Press Releases 2003 - MRG Multimedia Research Group Inc.

2004 Storage Visions Conference and Home Gateway Summit
Welcomes Isilon Systems as a Sponsor

Storage Visions Awards Decided, Prizes to be Given
Times set for Storage Tours of 2004 CES

SAN JOSE, CA - December 29, 2003 - The Storage Visions Conference and Home Gateway Summit (SV/HG, a partner program to the 2004 CES), announced that Isilon Systems, a company that designs intelligent clustered storage systems for digital content has become a sponsor of the 2004 Storage Visions Conference. You can find out more about Isilon at www.isilon.com .

The 2004 SV/HG Conference addresses critical technology and market issues for the implementation of a completely digital entertainment industry. Speakers at the conference come from key companies participating in the creation of digital multimedia content – its distribution, archiving and reception. The most current conference agenda can be found at www.storagevisions.com.

The 2004 Storage Visions Awards have been decided. Products from many companies were considered for the nine regular award categories including Apple, Archos, Avid, Blue Arc, Cornice, DirectTV, Hitachi GST, Isilon, Kasenna, M-Systems, Maxtor, Microsoft, Panasonic, Quantum, Rio, Sony, Scientific Atlanta, SanDisk, Seagate, Solectron, Sun, and Tivo. The awards are for mobile consumer electronics, mobile storage, mobile mass storage, integrated home entertainment, enterprise class media, enterprise class systems, visionary consumer electronics company, media and entertainment visionary company and visionary services and support company. In addition the conference organizers will be giving Founders Awards. Press and analysts are welcome to interview award recipients after the awards ceremony.

In addition to the awards, prizes utilizing data storage for digital content storage and consumer electronics will be given out during the conference to registered attendees.

Other Corporate Sponsors include Seagate, Maxtor, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, GS Magicstor and Cornice. Media/analyst and organization sponsors include: Coughlin Associates, Data Storage Review, DataStoreX.com, Engage Capital, Entertainment Technology Alliance, eWeek, FCIA, Horison Information Strategies, isit.com, jobstor.com, JPR Communications, MPEG-4 Industry Forum, MRG Inc., PBI Media, RDC, SCSI Trade Association, STORAGEsearch.com, StorageWeek, West World Productions Inc. and 2nd Story Media.

Conference registration for the 2004 Storage Visions Conference and Home Gateway Summit is now open. Registration is through the CES and can be accessed through the Storage Visions website, www.storagevisions.com.

Storage Visions will be giving storage tours of the 2004 CES exhibit floor to press and analysts four times between January 8-10, 2004. The storage tours will take place January 8 at 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM and on January 9 and 10 at 11:00 AM. Press and analysts can register for these tours by sending an email indicating their interest and contact information to info@storagevisions.com.

People wishing to register for the conference or companies wishing to participate in the 2004 conference should check out the exhibitor and sponsor brochure and sign up forms that are available on the conference web site: www.storagevisions.com. Interested parties can also call Storage Visions (Tom Coughlin) at 408-978-8184.

This conference is co-developed by MRG, Inc.

New Report from MRG, Inc. Shows Cable Telephony Coming on Strong in 2004

Telcos Need to Take Notice

SUNNYVALE, CA – December 8, 2003 – Cable companies in North America will begin an aggressive rollout of telephone service in 2004, according to a new market report from MRG, Inc. It forecasts that in 2007 the cable telephony market will reach over $3.9 billion in service revenue and $386 million in systems revenue, creating yet another threat to the dominance of telephone companies SBC, Verizon, Qwest, and BellSouth.

“The U.S. cable companies have waited patiently for the availability of the voice over IP (VoIP) technology called PacketCable developed by their research organization, CableLabs,” states Bob Larribeau, MRG Sr. Analyst. “Now that PacketCable products are here, cable companies are exploiting its three major advantages of lower cost, more flexibility in deployment, and easier new-feature additions than traditional circuit switched systems used by the telephone companies.”

Major cable companies have been offering residential telephony services since 1998, acquiring about 2.4 million subscribers in 2003. Currently, cable companies are starting to deploy PacketCable technical and marketing trials. Based on the results of these marketing trials, the major cable companies will move to widespread commercial deployment in 2005, while simultaneously rolling out telephony in new regions. The report, Cable Telephony Business Case and North American Forecast – 2004 to 2007, also profiles leading companies like Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Insight, Mediacom, Time Warner, as well as smaller cable companies.

