Are Chips the Real Deal?
RealNetworks looks to unbranded PCs
By Karen Brown
from the June 18, 2001 issue of Broadband Week
What better way to keep your place at the head of the media streaming line than by getting in as tightly as possible with PC manufacturers?
RealNetworks Inc. is trying to do just that via its agreement with Intel Corp. to include a CD bearing RealPlayer8 and RealJukebox software with all Intel III and Celeron motherboards.
With similar deals already forged among name-brand computer makers including Dell Computers, this deal extends Real's software reach into the unbranded "white box" PC market, which constitutes 35 percent to 40 percent of PCs sold today.
Giving computer manufacturers the software to pre-install on new computers not only supports usage of Real players, it eliminates the need for the user to download the software themselves, says George Kliavkoff, director of business development at RealNetworks.
"We like to have all of our customers have access to the RealPlayer because 85 percent of the media out on the Internet is in our proprietary formats, and we know people use the product because it is the second most-used application on the desktop," he says. "So we like to make it as easy as possible for people to get it, and the best way to do that is to go to the source."
It also gives Real more ammunition in its player war with Microsoft Corp., which for years has included its own Windows Media Player with its PC-market dominating operating system software. And it comes at a time when rumors are circulating that the world's largest ISP, America Online, may be ready to reforge its exclusive media player technology deal with Real to allow Microsoft's players as well.
"They will continue to distribute their product and we will continue to distribute ours," Kliavkoff says of Microsoft. "The easier we can make it for people to get our products, the better."
It isn't the first time Real has joined up marketing forces with Intel. The two have forged dozens of deals to optimize Real audio and video codecs for Intel chips and cross-promote products.
Meanwhile, Real also is working to attach its players to platforms outside of the Windows operating system universe. That includes deals with Hewlett-Packard, set-top box makers using other operating system platforms, and makers of other Internet-enabled devices, such as Sony Corp.'s PlayStation2 gaming modules and Nokia's next-generation digital wireless handsets.
"We're adamant about moving it to non-PC, non-Windows based devices, because we think that is a huge growth area for access to the Internet," Kliavkoff says.
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