Casio 2000 Annual Report Download - page 6

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CASIO’S MOBILE NETWORK SOLUTIONS
MARKET BACKGROUND Digital mobile communications services are having a profound impact on markets, services and
information content. Worldwide production of digital cellular handsets is recording explosive growth, and digital cellular services
are increasingly being used for Internet access, including e-mail communications and web browsing. Exclusive network services
for cellular handsets represent a new service genre made possible by digitization.
These trends will be accelerated by the International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)-2000 standard, commencing in Japan
in 2001 and in Europe in 2002, which will enable high-speed (384 Kbps) wireless access. As worldwide roaming and wireless
web access become commonplace, communication devices and information appliances will be more important than ever before.
CASIO’S POSITION Casio intends to be the number one supplier of mobile information appliances.
Hardware devices form a key link in the value chain and have the potential to drive new ways to utilize data. Casio has been a
pioneer of the new generation of information appliances since it launched the CASSIOPEIA®series in 1996. We were one of the
first to realize advanced functions and multimedia capabilities in a Pocket PC, and we have successfully targeted latent demand
for on-the-go computing. Today we are positioning our CASSIOPEIA®Pocket PCs as the prototype for
information appliances in the age of wireless web access.
FROM HARDWARE TO TOTAL SOLUTIONS Demand for information appliances is divided into the
consumer and corporate markets. Casio believes the key to unlocking enormous latent demand in the
corporate market is the ability to provide solution packages that combine hardware terminals with
relative content and optimal communications environments to solve specific problems faced by
enterprises. Our strategy is centered on our Mobile Network Solutions business.
Our Front DataBaseTM for the domestic market reflects this strategy. Front DataBaseTM incorporates
the expertise of strategic alliance partner Sybase, K.K. in mobile databases, with the CASSIOPEIA®
E-80, a highly durable and weather-resistant Pocket PC. We also provide memory cards and other
accessories to create a total mobile database solution.
Security is one of the key elements demanded by enterprises for mobile networks. For Front
DataBaseTM, Casio has responded with MDSRTM (Multi Dimensional Space Rotation), its exclusive encryption system. MDSRTM
allows rapid encryption and decryption, and its high level of security has earned a corresponding high level of trust from corpora-
tions demanding mobile access to large databases.
STRATEGIC ALLIANCES WITH LEADING PLAYERS In December 1999, Casio reached an agreement with Siemens Communication
Devices (CD), a division of Siemens Information and Communication Products, to jointly develop a next-generation Pocket PC
with multimedia, wireless Internet and mobile phone capabilities. The partnership brings together Casio’s leading position in
CE-based portable devices with Siemens CD’s capabilities in communication terminals, especially Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) products. The two companies are currently developing a
Pocket PC with internal wireless data communications capabilities and a bright color HAST-LCD. With applications to appeal to
both consumers and enterprises, we are targeting the emerging market for wireless Internet appliances.
The CASSIOPEIA®Pocket PC has earned
high appraisal as a multimedia-
compatible mobile appliance.