“There is a strong business case for cable telephony services because the breakeven point is between 32 and 35 months," states MRG Research Director, Gary Schultz. “Beyond the new revenue streams created by cable telephony, a major reason for offering it is the reduction of churn (or subscriber turnover).”

The report also investigates how cable companies can aggressively adopt an outsourcing deployment strategy, and significantly improve their telephony penetration. It examines how widespread use of this approach can double the number of cable telephony service revenues to $8.1 billion in 2007, and grow system revenue to about $700 million. The system revenue forecast includes soft switches, media gateways, subscriber equipment, circuit switched equipment, and OSS.

The 160-page report is available at US$2,995.00 for the print version. For more information, contact MRG at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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New Worldwide Prescription Drug Report by MRG Reveals Top
Growth Markets for Pharmaceutical Products

Pharmaceutical Industry Analyzed for Disease Categories
and New Drugs Emerging on Global Basis

SUNNYVALE, CA – December 1, 2003 – The worldwide market for prescription drugs continues to grow, regardless of economic recessions. Since disease tracking by region allows pharma companies to develop products for world markets, this study examines disease categories of the top 276 drug products that drug companies are selling; and ranks the best selling regions and products.

A new report from Multimedia Research Group, Inc. and Fuji-Keizai USA, Worldwide Prescription Drug Market 2004 is a comprehensive market analysis for the pharmaceutical industry, including an update of and forecast for prescription drugs in the Cancer, Cardiovascular, Central Nervous System (CNS), Gastro-Intestinal, and Respiratory disease categories.

The study has found that the market size for worldwide human drugs at year end 2002 was about $430 Billion, with a projected growth to about $543 Billion in 2005, with a CAGR of about 8.1%. The study also examines the complex worldwide pharmaceutical industry, including the key health issues in different regions based on disease demographic data from the major parts of the globe.

This new market study provides updated research findings on competitors, market size and forecasts, application development trends, product price trends, usage trends, sales, distribution, current issues, future directions, and opportunities for the next generation products in the pharmaceutical industry. This study also contains more than 45 figures and tables to illustrate the findings. This report is a continuation in the series of MRG reports on the impact of biotechnology on the pharmaceutical industry.

This 133-page report is available in an English or Japanese-language edition for US$998.00 each. To order or request information, contact MRG at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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2004 Storage Visions/Home Gateway Conference Announces CES Partnership

Conference To Relocate to Las Vegas Convention Center

New Sponsors Announced
Awards Signup Has Started
Speaker Signup to Close Soon

San Jose, CA – August 25, 2003 – The Storage Visions Conference and Home Gateway Summit (SV/HG) announces that it has agreed to be a partner program to the 2004 International CES, the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow, and to relocate the conference to the Las Vegas Convention Center January 6 & 7, 2004. This move will greatly increase the exposure of the conference to CES attendees (the 2004 International CES will be held January 8-11, 2004), provide new exhibiting opportunities for storage-oriented vendors, and bring broader attention to how storage technology impacts the overall consumer electronics industry.

According to Tom Coughlin, founder and organizer of the Storage Visions Conference, “We think moving the Storage Visions conference and exhibits to the CES provides compelling new opportunities and added synergy for participants.”

The 2004 SV/HG Conference addresses critical technology and market issues for the implementation of a completely digital entertainment industry. Issues for the 2004 conference include requirements for creating, storing, transmitting and distributing multimedia content.

Corporate Sponsors (to date) include Hitachi Global Storage Technology (Platinum) Maxtor (Platinum), Seagate (Platinum), and Cornice (Silver). Media/analyst and organization sponsors include: Coughlin Associates, Data Storage Review, Engage Capital, Entertainment Technology Alliance, eWeek, FCIA, Horison Information Strategies, jobstor.com, MPEG Industry Forum, MRG Inc., PBI Media, SCSI Trade Association, STORAGEsearch.com, West World Productions Inc., and 2nd Story Media. Speakers confirmed for the 2004 Storage Visions conference come from companies such as Sony, Silicon Graphics, Seagate Technology, SanDisk, Maxtor, Intel, Hitachi GST, Cornice, and Avid Technology.

