http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_1121_1.html
WTF?
Cheers,
-RK
–
[If replying via email, you’ll need to click on the URL that’s emailed to you
afterwards to forward the email to me – spam filters and all that]
Robert Krten, PDP minicomputer collector http://www.parse.com/~pdp8/
Robert Krten wrote:
http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_1121_1.html
WTF?
Cheers,
-RK
Question to QNX staffer: Will QNX as a desktop platform (for free)
remain unaffected?
Robert Krten <rk@parse.com> wrote:
http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_1121_1.html
WTF?
Cheers,
-RK
quote Eugenia:
…
Well, just be happy that the company got actually bought. I have heard rumors that their business was not going well the last few years. If these are true, then this bought-out is a blessing, even if it means that the QNX family of OSes might get downplayed by their new owner.
Robert Krten wrote:
http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_1121_1.html
WTF?
Looks like I’m not the only one to be taken by surprise here.
Anyone care to elabarate?
This will be relavant, http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_261_1.html
And it makes M$'s recent announce seem all the more bogus.
QNX is clearly going places and can only increase in value so why sell
the company so early? Purely a need for cash?
Garry wrote:
Question to QNX staffer: Will QNX as a desktop platform (for free)
remain unaffected?
The new format adopted for the 6.3.0 release should ensure a yes to that
answer but it’ll be anyones guess as to what features move in and out of
the 30 day period in future releases.
Beyond that, I doubt there will be solid plans for the distro format.
On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 10:26:11 +1200, Evan Hillas wrote:
Robert Krten wrote:
http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_1121_1.htmlThis will be relavant, > http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_261_1.html
And it makes M$'s recent announce seem all the more bogus.QNX is clearly going places and can only increase in value so why sell
the company so early? Purely a need for cash?
Early? I wouldn’t call selling after 24 years early.
Personally I don’t quite know how to react. Harman sounds like a good
company, but at least a portion of their motive for the purchase must be to
lock QNX technology into their own products, especially in the Automtive
arena. Where does that leave all the competing manufacturers in the
Automotive space who have chosen, or might be considering, QNX?
Still if it has saved QNX from oblivion then I guess it has to be good
news.
I’d love to hear other views.
Rob Rutherford
Robert Rutherford wrote:
On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 10:26:11 +1200, Evan Hillas wrote:
Robert Krten wrote:http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_1121_1.html
This will be relavant, > http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_261_1.html
And it makes M$'s recent announce seem all the more bogus.QNX is clearly going places and can only increase in value so why sell
the company so early? Purely a need for cash?
Early? I wouldn’t call selling after 24 years early.Personally I don’t quite know how to react. Harman sounds like a good
company, but at least a portion of their motive for the purchase must be to
lock QNX technology into their own products, especially in the Automtive
arena.
IMHO … devices for digital television, digital radios, digital
receivers, digital video recorders a.s.o are needing processing power,
that means also QNX6. The Harman group offers also devices for
professional sound studios and a lot of other professional sound devices.
Where does that leave all the competing manufacturers in the
Automotive space who have chosen, or might be considering, QNX?
As mentioned in the press news … they are trying to offer advanced
custom engineering 
(also for the competitors of Harman ??)
Still if it has saved QNX from oblivion then I guess it has to be good
news.
The question is: will be the connection Harman <-> QNX for ever ??
Regards
Armin
I’d love to hear other views.
Rob Rutherford
On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 10:26:11 +1200, Evan Hillas <blarg@blarg.blarg> wrote:
…
And it makes M$'s recent announce seem all the more bogus.
What announcement?
…
–
Using Opera’s revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/
“Robert Rutherford” <mail@NoSpamPlease.ruzz.com> wrote in message
news:iqccia3r22xo.6v6vnzajdscj$.dlg@40tude.net…
On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 10:26:11 +1200, Evan Hillas wrote:
Robert Krten wrote:
http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_1121_1.htmlThis will be relavant, > http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_261_1.html
And it makes M$'s recent announce seem all the more bogus.QNX is clearly going places and can only increase in value so why sell
the company so early? Purely a need for cash?Early? I wouldn’t call selling after 24 years early.
Personally I don’t quite know how to react. Harman sounds like a good
company, but at least a portion of their motive for the purchase must be
to
lock QNX technology into their own products, especially in the Automtive
arena. Where does that leave all the competing manufacturers in the
Automotive space who have chosen, or might be considering, QNX?Still if it has saved QNX from oblivion then I guess it has to be good
news.I’d love to hear other views.
