Wyse To Unveil New Windows-Based Thin Clients

At the entry level, the company is introducing the Winterm 3125SE, which is based on an embedded version of the Windows CE .Net operating system, said David Rand, director of corporate marketing.

The 3125SE is slated to replace the company's 3360, which will continue to remain available for the next few months until customer demand withers, said Rand. Running the new Windows CE .Net OS, the device offers improved management, better local security and Internet Explorer (IE) 5.5 for faster browsing of local intranet and in-house applications, he said.

Also new is the ability to add a wireless module designed specifically for the thin client, making the 3125SE suitable for use in health care, factory and other applications, Rand said.

For environments requiring more advanced Internet or multimedia applications, Wyse also plans to unveil the Winterm 9235LE, based on the Windows XP Embedded operating system.

Included with the 9235LE is IE 6.0, Microsoft Media Player, Microsoft Java Virtual Machine and Shockwave. This model also offers improved video compared with the company's other thin clients, with resolution of up to 1024x768 at 85Hz.

Other features include four USB ports, a SmartMedia Flash socket and up to 192 Mbytes of Flash memory and 256 Mbytes of RAM, Rand said.

For thin client computing applications requiring advanced multimedia support, Wyse is also expected to unveil this week the Winterm 9440XL. The 9440XL is similar to the 9235LE but offers 1,600 x 1,200 video resolution, 16-bit audio and options for a hard drive, CD-ROM, floppy drive and PCI/ISA slots, Rand said.

List prices start at $399 for the 3125SE, $649 for the 9235SE and $799 for the 9440XL. Rand said the entry-level model should be in general availability in the next one to two weeks, while the 9235SE and 9440XL are scheduled to be available in mid-September.

The majority of Wyse thin clients are sold through the channel, which will have access to the new models when they become available, said Rand.

Despite a consolidation in the number of thin-client vendors--thanks to acquisitions of some and the disappearance of others in favor of OEM arrangements--the thin client market has continued to enjoy solid growth, said Bob O'Donnell, research director for device technology at IDC.

IDC expects the number of thin clients shipped worldwide to hit about 1.9 million units in 2003, compared with 1.1 million in 2001, said O'Donnell. Worldwide revenue during the same period is expected to hit $795 million, up from $536 million, he said. While shipments slipped in the United States in 2001 compared with 2000 because of the economic slump, O'Donnell said he expects the U.S. market to grow an average of 22.7 percent yearly in terms of units shipped.

Thin clients are still a good value compared with PCs, since they offer a lower initial acquisition cost, a lower cost of ownership over the lifetime of the device and security benefits such as a centralized server which doesn't allow users to install or download their own data and applications, said O'Donnell.

"The problem is, most people have not yet heard of about [thin clients," he said. "If they had heard of them, they didn't know what to do with them."