The newly announced Storage Visions awards program is now open for submissions (please go to www.storagevisions.com for a copy of the awards brochure). Award categories will include Best Consumer Storage Device, Most Innovative Product, Hottest Start-up and other categories. This program is sponsored by Engage Capital.

The Storage and Content Industry Advisory Committee for the 2004 Storage Visions Conference includes Jeff Joseph (Consumer Electronics Association), Jim Porter (DiskTrend), Scott Kipp (All Digital), Gerry Nicklas (Nicklas Associates), David Takata (Engage Capital), Stephen DiFranco (Maxtor), Peter Fasciano (Avid Technology), Mark Gray (Kasenna), Rob Koenen (MPEG-4 Industry Forum), Ken Morse (PowerTV), Rob Pait (Seagate) and Lowell Moulton (Sony) .

The 2004 conference is now soliciting additional speakers, exhibitors and sponsors. Deadlines for speaker submissions is September 12, 2003. Companies interested in participating in the 2004 conference should check out the conference speaker, exhibitor and sponsor brochure and sign up forms that are available on the conference web site: www.storagevisions.com. Interested parties can also call Storage Visions (Tom Coughlin) at 408-978-8184 or Multimedia Research Group, Inc. (Veronica Phanthavong) at 408-453-5553.

NEW U.S. BIOCHIP REPORT BY MRG REVEALS TOP GROWTH MARKETS
FOR BIOCHIP PRODUCTS

Biochip Companies Accelerating Research Processes and Capabilities
of BioPharmaceutical Drug Discovery

SUNNYVALE, CA – August 11, 2003 – Despite the third year of a tough economic climate, the market, technologies, and opportunities regarding biochips are being used to help accelerate the research processes and capabilities of biopharmaceutical drug discovery and basic academic bioresearch. Since biochip companies have the technologies to help increase productivity to shorten the current 10-15 year drug development cycle, pharma companies have increasingly become customers as well as motivated research and financial partners with many biochip companies. As a result, the total biochip market size is projected to grow from $1.1 billion in 2002 to $2.7 billion in 2007 with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.5%.

A new report from Multimedia Research Group, Inc. and Fuji-Keizai USA, The US Biochip & Equipment Market & Business –2003 Edition, is a comprehensive market analysis for the biochip industry, including an update of and forecast for next generation technologies such as DNA Chips, DNA Chip Equipment, DNA Chip Making and Processing Services, DNA Chip Software and Services, Lab-on-a-Chip /uTAS Biochips, Protein Chips, and Special Purpose Biochips.

This new market study provides updated research findings on competitors, market size and forecasts, application development trends, product price trends, usage trends, sales, distribution, current issues, future directions, and opportunities for each of the next generation technologies in the biochip industry. This study also contains more than 40 figures and tables to illustrate the findings.

This 159-page report is available in an English or Japanese-language edition for US$998.00 each. To order or request information, contact MRG at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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New Study by MRG Shows Growing Revenues for Emerging Global
Molecular Modeling Markets for Nanotechnology

SUNNYVALE, CA – July 14, 2003 – MRG, Inc announces the release of a new market research study “Molecular Modeling for Nanotechnology: Technologies, Applications, & Market Outlook.” According to the report, although computer modeling has been used for decades, it is only in the past five years that it has become a significant tool for industrial users of nanotechnology. With a global market for molecular modeling* in excess of $2 billion annually, modeling for nanotechnology is, as yet, a fragment of that market.

This new market research study analyzes the core technologies, applications, and advantages of molecular modeling for nanotechnology. It also includes internationl trends, issues, and comparisons of key government activities in France, United Kingdom, Japan, and United States. Additionally, this report profiles the activities of 14 major molecular modeling software companies and 19 representative users/customers in Europe, Japan, and United States.

Molecular modeling has been a staple of pharmaceutical research for more than two decades, but the growth in nanoscience and technology as an industrial force has highlighted why modeling is important for nanotechnology. As revealed in the report, molecular modeling methods have become significant tools in nanoscale R&D in a variety of industries including commodity and specialty chemicals; fuels, polymers, glass, and structured materials; electronic and photonic materials; industrial gasses; personal care and food products; computer software and hardware; and agricultural chemicals.

