ACORN/APPLE ANNOUNCEMENT ------------------------ What are Acorn and Apple announcing today? ------------------------------------------ Acorn and Apple UK have signed an agreement to set up a joint venture company to develop IT solutions for UK Education and transform the UK's approach to IT in Education. This is part of Acorn Group‘s strategy to become a significant player in key sectors of the emerging information age. This company will focus on supplying appropriate learning technologies for the UK education Market. These solutions will be based on the best technology from Acorn Group and Apple Computer. What will the name of the joint venture be? ------------------------------------------- The name of the new venture will be announced before the end of March. Where will the company be based? -------------------------------- Cambridge. When will the new company be operational? ----------------------------------------- The company will be operational from early April. Who owns the company? --------------------- The company is jointly owned by Acorn Group and by Apple Computer UK. Who will be Managing Director of the new company? ------------------------------------------------- This will be Mr Brendan O'Sullivan, currently Managing Director of Apple Computer, Ireland. Who will be Chairman of the Board? ---------------------------------- This will be Mr David Lee, Managing Director of Acorn Group. What experience does Brendan O'Sullivan have in the education market? --------------------------------------------------------------------- As well as bringing 22 years of experience in the computer industry with him, Brendan has a history of co-operation and collaboration with educationalists. Brendan led Apple's successful participation in the first Irish Government Department of Education initiative to equip every Secondary School in Ireland with an Apple personal computer. Will the new company be taking on any new staff apart from Apple and Acorn employees? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now is too early to tell. Why a joint venture? -------------------- Apple and Acorn have prior experience of a successful joint venture in the form of ARM which has a successful track record over the past 5 years. A joint venture is the best way to build a strong value-added business which builds on the strengths of the two companies and creates a sustainable, strong business to serve the needs of our customers. Apple's new business model is designed to co-operate with other companies and collaborate where possible. Acorn Group has a history of working in partnership with others to obtain leverage from larger players in order to meet its business objectives. What is Acorn and Apple's vision for education? ----------------------------------------------- Apple and Acorn believe that Educational IT will be best developed in an open environment where services can be developed and delivered in a platform independent manner. Acorn has for many months been developing a new vision for educational IT entitled "No Limits to Learning" which focuses on the need to supply appropriate technologies which meet the widest educational needs. This new partnership will enable the new company to offer a complete range of products and solutions to meet the current and future needs of education. We are on the verge of a new phase of IT in education, including IT in the community, school at the centre of the community, education superhighway and the educational possibilities that are brought by IT. Desktop office type PCs will in future be only a small part of the IT requirement of schools. The new company will be instrumental in delivering the appropriate level of technology to support the changing requirements of educational IT. Tell me more about how Apple can fit in with Acorn's "No Limits to Learning" strategy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acorn has a history of innovation to provide education with the best solutions and is actively involved in breaking down the limits that technology may place upon learning. Acorn provides services and technologies to support the teacher - and the learner - to ensure that learning can be appropriate and differentiated as well as exciting. Acorn believes that the learning community that is currently centered on educational institutions such as schools will increasingly extend into the home and the wider community. Acorn's solutions already take into account suitable communication modes - a serial lead, a school network, the Internet or interactive TV. Products such as OmniClient and the Pocket Book facilitate communication by making information easily accessible. Apple also has a global reputation for understanding the requirements of education and developing solutions which offer real benefits to children. Apple has pioneered ease of use and applicability of software application in its markets and this approach is similar to that of Acorn. Acorn believes that learning tools need to be appropriate to the relevant task, activity, location and budget. The tools are solutions that combine hardware, software, communications, service and support materials. The alliance with Apple will give schools the widest choice to support the changing requirements of education. Acorn and Apple‘s tools already cope with all forms of media - the printed word, music, number, video, audio and multimedia combinations. All classes of product will be able to create and deliver similar multimedia resources and the joint venture will work with its large developer community to deliver software and materials that are not limited by the choice of technology. How big will the new company be? -------------------------------- We expect the combined turnover of the new company to be in excess of £60m (60 million pounds, 90 million dollars) making it one of the largest suppliers of IT solutions in the schools part of the UK education market. It is expected that most of the existing Acorn Education employees will transfer to the new joint venture; they will be joined by a number of Apple employees in various positions. It is too early to give you an exact number of employees who will be working at the start-up of the new venture. Acorn employees who are not part of the joint venture will remain as part of the Acorn Group providing core services to the new company. How will the new company distribute products to the market? ----------------------------------------------------------- The new company will appoint agencies to sell its products and will supply direct to schools. This follows the successful Acorn model. but because Acorn Education's business will be transferred to the joint venture all existing contracts will be cancelled and Acorn's existing agencies and Apple dealers, specialising in the schools market, will be invited to apply for agencies with the new company. Existing agencies and educational dealers will be given one month's notice of contract termination. Initial examination suggests that the strengths of each company‘s channels are very complementary. APPLE/OLIVETTI CORPORATE QUESTIONS Did Olivetti instigate this change to Acorn's business? ------------------------------------------------------- Olivetti are supportive of this new venture. This operation fits in with their plans to develop a wider initiative for Education in Europe. The decision to begin negotiations with Apple was taken by the Acorn board. This decision was based on a full analysis of both businesses, the desire to find a partner who shared a common view of the use of IT in education, and the requirement to find a partner with complementary educational experience, heritage and products. How does this fit in with Olivetti and Apple's wider initiative? ---------------------------------------------------------------- This is the first part of a wider initiative being carried forward by Apple and Olivetti Telemedia in Europe. The aim is to create educational solutions for an, as yet, under-developed European education market. The new company's expertise in education, its range of UK educational contacts and the world-class software developers who support it, put it in an ideal position to drive forward a UK perspective to a European initiative. The new company will contribute educational marketing and technological expertise, and a key understanding of the role of IT in education. What other initiatives is the Apple/Olivetti alliance working on? