Embedded Linux company MontaVista says revenue doubles

MontaVista Software, a privately held developer of embedded Linux software, said Tuesday its revenue doubled in 2002 compared to the previous year.

The company, which does not release detailed financial statements, said the growth meant it chalked up a record year. The only clue that Joe Samagond, a company spokesman, would give about the size of revenue was that it doubled from a two-digit million U.S. dollar figure to another two-digit million dollar figure.

While the clues don't reveal much about the financial aspects of the company, which is still losing money, they do point to the growing popularity of Linux over proprietary real-time operating systems in a range of products. Driving much of the growth is the increasing complexity of devices -- many new devices now do the work of several previous products -- and the addition of networking functions into products as diverse as digital video recorders and refrigerators.

Underscoring the growing use of the company's Linux platform, it said that during 2002 it scored 450 customer design deals from companies including Agilent Technologies UK, Alcatel SA, Lucent Technologies, NEC, Nokia, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic), Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV, Sony and Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH. This compares to around 250 such wins in 2001, said Samagond.

Some of those companies became shareholders in MontaVista during the year, as it raised US$28 million during third-round financing. Among companies that invested in MontaVista were IBM, Intel, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba America and Yamaha, the company said in a statement.

Most recently, MontaVista launched a version of its Linux operating system designed for use in consumer electronics devices, including televisions, portable devices and automobile telematics applications. The system is tuned for such products and includes several features said to be important such as power management, enhanced file systems and a fast boot-up.

MontaVista expects to begin making an operating profit in 2004, said Samagond.