ManagedIT - issue 54

18 MANAGED.IT 01732 759725 MOBILE COMPUTING Following Toshiba Client Solutions’ change of name to dynabook and the launch of the first dynabook-branded laptops in Europe, ManagedIT caught up with Nick Offin, Head of Sales, Marketing and Operations for Northern Europe, to discuss developments at the mobile computing pioneer acquired last year by Sharp, part of the Foxconn Group MIT: What Sharp technologies in particular will you be making use of? Offin: Sharp are one of the leaders in the move to 8K technology, so it is not a huge leap to think that we would want to utilise that technology in some of our products. They also have an IoT practice and are developing aspects of IoT that could co-exist with what we have been doing in IoT with Edge Computing and Eyewear. Those are two clear areas where we could benefit from current Sharp technology. MIT: Have you had much success with your IoT products to date? Offin: We are getting a lot of interest in Eyewear and assisted reality (AR) and other vendors are coming into the market all the time, which has to say something about the opportunity that people see in the market. We are early with a Windows-based system, which has given us some good introductions and good conversations with companies here in the UK and across Europe. Companies are now seeking to understand how they can use Eyewear. For us, it’s the start of a journey in a market that is just about ready to take off. MIT: It can’t be a quick sale. Offin: No, it is classical solutions selling – introducing proof of concept, selling the concept to the management team, waiting for them to get their budget and then rolling it out. That’s quite different to the normal notebook selling cycle. MIT: How do you plan to develop the IoT Eyewear product? Offin: For us, Edge Computing was the conduit to Eyewear. Edge Computing, and the IoT devices that link into it, is an important growth area that differentiates us from ManagedIT (MIT): Why has the dynabook name been chosen for the new company? Nick Offin: Dynabook isn’t a new name: it has been in existence for about 30 years, predominantly in the Japanese market. We felt that as a global brand, dynabook made sense for the new entity. It clearly differentiates us from the Toshiba of old and gives us a start-up feel in the sense of being a new business with new aspirations – albeit a start-up with 30 years of heritage behind it. MIT: What does Sharp’s ownership mean for the company? Offin: Foxconn is a large conglomerate – a $150 billion enterprise that owns Sharp and other technology assets, such as Belkin. We sit under the Sharp umbrella, but clearly have our own identity, as opposed to being a sub-brand of Sharp. Our plan is to take the best of the technologies that Sharp has been developing, particularly around visual displays, and to utilise the economies of scale the Foxconn group offers us to really push forward the dynabook brand and the dynabook business across the globe. the normal notebook business. We are looking at where we take that Edge computer next. The integration of 5G technology makes obvious sense. That’s where our thoughts and development plans are leading us – making it more of a mini all-in-one device that can be used both as a desktop and out in the field attached to a multitude of IoT devices in a connected environment. That’s where we see this product category going. MIT: What do you see as the main trends in your core laptop market? Offin: In one respect, the trend is to go thin and light, with growth in the Ultrabook segment, where we have a great line-up today, which we will enhance in the coming months, and in 2-in-1 devices. We are exploring how we can benefit from the economies of scale that Foxconn brings us; how we can develop the Ultrabook line-up and build on the great products we have today; and how we flesh out our portfolio so that we can compete price performance- wise at different points of the market i.e. high-end Ultrabooks, mid-range devices and low-end devices, where historically we used to sell a lot into schools and education. Our first priority is to open up our range, plug the gaps we’ve got and drive the business forward that way. MIT: Where do you have gaps that need filling? Offin: Perhaps gaps is the wrong word. What we are trying to do is flesh out the high-end range, where we have 13-inch devices, 14-inch devices and 2-in-1 devices. It would make sense to bring a thin, light, high-end 15-inch device to market. We are also looking at where we can make a clear technology leadership move in the whole thin and light segment. In Japan, we have launched a very thin and light, sub-800g, 13-inch device. For us to have an ultra-light device like that would be a good technology leadership statement. Then, it is how we address the trend in mid- range devices for USB-C and that type of input. Those are the areas The 30-year-old start-up The newly launched Portégé X30-F, Tecra X40-F and A30-E are the first laptops to be dynabook-branded in Europe. Although the dynabook brand is new in Europe, it is well established in Japan. Toshiba launched the world’s first laptop computer in 1985 (the T1100) and the first notebook computer – the DynaBook J-3100 SS001 – in 1989. Nick Offin www.dynabook.co.uk