What I find intringing is on
http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com/281777372611416.php
It say’s QNX was bought for 168Millions US and QNX annual SALES (not
profit) is 26Millions (doesn’t say if it’s US or CDN),
Now why would a company pay 168 Millions for a company that has sales of 26
million, if the 26 million was net profit it would take at least over 6
years to make up the money.
Rob Rutherford
Mario Charest <nowheretobefound@8thdimension.com> wrote:
“Robert Rutherford” <> mail@NoSpamPlease.ruzz.com> > wrote in message
news:iqccia3r22xo.6v6vnzajdscj$.> dlg@40tude.net> …
On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 10:26:11 +1200, Evan Hillas wrote:Robert Krten wrote:
http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_1121_1.htmlThis will be relavant, > http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_261_1.html
And it makes M$'s recent announce seem all the more bogus.QNX is clearly going places and can only increase in value so why sell
the company so early? Purely a need for cash?Early? I wouldn’t call selling after 24 years early.
Personally I don’t quite know how to react. Harman sounds like a good
company, but at least a portion of their motive for the purchase must be
to
lock QNX technology into their own products, especially in the Automtive
arena. Where does that leave all the competing manufacturers in the
Automotive space who have chosen, or might be considering, QNX?Still if it has saved QNX from oblivion then I guess it has to be good
news.I’d love to hear other views.
What I find intringing is on
http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com/281777372611416.phpIt say’s QNX was bought for 168Millions US and QNX annual SALES (not
profit) is 26Millions (doesn’t say if it’s US or CDN),Now why would a company pay 168 Millions for a company that has sales of 26
138, not 168
million, if the 26 million was net profit it would take at least over 6
years to make up the money.
And, if you do the math of ~200 employees at a loaded labour rate of ~100k
for easy calculations you get an annual burn rate of $20M. The loaded labour
rate may be a tad high, but it’s probably not too far off for ballpark
estimates.
Cost of acquisition at 200 heads = $138M/200 = $690k/head
Sales / head = $25M/200 = $125k/head
A question I have is, how will this impact me? Will my market as a third
party increase? Decrease? Stay the same?
Cheers,
-RK
–
[If replying via email, you’ll need to click on the URL that’s emailed to you
afterwards to forward the email to me – spam filters and all that]
Robert Krten, PDP minicomputer collector http://www.parse.com/~pdp8/
The press release specifies 138M$ not 168M$
“Mario Charest” <nowheretobefound@8thdimension.com> wrote in message
news:clrce9$ffi$1@inn.qnx.com…
“Robert Rutherford” <> mail@NoSpamPlease.ruzz.com> > wrote in message
news:iqccia3r22xo.6v6vnzajdscj$.> dlg@40tude.net> …
On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 10:26:11 +1200, Evan Hillas wrote:Robert Krten wrote:
http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_1121_1.htmlThis will be relavant, > http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_261_1.html
And it makes M$'s recent announce seem all the more bogus.QNX is clearly going places and can only increase in value so why sell
the company so early? Purely a need for cash?Early? I wouldn’t call selling after 24 years early.
Personally I don’t quite know how to react. Harman sounds like a good
company, but at least a portion of their motive for the purchase must be
to
lock QNX technology into their own products, especially in the Automtive
arena. Where does that leave all the competing manufacturers in the
Automotive space who have chosen, or might be considering, QNX?Still if it has saved QNX from oblivion then I guess it has to be good
news.I’d love to hear other views.
What I find intringing is on
http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com/281777372611416.phpIt say’s QNX was bought for 168Millions US and QNX annual SALES (not
profit) is 26Millions (doesn’t say if it’s US or CDN),Now why would a company pay 168 Millions for a company that has sales of
26 million, if the 26 million was net profit it would take at least over 6
years to make up the money.
Rob Rutherford
“Pascal Bouchard” <pascal.bouchard@rfranco.ca> wrote in message
news:clreme$h61$1@inn.qnx.com…
The press release specifies 138M$ not 168M$
True. But $138M US is the same as $168M CDN.
I would just comment that $138M in cash is not a firesale price. A firesale
would be selling for a slight premium to 1x sales. The company has always
lived closed to the edge, but it looks, from where I sit, like someone has
finally recognized QNX for the gem it really is.
Personally, I think things look very bright for QSSL.