* Molecular modeling is the computation and representation (mathematically or graphically) of the positions and orbital patterns of atoms in arbitrary nanostructures. Molecular modeling allows scientists to see how atoms and molecules interact through computer-generated charts, graphs, and images.

This 143-page report is available in an English or Japanese-language edition for US $998.00 each. To order or request information, contact MRG at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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Storage Visions/Home Gateway 2004 Pre-CES Conference Announces Initial Sponsors,
Speakers, New Advisors and Awards

Conference Focuses on Data Storage and the Digital Media Value Chain

SAN JOSE, CA – June 3, 2003 – Seagate Technology, Hitachi GST and Cornice have agreed to be corporate sponsors of the 2004 Storage Visions/Home Gateway Conference, it was announced today. In addition, media/analyst and organization sponsors now include: Data Storage Review , Engage Capital , Horison Information Strategies, jobstor.com, MPEG-4 Industry Forum, MRG Inc., PBI Media, SCSI Trade Association, storagesearch.com, West World Productions Inc, , and 2nd Story Media. Speakers confirmed for the 2004 Storage Visions conference come from companies such as Sony, Silicon Graphics, Seagate Technology, SanDisk, Intel, Hitachi GST and Cornice.

The Storage and Content Industry Advisory Committee for the 2004 Storage Visions Conference has been expanded to include Jeff Joseph (Consumer Electronics Association), Jim Porter (DiskTrend), Scott Kipp (All Digital), Gerry Nicklas (Nicklas Associates) and David Takata (Engage Capital). It is chaired by Tom Coughlin of Coughlin Associates and Gary Schultz of MRG, Inc., and consists of representatives from the digital media , content distribution and user communities. This group will help steer the session topics, keynote speakers, demonstration laboratory, sponsorships, awards and theme of the 2004 conference. Other members of the advisory committee are Stephen DiFranco of Maxtor , Peter Fasciano of Avid Technology, Mark Gray of Kasenna, Rob Koenen of the MPEG-4 Industry Forum , Ken Morse of PowerTV (part of Scientific Atlanta), Rob Pait of Seagate and Lowell Moulton of Sony .

Storage Visions/Home Gateway will initiate an awards program for the first time at the 2004 conference. Award categories will include Best Consumer Storage Device, Most Innovative Product, Hottest Start-up and other categories. This program is sponsored by Engage Capital.

The Storage Visions/Home Gateway 2004 Conference will be held in Las Vegas January 6-7, 2004 (immediately prior to the Consumer Electronics Show) to address critical technology and market issues for the implementation of a completely digital entertainment industry. Issues for the 2004 conference include requirements for creating, storing, transmitting and distributing multimedia content.

The 2003 Storage Visions conference featured a wide assortment of leading authorities and key decision-makers in the industry. Keynote speakers from IBM, Qualcomm, NDS, SNIA, PowerTV, Seagate Technology and Sony proved popular and prescient about the accelerating embrace of storage area network solutions (SAN), rapid development of non-tape media, and server and media compression requirements for content distribution and reception. John O'Donnell, co-founder of Equator Technologies said, “It was a real pleasure being part of Storage Visions. Great lineup of stuff, I really enjoyed it. The 2003 Storage Visions Conference was an essential forum keeping me up to date on the state of the art in this quickly evolving technology.”

The 2004 conference is now soliciting additional speakers, exhibitors and sponsors. Companies interested in participating in the 2004 conference should check out the conference speaker, exhibitor and sponsor brochure that is available on the conference web site: www.storagevisions.com or www.mrgco.com. Interested parties may also call Tom Coughlin at 408-978-8184 or Gary Schultz of Multimedia Research Group, Inc. at 408-453-5553 to participate.

Bound copies of the 2003 conference presentations can be ordered from the conference web site: www.storagevisions.com.