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Apple and Olivetti believe that the use of multimedia personal computers in education, particularly schools, is critical if Europe is to remain competitive in the run up to the millennium and beyond. Besides that, the alliance will evaluate how education can move beyond traditional IT solutions to integrate new technologies such as "On-line education" and "Interactive Multimedia Video" into learning programmes. The alliance will also look to develop a network of European integrated multimedia laboratories to act as hot houses for these solutions. Further details will be announced at a later date. Has Olivetti licensed the Mac OS? --------------------------------- Yes. Has Acorn licensed the Mac OS? ------------------------------ Acorn has a licence through Olivetti. Has the joint venture licensed the Mac OS? ------------------------------------------ It doesn‘t need to because it is a sales and marketing operation and will purchase manufactured product from appropriate suppliers. Will Olivetti integrate Mac OS technology into its product line? ---------------------------------------------------------------- Today‘s announcement focuses on the agreement between Apple and Acorn and the alliance between Apple and Olivetti at the European level for the Education market. No further announcements will be made. TECHNOLOGY/PRODUCT QUESTIONS What products will the new company offer and what platforms will be used? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acorn and Apple will be working together to develop appropriate hardware and software solutions for education. In the short to medium term, the platforms to be used will be based on existing computer-based products. These will bring together the best of Acorn Group's technology and will include A7000, Risc PCs, Pocket Books, set-top boxes and network computers. Apple will provide Macintosh-based hardware, imaging products (printers and monitors) and Newton PDA technology - all of which will further assist the new company in becoming a total solutions provider for education. In late 1996, the new company will make available a range of information superhighway ready products which will work with the installed base of computers in schools and utilise services supporting both narrow and broadband technologies. In the longer term, the new company will deliver new classes of products and services and protect education‘s massive investment in Acorn products. In addition the company will develop a solutions-based business and offer services such as consultancy and training. The company will distribute software and peripherals, and offer a distribution facility for developers of education software. How will the joint venture determine what products to sell? ----------------------------------------------------------- The new company will be able to provide the most appropriate products for its customers presenting them with an unrivalled choice from a single supplier. The new company would expect to continue selling RISC OS based products to educationalists who have a large installed based of Acorn products or who require the combination of low-cost, flexibility and dual processor capability that products such as the Risc PC offer. Macintosh based products will be available for areas where Apple has a large installed based. The new company will continue to sell Network servers, Administration systems and PocketBooks. How long will the company offer Acorn RISC OS based systems? ------------------------------------------------------------ The company will continue to offer Acorn RISC OS systems for as long as customers demand them (provided that they can be sold profitably). Enhancements to Acorn systems will be made this year in line with existing commitments and product plans. Acorn's set-top boxes and Network Computer products being developed as part of the Acorn Group‘s technical alliance with Oracle are based on RISC OS. How will the company help schools who want to purchase Apple, Acorn and PCs? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- We recognise that in schools, there are many different uses for computers and customers will wish to choose machines with different operating systems for different purposes. The new company is committed to developing tools which allow inter-operability between environments. These tools already include file exchange, networking, co-processors and emulation capabilities. Won't Acorn developers be confused? ----------------------------------- The company will offer a wider market for Acorn developers, actively assisting them to market their products and encouraging them to develop new generation applications which are appropriate to overseas markets and delivery by products attached to the information superhighway. Initially, this will be achieved by providing products which will enable multi-platform version of software to be developed. This is in line with Acorn Education‘s current strategy of providing appropriate technology. Will Acorn continue to develop computer systems? ------------------------------------------------ Acorn Risc Technologies, Acorn Network Computing and Acorn Online Media are not transferring to the new joint venture. The new company will be free to specify and purchase products appropriate to its market from Acorn Group's companies, Apple Computer Inc and other companies. Acorn Group will continue to develop ARM-based products which utilise all or part of RISC OS. ART is investigating the development of solutions based on the PowerPC Platform. Will the company supply PocketBook, Newton, or Internet browser products? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The company will supply solutions to schools; solutions based on these products can obviously be distributed by the joint venture. Will the PCs for this new company be manufactured in Britain? ------------------------------------------------------------- Apple's Mac OS products will continue to be built predominantly in Apple's European manufacturing facility in Cork, Ireland. Acorn‘s products are manufactured in the UK. Where do I go for information? ------------------------------ Acorn Website : http://www.acorn.co.uk/ Apple Website: http://www.apple.com/