Harman is an astute and well managed company. In the last three years their
stock has moved from below $20/share to $120 today. Their profits were up
70% over the last year as well. What Harman chooses to do with the
technology remains to be seen, but the growth markets for this software are
in consumer electronics, automotive, and networking. Harman is in two of
those markets directly, and needs solid networking components to realize
their goals. The vision of ubiquitous, networked and intelligent devices
that we, as an industry, spoke about at the end of the 1990’s is finally
becoming true! Harman has decided that owning this piece of core technology
is a better choice than paying someone else for it.
Congratulations Dan, Gord, and everyone else at QSSL. Well done!
A.
Alec Saunders wrote:
“Pascal Bouchard” <> pascal.bouchard@rfranco.ca> > wrote in message
news:clreme$h61$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …The press release specifies 138M$ not 168M$
True. But $138M US is the same as $168M CDN.I would just comment that $138M in cash is not a firesale price. A firesale
would be selling for a slight premium to 1x sales. The company has always
lived closed to the edge, but it looks, from where I sit, like someone has
finally recognized QNX for the gem it really is.Personally, I think things look very bright for QSSL.
Harman is an astute and well managed company. In the last three years their
stock has moved from below $20/share to $120 today. Their profits were up
70% over the last year as well. What Harman chooses to do with the
technology remains to be seen, but the growth markets for this software are
in consumer electronics, automotive, and networking. Harman is in two of
those markets directly, and needs solid networking components to realize
their goals. The vision of ubiquitous, networked and intelligent devices
that we, as an industry, spoke about at the end of the 1990’s is finally
becoming true! Harman has decided that owning this piece of core technology
is a better choice than paying someone else for it.
Hi Alec, nice to see you here 
there are similar cases when nobody understood why a big dog bought a
small one.
When a company depends on a technology or product, they have to make
sure that it will be available and further developed in the future, too!
In such cases it makes sense to own the other company. Saving license
fees is an additional positive effect
Congratulations Dan, Gord, and everyone else at QSSL. Well done!
We hope to see a bright future for QNX as well as for 3rd parties… and
hopefully the long promised Runtime bundle CDs will be availabe soon.
Cheers,
Jutta
“Jutta Steinhoff” <j-steinhoff@web.de> wrote in message
news:clrjip$lab$1@inn.qnx.com…
Hi Alec, nice to see you here >
It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? I’m not in the QNX world anymore,
which is why you never see me. I’ve gone back to building PC software for
Windows. I guess it’s in my blood. Just stuck my nose in to see what people
thought of the acquisition. Not only am I cheering for QSSL on this one, I
am really stunned by the deal they negotiated. They got a great valuation,
and that they got cash – it wasn’t a stock swap.
there are similar cases when nobody understood why a big dog bought a
small one.
I agree with your analysis on that.
Cheers!
A.
Alec Saunders wrote:
“Jutta Steinhoff” <> j-steinhoff@web.de> > wrote in message
news:clrjip$lab$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …Hi Alec, nice to see you here >
It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? >
sure, but you are not forgotten and we miss you …
I’m not in the QNX world anymore,
which is why you never see me. I’ve gone back to building PC software for
Windows. I guess it’s in my blood.
Just stuck my nose in to see what people
thought of the acquisition. Not only am I cheering for QSSL on this one, I
am really stunned by the deal they negotiated. They got a great valuation,
and that they got cash – it wasn’t a stock swap.
I’ve a good feeling for the future of QNX
BTW, I had a look to your homepage. I’ve never seen such an innovative
page for career opportunities, it’s a great idea !
Cheers,
Jutta
“Jutta Steinhoff” <j-steinhoff@web.de> wrote in message
news:clrus1$su1$1@inn.qnx.com…
BTW, I had a look to your homepage. I’ve never seen such an innovative
page for career opportunities, it’s a great idea !
Thanks. I can’t claim credit for the idea – I got it from a book. But it
seemed like such a good idea that we’ve adopted it for all our recruiting.
A.
In article <cls1b1$1eb$1@inn.qnx.com>, alec@iotum.com says…
“Jutta Steinhoff” <> j-steinhoff@web.de> > wrote in message
news:clrus1$su1$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …BTW, I had a look to your homepage. I’ve never seen such an innovative
page for career opportunities, it’s a great idea !Thanks. I can’t claim credit for the idea – I got it from a book. But it
seemed like such a good idea that we’ve adopted it for all our recruiting.