NEW REPORT BY MRG SHOWS CONTINUING OPPORTUNITIES IN EIGHT BIOPHARMACEUTICAL MARKET SECTORS

Over 95 Companies Profiled Doing $880 Million in R&D

SUNNYVALE, CA – May 27, 2003 – MRG, Inc announces the release of a new market research study “Emerging U.S. Biopharmaceutical Companies: New Drug R&D and Investment / Partnership Opportunities.” This study analyzes the eight major market segments in the emerging biopharmaceutical industry, namely Autoimmune/Inflammation, Cancer Therapy, CNS/Neurology, Cell or Gene Therapy, Infectious Disease, Tissue Engineering, Enabling Technology, and High-Throughput (HTP) Screening. This report also reveals the primary therapeutic areas under active development, strategies being employed to find newer discovery and development paradigms, and product pipeline by therapeutic category. It also explains investment, licensing and partnership opportunities with emerging companies.

The Pharmaceutical industry is the most profitable sector of the Fortune 500 with profits of approximately 18% of revenue compared to a median of 5% for other industry segments. “Despite industry profits, escalating R&D costs, shortened patent life due to the long product approval process, increased sales and marketing costs, pricing pressures, and entrance of more competitors into the industry are forcing Pharmaceutical executives to find more efficient discovery and development paradigms,” states MRG Analyst, Elaine Mansfield, PhD. “The strategies we find most successful in achieving these goals involve forming partnerships with non-competitive biopharmaceutical companies.”

This report also profiles the activities, partnerships, and status of 96 leading emerging biopharmaceutical companies that are located in the United States and Canada. These companies are in 8 different market segments and represent a total market size of approximately $880 million in annual R&D expenditures. Most of these companies are less than five years old yet have an average of 3-4 products in their pipelines. Additionally, approximately half of the products in these pipelines are therapeutic agents including several in late Phase I, Phase II or even Phase III clinical studies, which represent key licensing opportunities for large pharmaceutical companies or for more established biotechnology companies. Examples of companies profiled in the report are ChemoCentryx, Epicyte, Triad Therapeutics, Vaccinex, EpiCept, TransMolecular, Genteric, PPL Therapeutics, BioSyn, Tao Biosciences, Automated Cell Technologies, ReGen Biologics, U.S. Genomics, Xenogen Corporation, GenPhar, and Virtual Arrays.

This 162-page report, co-produced with Fuji-Keizai USA, is available in an English or Japanese-language edition for US $995.00 each. To order or request information, contact Veronica Phanthavong at 408-453-5553 or info@mrgco.com.

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New MRG Study Reveals New Era of Media Consumption,
Delivery, and Development in 2003-2010

Digital Multi-Channel Video Broadcasting Has Passed a Major Milestone

LAS VEGAS, NV – April 8, 2003 – MRG, Inc. (Multimedia Research Group, Inc.) announces that the worldwide growth of digital STBs (Settop Boxes) for cable, DTH (satellite), and DTT (digital terrestrial) should exceed 29.5 million new units in 2005, driving the digital video subscriber base (worldwide) to over 126 million and annual STB sales revenue to $7.34 billion.

The new study, Home Gateway Report: Worldwide Multi-Carrier Digital Settop & Services Analysis & Forecast – 2003-2006 reflects how digitization, storage, networking, and distribution of video content has grown beyond regionalism to reach an international scope. As a result of this trend toward a new kind of multi-carrier economics for video services, consumers are now faced with a vast array of choices including High Definition (HD), Personal Video Recorders (PVRs), Video-on-Demand (VOD), and multiple digital video services. Behind most changes are the huge quality and cost-enhancements made in Internet Protocol (IP), Gigabit Ethernet, video servers, storage, and compression. All are driven by consumer demand for more personalized (or on-demand) video services.

“This unique analysis provides carrier-by-carrier digital subscriber market size, market drivers, future trends, and opportunities for North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and South Africa,” states Gary Schultz, CEO of MRG, Inc. “There are ample short- and long-term opportunities and rewards for cable, DTH, and DTT for those with the foresight to exploit them.” Some examples of opportunities include improved copyright protection for (multi-carrier) remote access; improved channel clustering for customers to pay only for what they want; enhanced Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) and IP distribution architectures, 1,000-hour PVRs, and others.

