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Kish on: 
Why Asia is hot
The handheld device market
A "Flash-less" technology
Thin-client and open source |
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One of the things that you'll notice when you think about the thin-client is that it really is a window into the network. It is a device optimized to let people take advantage of high-powered networks and servers, and to do that in a low-cost way, which provides high security, etc. Architecturally, the thin-client which sits on a desk and one that I hold in my hand isn't really that different in what they actually do and how they participate in the network.
The real difference has to do with what is resident on the individual machine. In a typical thin-client [desktop], all that is resident is the embedded operating system; for a phone, we embed the operating system and a set of applications. One of the initiatives that we've just recently taken is going to be to remove flash memory from the thin-client device and begin streaming the operating system and applications on boot up. We believe that the same paradigm will apply to the consumer market.
Explain the benefits of streaming thin-client applications into handheld devices.
If you look at markets like China, where you have six and half million new mobile phone subscribers per month now, the less expensive you can make the phone, the better it is for growth. And if you are trying to make the phones more cheaply, just like a thin-client, you can take out the most expensive parts.
Now the parts that you can't take out are the screen, and the processor. But you can take out the Flash memory, which is the third most expensive component inside a phone, or a consumer device. This is exactly the same thing for the desktop. So you'll see us removing the Flash to drive prices down for the enterprise thin-clients, and at the same time, enable a new type of computing for the consumer space.
How big can you see the thin-client hand-held market become?
I think it is as large as the phone market, which is a multi-trillion dollar a year market. The real question that has to be asked is if you have this device, where do you want things processed? When I lose my phone, the hardest thing about it is that I have to enter in my address book again. If all that were actually stored on the network, all I have to do is to turn on the [new phone] and it would be streamed down to the phone for me. If I am a CIO, I don't want data on my phone, because if I lose it, the data can be accessed by somebody else. CIOs tell me that one of the biggest headaches they face today is the BlackBerry. BlackBerries are just like the PCs of the early eighties: They are everywhere and not controlled. Everybody wants one, people buy them on their own but there's no way to control them. What they would prefer is, well, almost a thin-client BlackBerry--one that gives you the ability to do your mail but with nothing resident on their device.
But the BlackBerry users I know adore their devices, and many would not be persuaded to trade it for anything else…
Well, you know, I agree with you. And I love my BlackBerry. But if we sat you down in front of a thin-client terminal and a PC, and mix them up, I'd bet you couldn't tell the difference. And the same thing will happen with Flash-less phones and thin-client phones, because all that you respond to is "does it do what I expect it to do, can I make a phone call, or get my e-mail?". You won't care where the data was. As a matter of fact, I like the fact that my data is somewhere else.
Are you working with phone companies right now?
Yes we are. We have conversations going on with carriers in Europe and Asia. But interestingly, not with US carriers. It takes way too long for US carriers to catch up with this.
Who are you talking with?
I can't disclose this right now. But we will be announcing some thin-client phone trials in Asia by year-end.
How will your execution change, as your business moves from desktop to also mobile devices?
In the enterprise space, Wyse sells hardware which accounts for a good percent for our revenue and profits. In the consumer space, we won't sell hardware, just software. Interestingly, the device manufacturers have the same interest in this as the carriers. The cheaper they could produce their devices, the lower the price point can be, and the less the subsidies phone companies have to give them. So the economics seems to work for everyone. The real issue is in understanding how to roll these out into the markets.
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