Hello Jutta, Alec:
Sorry for offtopic if this term’s applicable here, in cafe
Where is that page (URL)? I’m just curious (don’t think there is any
windows programming stuff in my blood, I hate every OS I had worked
with, except QNX)
Cheers,
Eduard.
P.S. I think that deal is good for QSS but rather bad for QNX community
(things went from bad to worse 
)).
I would say it is probably good for Harman. And for Dan & Gord too
But when you think of what happened to QNX, she basically transitioned from
a bachelorette to a married woman. No more dating for her and no more being
independent player in the field.
While this deal is probably as good as it gets on this level, they could
have raised about as much in a well done IPO. Then remaining an independent
player they could have their dating game at a much higher level
– igor
“Alec Saunders” <alec@iotum.com> wrote in message
news:clrgbf$iod$1@inn.qnx.com…
“Pascal Bouchard” <> pascal.bouchard@rfranco.ca> > wrote in message
news:clreme$h61$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
The press release specifies 138M$ not 168M$True. But $138M US is the same as $168M CDN.
I would just comment that $138M in cash is not a firesale price. A
firesale
would be selling for a slight premium to 1x sales. The company has always
lived closed to the edge, but it looks, from where I sit, like someone has
finally recognized QNX for the gem it really is.Personally, I think things look very bright for QSSL.
Harman is an astute and well managed company. In the last three years
their
stock has moved from below $20/share to $120 today. Their profits were up
70% over the last year as well. What Harman chooses to do with the
technology remains to be seen, but the growth markets for this software
are
in consumer electronics, automotive, and networking. Harman is in two of
those markets directly, and needs solid networking components to realize
their goals. The vision of ubiquitous, networked and intelligent devices
that we, as an industry, spoke about at the end of the 1990’s is finally
becoming true! Harman has decided that owning this piece of core
technology
is a better choice than paying someone else for it.Congratulations Dan, Gord, and everyone else at QSSL. Well done!
A.
Igor Kovalenko wrote:
I would say it is probably good for Harman. And for Dan & Gord too >
But when you think of what happened to QNX, she basically transitioned from
a bachelorette to a married woman. No more dating for her and no more being
independent player in the field.
Not necessarily. It isn’t unheard of to have companies acquired, grown and spun off into IPOs (not sure I have a good marriage
analogy for this scenerio).
While this deal is probably as good as it gets on this level, they could
have raised about as much in a well done IPO. Then remaining an independent
player they could have their dating game at a much higher level >
While $138,000,000 is a nice chunk of change for 2 individuals to split up, it wouldn’t do much toward making a big push into the
automotive market; with Harman $B’s behind them, QNX stands a much better chance of becoming the de-facto standard in automotive
applications…
“Rennie Allen” <rallen@csical.com> wrote in message
news:4181B0CC.4040003@csical.com…
Igor Kovalenko wrote:
I would say it is probably good for Harman. And for Dan & Gord too >But when you think of what happened to QNX, she basically transitioned
from
a bachelorette to a married woman. No more dating for her and no more
being
independent player in the field.Not necessarily. It isn’t unheard of to have companies acquired, grown
and spun off into IPOs (not sure I have a good marriage
analogy for this scenerio).
Well, it is not unheard of for a married woman to divorce taking some money
and then marry a better suitor
While this deal is probably as good as it gets on this level, they could
have raised about as much in a well done IPO. Then remaining an
independent
player they could have their dating game at a much higher level >While $138,000,000 is a nice chunk of change for 2 individuals to split
up, it wouldn’t do much toward making a big push into the
automotive market; with Harman $B’s behind them, QNX stands a much better
chance of becoming the de-facto standard in automotive
applications…
Perhaps. But the terms of deal seem to suggest that QNX will operate
independently for few next years. I somehow doubt that pouring $B into
something you have no direct operational control of is high on the agenda of
people holding those $B…
It would be more logical for them to push their revenue-generating products.
Neither Sun nor Apple make any money on software, although Solaris and MacOS
are vital part of their business. QNX might become just as vital for Harman,
but not for their competitors. Being locked into an independent OS vendor is
one thing, but being locked into an OS that belongs to some hardware
manufacturer is totally different story. This will rule out QNX for a lot of
people, unless they do something really smart with licensing policies. In
the past QNX has either refused to do things like source code escrow or
demanded unreasonable fees for that. Now concerns of prospective customers
will be even greater…