By also showing ROI scenarios for digital cable, satellite and terrestrial carriers, the report reveals how digital cable can reverse its loss of subscribers (or “churn”) to satellite; and how almost any carrier can reach profitability within 12 months by transmitting VOD over unused bandwidth to home PVRs.

The report also includes profiles of over 35 industry innovators such as Broadcom, Intel, Motorola, Hughes, Pace, Pioneer, Sony, Thomson, TiVo, Liberate, Microsoft TV, NDS, OpenTV, NBC, Concurrent, SeaChange, and many others.

This 150-page report is available for US $1,995.00. To order or request information, contact MRG at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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Storage Visions 2004 Pre-CES Conference Date and Advisory Board Set

3rd Annual Conference Solicits Speakers and Sponsors Focusing on
Data Storageand the Digital Media Value Chain

2003 Conference Book still available

SUNNYVALE, CA - April 2, 2003 - A Storage and Content Industry Advisory Board has been formed for the 2004 Storage Visions Conference. It is Chaired by Mr. Tom Coughlin of Coughlin Associates and Mr. Gary Schultz of Multimedia Research Group, Inc.. Representatives from the content storage provider and user communities has been established to help steer the session topics, keynote speakers, demonstration laboratory, sponsorships, and theme of the 2004 conference. Members of the advisory committee are Lowell Moulton of Sony, Rob Pait of Seagate, Stephen DiFranco of Maxtor, Ken Morse of PowerTV (part of Scientific Atlanta), Peter Fasciano of Avid Technology, Mark Gray of Kasenna, and Rob Koenen of the MPEG-4 Industry Forum.

The Storage Visions 2004 Conference will be held in Las Vegas January 6-7, 2004 to address critical technology and market issues for the implementation of a completely digital entertainment industry. Issues for the 2004 conference include requirements for creating, storing, transmitting, and distributing multimedia content.

Over 70 companies were involved in the sessions, exhibits, and keynote addresses during the 2003 conference with a 40% increase in attendance compared to the 2002 conference. The 2003 Storage Visions conference featured a wide assortment of leading authorities and key decision-makers in the industry. Among the more than 20 sponsoring companies and organizations for 2003 were industry leaders like Seagate Technology, NDS, Computer Technology Review, FCIA, MPEG-4 Forum, SMPTE, iVDR, 2nd Story Media, and Storagesearch.com. Keynote speakers from IBM, Qualcomm, NDS, SNIA, PowerTV, Seagate Technology, and Sony proved popular and prescient about the accelerating embrace of storage area network solutions (SAN), rapid embrace of non-tape media, and server and media compression requirements for content distribution.

The following are some remarks about the 2003 Storage Visions Conference held in January 2003 at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas. John O'Donnell, co-founder of Equator Technologies said, “It was a real pleasure being part of Storage Visions. Great lineup of stuff, I really enjoyed it.” Lowell Moulton, Senior Technology Consultant of Sony Electronics said “Open systems networked storage is transforming the television and motion picture production industries in surprising ways. The 2003 Storage Visions Conference was an essential forum keeping me up to date on the state of the art in this quickly evolving technology.”

The 2004 conference is now soliciting speakers, exhibitor,s and sponsors. Companies that are interested in participating in the 2004 conference should check out the conference speaker, exhibitor, and sponsor brochure that is available on the conference web site: www.storagevisions.com. Interested parties can also call Tom Coughlin at 408-978-8184 or Gary Schultz of MRG, Inc./Multimedia Research Group, Inc. at 408-453-5553 to participate.

More information regarding bound copies of the 2003 Storage Visions 2003 conference presentations.

NEW REPORT BY MRG ANALYZES FUEL CELL INDUSTRY TRENDS
AND RESEARCH FINDINGS

Report Examines Different Fuel Cell Technologies, Market Opportunities, and Forecasts for US & Europe with Nanotech as One Contender

SUNNYVALE, CA – March 7, 2003 – According to a new report U.S. & EC Micro and Small Fuel Cell R&D, Commercial Implication and Market/Industry Trends from MRG, Inc. and Fuji-Keizai USA, power consumption exists as one of the most serious challenges to the continuing mobile device and power generation evolution. With the advancement in processor and display technology far outpacing similar advancement in battery technology, electronics suppliers must develop careful power consumption strategies. As a result, significant resources are being devoted to finding the next major battery chemistry improvement. One of the most promising approaches for providing high energy density and longer runtime of electronic devices is a class of electrochemical cells that use air-breathing electrodes such as metal-air cells and hydrogen fuel cells.

