ALERE BUSINESS APPLICATIONS FUTURE DIRECTION

TIW has been developing on the Visual FoxPro platform for 22 years and it remains the most mature and inexpensive platform in market. As long as a computer with a 32 bit mode system is provided, Visual FoxPro applications can be run and have an expected life that will last until end of next decade.

However, technology follows cycles and a new cycle is emerging. At this time it is unclear who the major players will be, but we believe that mobility devices and PC’s are likely to merge into one cross-platform entity.

Global internet users will double over the next few users and most will be using mobile devices. Last year the number of smart phones sold exceeded the number of PCs sold. In a few years, the number of mobile devices will DWARF the number of PCs, and tablets alone should surpass PCs in 2 to 3 years.

HTML is the principal driver for the World Wide Web and a core technology of the Internet. Its core aims have been to improve the language with support for the latest multimedia while keeping it easily readable by humans and consistently understood by computers and devices. It includes markup and application programming interfaces (APIs) for complex web applications. Many features of HTML5 have been built with the consideration of being able to run on low-powered devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Right now HTML apps are a $10 billion dollar market and growing at 100% per year. Apps will continue to grow rapidly and power complex applications on HTML. It is becoming apparent that computing is going to mobility devices and that the desktop, smart phones and tablets will merge. We have concluded that HTML has the best potential for being the cross-platform of choice.

TIW is moving towards HTML and as a first step we are developing a new contact manager, called ALERE InTouch, with a mobility device interface. We will then expand that mobility device access to all of ALERE and continue the transition of ALERE to new technologies as they mature.