Winds of Change: VDC Finds Embedded OS Market Share Shifts

"While both Microsoft and Wind River Systems are in a dead heat for overall market share, Wind River Systems still maintains a commanding market leadership position for the sale of real-time operating systems," said Stephen Balacco, Embedded Software Analyst at VDC. "Wind River Systems has been as challenged as any supplier in this market space over the last two years in the face of a slumping telecommunications industry, where they have been highly leveraged for sales, as well as increased competition from royalty-free and Linux OS vendors making inroads."

Natick, Massachusetts - The embedded OS market has been anything but predictable in 2003. War jitters, a shaky economic environment, and a struggling telcom/datacom industry have affected investments in new project starts. Competition in the embedded OS market has been fierce, offering embedded developers choice for their development projects and business models to meet their needs.

Worldwide Shipments of Embedded OSs, Bundled Products, and Related Services,
Segmented by Leading Vendors for 2002 (In Rank Order)

1. Microsoft
2. Wind River Systems
3. Symbian
4. Palm
5. QNX
6. Enea Data
7. Green Hills Software
8. LynuxWorks
9. MontaVista Software
10. Accelerated Technology (Mentor Graphics)

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To view the entire press release including charts go to
http://www.vdc-corp.com/embedded/press/03/pr03-23.html

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"While both Microsoft and Wind River Systems are in a dead heat for overall market share, Wind River Systems still maintains a commanding market leadership position for the sale of real-time operating systems," said Stephen Balacco, Embedded Software Analyst at VDC. "Wind River Systems has been as challenged as any supplier in this market space over the last two years in the face of a slumping telecommunications industry, where they have been highly leveraged for sales, as well as increased competition from royalty-free and Linux OS vendors making inroads." Included among the key factors impacting the market are:

Increased focus and emphasis on bundling integrated development solutions that minimize unnecessary and repetitive development and allow OEMs to focus on their core competencies in differentiating their product through the application;

Ability of OS vendors to adapt business models that are flexible in their pricing and terms and conditions in response to a changing set of market requirements spurred on by competitive market forces; and

A telecommunications market that continues to struggle has affected investments in new projects.

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Report Availability
http://www.vdc-corp.com/embedded/reports/03/br03-10.html

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ABOUT VDC

Founded in 1971, VDC is a technology market research and consulting firm that specializes in industrial and commercial electronics, computing, communications, software and power systems markets.

For further information about "Embedded/Real-Time Operating Systems and Toolkits" or any other VDC service contact:

Stephen Balacco, Industry Analyst
sbalacco@vdc-corp.com

Chris Lanfear, Embedded Group Manager
chrisl@vdc-corp.com

Marc Regberg, Senior Vice President
msr@vdc-corp.com

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