Global Perspective:
According to Jeremy Rifkin, President of the Foundation of Economic Trends in Washington and author of The Hydrogen Economy, “a new energy regime is being born that has the potential to remake civilization along radical lines.” He anticipates that hydrogen, which is “the most basic and ubiquitous element in the universe”, can be stored in a fuel cell and used to generate electricity for power, heat, and light.

Technical Perspective:
The report examines how fuel cells have the theoretical potential to increase the energy density to a higher level than most advanced battery technologies. It investigates fuel cell units in an electrical power output ranging from less than 1 watt to around several hundred watts; and profiles for those companies that are at the forefront of research and development of this new technology.

Despite the theoretical potential of fuel cells to increase the energy density to a higher level than most advanced battery technologies, there were few incidents of significant development work in portable fuel cells until the early 1990s, and most companies in this market have only produced one or two prototypes.

This report examines 46 fuel cell companies in the micro and small fuel cell markets; 25 research and development companies and institutes; 10 component companies; 3 nanotechnology component companies; and 8 testing measurement and consulting companies. The study also analyzes fuel cell trends in areas such as marketing, research and development, category, technology, product development, commercializaion, capital markets, patents, and stretegic alliance. Finally, the report examines the different fuel cell technologies such as Proton Exchange Membrane, Alkaline, Direct Methanol, and Zinc-Air.

U.S. & EC Micro and Small Fuel Cell R&D, Commercial Implication and Market/Industry Trends is 182 pages and available in an English or Japanese-language edition for US $998.00 each. To order or request information, contact MRG at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

*Source: Rifkin, Jeremy. “Hydrogen will make oil companies obsolete and let people generate all their own energy.” The Guardian 17 Sept 2002.

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NEW FCC RULES OPEN THE DOOR FOR RBOC IP VIDEO

MRG Report Shows that the RBOC Business Case for IP Video is Strong

SUNNYVALE, CA – February 25, 2003 – MRG, Inc. (Multimedia Research Group, Inc.)
The recent FCC unbundling ruling will allow the U.S. RBOCs (Regional Bell Operating Companies) to deploy residential broadband networks without any obligation to share them with their competitors. This ruling removes the barriers that the RBOCs say have prevented them from expanding their broadband networks. It allows the RBOCs to extend the reach of their ADSL networks as well as to deploy VDSL and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks with no obligation to provide access to these networks to their competitors.

A new study from MRG, IP/Broadband Video Business Case and Global Forecast – 2003-2006, describes the compelling case for offering video services over the RBOC and other broadband networks. This report finds that the breakeven point for these video services can be less than two years, which can make them quickly profitable. The report points out that these video services can significantly increase the average revenue per subscriber as well as to significantly increase the size of the subscriber base for broadband services. Finally, it also discusses how RBOC video services will make them competitive against the cable company’s triple play offerings.

“Unlike the mid 90s, current DSL video systems allow service providers amazing cost performance advantages using only pin-point upgrades, as opposed to the new-wiring costs required of the cable companies,” states Gary Schultz, Research Director.

“The question is how quickly the RBOCs will jump onto the IP video bandwagon,” comments MRG Sr. Analyst Bob Larribeau. “If they don’t move quickly they will cede a strong competitive advantage to the cable industry.”

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IP/Broadband Video Business Case and Global Forecast – 2003-2006 is available for US $3,995.00. To order or request information, contact Veronica Phanthavong at 408-453-5553, email info@mrgco.com.

MRG REPORT SHOWS LAST-MILE INFRASTRUCTURE ADDING
NEW REVENUES FOR TELCOS BUNDLING VIDEO AND HIGH SPEED DATA

Independent and International Telcos, Hotels, and MDUs Take Lead

SUNNYVALE, CA – February 10, 2003 – MRG, Inc. (Multimedia Research Group, Inc.)
In a switch that may reach the communications history books, the small independent and international telephone companies (telcos) are taking the lead in competing with cable in providing “triple play” services (bundled voice, video, and High Speed Data), while large US incumbent telcos sit by. A new study from MRG, IP/Broadband Video Business Case and Global Forecast – 2003-2006, demonstrates how major advances in DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technologies, Gigabit Ethernet, and video compression have enabled telcos to simultaneously and profitably add High Speed Data and video services (basic and movie channels, pay-per-view, and video-on-demand [VOD] content) over existing networks.

