iPlanet sees strong growth in Asia

KUALA LUMPUR: Web-technology provider iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions, an

alliance between America Online and Sun Microsystems, is staying put in Asia -

which is where it says the money will come in from. "We're not going to

decrease investment here at all," Barbara Gordon, senior vice-president of

worldwide field operations, told Reuters.

"Just look at China, the number of cell phones deployed there are

greater than in the US," she said on the sidelines of a news conference

about a web-based messaging server. iPlanet turnover in Malaysia shot up 172 per

cent in fiscal 2001, versus 37 per cent growth in Singapore, 35 per cent in the

Philippines and 25 per cent in Thailand.

Gordon declined to give numbers but said Asian bricks-and-mortar companies

were now more willing to loosen the purse strings as the dust of the technology

down-cycle settled. "We grew the most in Malaysia because of several large

contracts. Take Telekom, they decided to switch from a competitor system to

ours."

iPlanet says it has more than 500 clients in South East Asia, of which some

200 are in Malaysia, including leading telephone company Telekom Malaysia.

Gordon said the US downturn had affected Asian firms' spending but added that

financial services companies, governments and transport firms were talking of

increased Internet spending.

She added iPlanet would go all out to wrest market share in Asia, naming

software giant Microsoft as its main competitor. Formed in 1999, iPlanet has a

42 per cent share of the high volume, worldwide stand-alone service provider and

e-mail software market.

Gordon warned against using common platforms that revealed a firm's business

patterns and divulged its client-base. "Asian firms must wake up to this

fact. Information mustn't be given up freely or you will find yourself taken out

of business one day," she said.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.