded desktop workstations (which will continue to be manufactured in line with market demands). How will the new silicon design team fit into the rebranded company? It is a core part of the company, contributing to silicon architecture and developing licensable silicon IP for next the generation of chips. Will there be any staff restructuring? No. Acorn was restructured in September 1998 and the new company is aggressively building new technologies and is recruiting talented new engineers. Will the name change affect existing contracts? No. The company is simply trading under a different name, the legal entity remains the same, and the company registration and VAT registration numbers do not change. How will the two sites in Bristol and Cambridge work together? We are in the same time zone, we share the same culture and language. The split of work between Bristol and Cambridge is clear and one with which Acorn and ex-ST Microelectronics engineers are familiar. The company also has offices in Palo Alto, which manages relationships with silicon vendors and CE companies in Silicon Valley. Does Element 14 have a structured sales plan in place and a fully trained sales force to target new markets? Yes. And as Element 14 develops licensable silicon IP, we will be seeking to recruit further highly skilled sales and marketing expertise this market area. What are market expectations for your first quarter? We are a key part of a public company. It is not our policy to comment on forecasts or performance. What is the next step for Element 14's growth phase in light of all the restructuring over the last 6 months? Following recent wins for Active highly interactive set top boxes, we will continue to develop this real potential, we plan to launch a new product range in Q2 this year. We will be generating IP for next-generation multimedia solutions and continuing to establish and leverage partnerships. We have chosen the IP/licensing business model in order to leverage the product and sales reach of partner companies. Where does Element 14 see its market - with the networks, the broadcasters or with the set-top box manufacturers? The Active range of highly interactive set top boxes is targeted at telecom network owners, and our silicon and software IP is targeted to CE manufacturers. Clearly, we have an understanding of the needs of all players and will develop solutions for all of them. Our sales will be directly to silicon vendors. What steps has ACL taken to cushion the impact of the new direction for the company upon the community of Acorn Users? We have appointed Castle Technology to distribute Acorn workstations to the existing dealer channel. We are willing to negotiate with members of the user community to continue to support and make available both product and operating system software. How does Element 14 see itself competing against the technologies in the Digital TV market such as NCI? NCI is essentially a DiTV middleware/browser/software company. Element 14's technologies would support several applications, including NCI's. 1998 saw the development of innovative new software and the launch of home banking through interactive TV. How does Element 14 plan to take advantage of this? We are providing software and silicon platforms for the next generation of devices. We are working with consumer electronics companies such as Funai in Japan to deliver them to the market. Has Element 14 prepared its marketing practice to meet the demands of this fast moving and competitive market? Yes. We are implementing a highly targeted business-to-business marketing strategy. Where does Element 14 see the Internet developing in the future of interactive TV? Will the PC become redundant in the long term? We see the Internet playing an important part in the development of Entertainment on Demand. We don't see the PC and the TV as being in conflict - the PC is a '2ft experience', and the TV is a '10ft experience'. We do, however, think they will become more closely related, with connection via home networks. TRAMPAMPOLINE Locating information on this site - Table of contents © Element 14 Ltd 1999