According to the report, revenues for IP/Broadband Video services and systems should grow from $500 million to over $8 billion in 2003-2006, including Asia, Europe, North America, and other markets. The 210-page report examines all forms of broadband technology including IP, ATM, DSL, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, and Passive Optical Networks (PONs), which are used by telcos, hotels, hospitals, and multi-dwelling units (MDUs) to deliver cost-effective digital video services over copper pairs or fiber optics.

“Small and international telcos are not waiting to see when satellite or cable will bundle voice, video, and High Speed Data (HSD) in their markets,” comments MRG Sr. Analyst, Bob Larribeau. “They’re doing it successfully right now.”

Based primarily on the global proliferation of DSL, the report tracks subscriber, unit, and revenue growth of IP/Broadband Video services, access systems, set-top boxes, video headends, middleware, and VOD servers at regional and global levels. It also explains the technical and business drivers behind this market over the next five years; shows actual case studies and pricelists for triple-play service bundles being offered; and explains related opportunities, risks, and recommendations.

“Unlike the mid 90s, current DSL video systems allow service providers amazing cost performance advantages using only pin-point upgrades, as opposed to the new-wiring costs required of the cable companies,” states Gary Schultz, Research Director.

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IP/Broadband Video Business Case and Global Forecast – 2003-2006 is available for US $3,995.00. To order or request information, contact MRG at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

NEW REPORT BY MRG SHOWS HOW PROTEOMICS WILL IMPROVE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY PROFITS

Report Projects $3.3 Billion Proteomics Market Will Shorten Development Time for New Drugs

SUNNYVALE, CA – January 28, 2003 – MRG, Inc announces the release of a new market research study “Proteomics R&D Competition Post Genome-Project Era.” This study analyzes the major market segments in the emerging field of proteomics, the global study of protein profile changes due to developmental, environmental or disease states, and its application to the drug development process.

“Proteomics is projected to grow from a $565 million market in 2001 to over $3.3 billion in 2006, representing over 40% average annual growth rate,” states Analyst Elaine Mansfield, Ph.D., the main author of the study. “One of the primary driving forces of this growth trend is the need to increase the return on investment in pharmaceutical R&D.”

The Pharmaceutical industry is the most profitable sector of the Fortune 500 with average profits in excess of 18% of revenues, or almost three times higher than other industries. However, the high cost of R&D, intense competition, long lead times in development, and short patent protection periods are putting increasing pressures on Pharmaceutical executives to find more efficient discovery platforms and development paradigms.

The advent of combinatorial chemistry, genomics, and gene expression profiling with DNA biochips has led to more and more compounds and gene targets than ever before. “To streamline product development, more efficient methods to validate chemical lead compounds are needed,” states Mansfield. “This is where the emerging proteomics platforms profiled in the market study will play a key role.”

The report analyzes seven market segments, including Emerging Proteomics Technologies, Proteomics Chip Providers, Proteomics Platform Providers, Reagent or Antibody Providers, Proteomics Informatics Tools and Database Providers, Proteomic Service Providers, and Proteomics-based Drug Discovery Companies. The report also includes analysis of over 190 strategic alliances among the companies analyzed, as well as 50 in-depth profiles of Proteomics companies. Examples of companies profiled in the report are Incyte, Celera Genomics, Oxford GlycoSciences, Zyomyx, Celera, SomaLogic, Ciphergen, Phylos, Affibody, and NeoGenesis.

This 160-page report, co-produced with Fuji-Keizai USA, is available in an English or Japanese-language edition for US $1,495.00 each. To order or request information, contact Veronica Phanthavong at 408-453-5553 or info@mrgco.com.

This 160-page report is available in an English or Japanese-language edition for US $1,495.00 each. To order or request information, contact MRG at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.