TECHNOLOGY : Growth Is in the PCMCIA Cards for PC-Product Makers
Here are a few more initials to remember in the jargon of computers: PCMCIA. This stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Assn., a 300-company group that establishes technical specifications for the little add-on cards that plug into portable computers.
Nearly all the portable-computer makers are displaying computers with slots for these credit card-size circuit cards at the Comdex computer trade show in Las Vegas this week.
A number of Orange County companies are making the seven-ounce cards, which allow lightweight computers to use peripherals such as modems, memory boards and printers. JAE Electronics in Irvine, Litronic Industries in Costa Mesa, Telecomputer Inc. in Westminster, ITT Cannon Inc. in Santa Ana and D-Link Systems Inc. in Irvine are making PCMCIA-related products.
New Media Corp., a 21-month-old Irvine start-up, will generate an estimated $30 million in sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1994, based on sales of its PCMCIA cards. In its first year, sales hit $8.5 million.
It makes memory add-ons, modems, network cards, adapters and anything else that users want to plug into their portable computers. The company employs 54 people and expects to double that number in the next 16 months.
At Comdex, New Media will introduce a $399 sound card in the PCMCIA format--WAV Jammer--that will give a portable computer the ability to play stereo sound and run multimedia applications that combine sound, animation and video.
“We see this sound card being used in sales presentations and for playing games,” said Carl Perkins, chief executive of New Media. “We’re hoping to see this format move into the desktop area too, since it requires less power than your conventional PC” add-on circuit cards.
New Media has made cards for manufacturers of personal computers including AST Research Inc., which was one of the first to use the PCMCIA slots in its machines. But New Media gets most sales through computer distributors.
Perkins, a former chip designer for Rockwell International, said the company has money to keep up with its growth thanks to a $6.5-million investment in May from AMP Inc., a Fortune 500 maker of electronic components in Harrisburg, Pa., in exchange for a 10% stake.
The growth of PCMCIA cards has attracted the attention of bigger players. Kingston Technology Corp., a Fountain Valley maker of computer upgrade devices that expects to report a whopping $400 million in sales this year, is launching its own PCMCIA cards that adapt portable computers for networks.
Kingston’s modules will be manufactured by other subcontractors so that Kingston, which aims for reduced overhead costs, can price its modules lower.
“It is expected to be one of our leading network products,” said Joseph Aldrich, product manager. “We’re widening our line so we can become entrenched in the network market.”
Irvine Sensors, a Costa Mesa company, also hopes to give the memory card market a boost with its products under development. The company is attempting to stack four memory chips on top of each other, increasing the typical card’s capacity from 10 chips to 40.
