Media reports of ArcSoft company in the United States

China Computer News-ArcSoft captures the beautiful moment of digital "video" world.

Arc: arc; Arc light; Electric arc. ArcSoft literally means "arc software". ArcSoft, Inc's Chinese name is American Arcsoft Company, or Arcsoft for short.

ArcSoft doesn't pursue broadness, and it can't be seen that it has the "ambition" to surpass Microsoft. It seems that they only do two things: images and videos, focus on the digital "visual" world, and strive to be profound in "visual" technology.

ArcSoft's software is priceless because it was basically not put into the domestic retail market before 2002 and was not priced. ArcSoft is mainly sold with hardware, because many big companies regard it as an OEM gift, so we have it inadvertently and don't spend money.

ArcSoft is like a special fleet of image and video processing software. After all the 10 software is installed, it takes up a large part of program items and desktop space, but the default installation takes up only 609M of hard disk space, which is not much, but sometimes the library on the CD is called.

ArcSoft provides a perfect solution for images and videos. If it's a bit lacking, it's just that they haven't given their software a Chinese name yet. In fact, according to the existing English names of ArcSoft software, wonderful Chinese names can be translated, such as its "head-changing" software PhotoFantasy, which can be translated into "absurd image" or "head-changing image".

Image processing software

ArcSoft Studio-ArcSoft's flagship product, advanced image processing software. PhotoStudio has powerful editing and retouching functions. Its outstanding functions include cascading, undo and redo, text editing and advanced file format support. It also has unique tools to manage and organize users' photo albums. There are hundreds of brushes, graphics and printed matter to choose from in PhotoStudio, and users can also design and add interesting shapes such as stars and the moon. Its powerful macro function enables users to save a series of operations with one command to avoid duplication of work. Its function of quickly eliminating red eye is very helpful to users of digital cameras. Users are positioned as beginners and advanced users, especially suitable for advanced users and photographers.

ArcSoft Photo Impression-ArcSoft's entry-level image processing software. Simple operation but complete functions, complete editing and retouching functions, equipped with greeting cards, calendars, photo frames, printed materials and other templates. User orientation: Beginner users who need to be simple and easy to use.

An interesting photo editing software. It provides a variety of interesting and illusory scenes, and users can easily add their faces to various templates, just like those who take pictures on the beach with templates lacking faces. The software itself provides a large background library, covering almost any scene, and users can add their own templates. User orientation refers to home users and digital photographers who want their photos to be full of fun.

Arcsoft Panorama Maker- Seamlessly combine continuous small photos into one big picture or panorama. Especially suitable for users who use ordinary digital cameras, because you can take divided or partial photos with a digital camera with lower pixels, and then use this software to automatically synthesize them with just a few mouse clicks (as shown in figure 1). It is worth noting that it is best to use the same focal length when shooting, and recording the specific data of focal length should be more helpful for synthesis. User positioning is the person who wants to make a panoramic view or spell out a big photo. Believe me, every photographer is right to use it!

Multimedia file management software, such as images, videos and audio. It can display and manage multimedia files in photo albums, generate multimedia presentations, generate video postcards and slides, support various popular file formats, and create HTML files to publish photo albums on the Internet. The software also has simple and practical image enhancement functions such as rotating, adjusting color and brightness, and framing. User positioning: every user who needs to manage multimedia resources.

Arcsoft photo montage-Choose patterns from videos and miniature photos to create mosaic posters. User-oriented: users who need a unique way to display pictures and views.

ArcSoft multimedia e-mail-e-greeting card making software. Video, audio and images are used in greeting cards to generate independent executable files, which can be sent by any e-mail tool, and no network connection is needed when browsing cards. User positioning refers to users who are interested in sending unique and beautiful e-cards on the Internet.

ArcSoft Video Impression-ArcSoft's mainstream video editing software. Users are those who are looking for easy-to-use video editing and production tools.

video production software

Arcsoft Showbiz, Arcsoft's top video product, is a complete film production and editing system and one of the best solutions for making digital movies. The main tools and technical means can be found in this product. Excellent function but simple operation, anyone can use it to make their own digital movies.

Interview with Deng Hui, CEO of ArcSoft.

When we send beautiful electronic pictures to friends and relatives, the pictures become the focus of communication. The choice of image processing software will largely depend on the quality of image production. In the field of image processing, we may not be familiar with ArcSoft, but we are familiar with the software such as PhotoStudio and PhotoImpression installed on digital cameras, scanners and other peripherals. They are all flagship products of ArcSoft. A few days ago, when Deng Hui, CEO of American ArcSoft Company, came to Beijing, the reporter interviewed him and his company.

Three steps of product development

In the whole conversation with Deng Hui, high flyers of Cambridge University in England talked about his company the most. Founded in 1994, ArcSoft specializes in developing and selling digital image technology, image editing/management software and wireless image information storage and transmission software solutions based on Windows and Mac platforms in the Internet environment. Deng Hui divided them into three product lines, which are suitable for individuals and specialized in digital photography and image processing, digital video and multimedia, Internet and wireless communication.

The representative product of the first product line is ArcSoft PhotoStudio. Its latest version, Arcsoft PhotoStudioX, is the only Chinese version of image editing software running on Mac OS X. It supports BMP, TIF, PCD, PCX, TGA, PNG, GIFF, PNF, JPG, PSF and other popular image formats, providing users with a complete set of image editing/retouching tools, and equipped with a variety of special effects and enhanced functions, such as providing multiple input and output functions, advanced. In addition, it has good compatibility with digital cameras and scanners. Users can get pictures directly from digital cameras, scanners and any Twain interface devices through PhotoStudioX, and can store the pictures in hard disk, floppy disk, CD-ROM or other mobile storage devices.

The second product line focuses on the editing, processing and production of digital cameras, which is also the growth point of ArcSoft in the future. Customers at this stage include Nikon, Polaroid, Sony, Epson, Canon and Panasonic.

The third product line is to edit and make images on mobile phones, PDA and other devices under the Internet or wireless network. After two years of research and development, ArcSoft has developed a back-end image architecture platform for Nokia, and Nokia is promoting the platform to its global branches.

Software and hardware are "bundled"

As a value-added service of hardware equipment, ArcSoft has been cooperating with customers in the way of "OEM first, retail second" since its establishment, and has maintained a good cooperative relationship with customers. According to statistics, in the United States, ArcSoft's share of image processing software contracted by digital cameras exceeds 50%. This way also makes ArcSoft's software sales and profits increase by more than 80% every year. It is estimated that the annual sales in 200/kloc-0 will be USD 30 million.

In view of the above three different product lines, ArcSoft's strategy is also different, mainly placing the sales centers of the first two product lines in the United States and Japan. Due to the rapid development of wireless in Europe, the number of mobile phones in China will be the first in the world in the future, and ArcSoft specially places the wireless market in these two regions.

Enter the China market

ArcSoft set up an office in Beijing as early as 1998. ArcSoft has a subsidiary specializing in R&D and technical services in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Its customers include Lenovo, Founder of Peking University, Hisense, and China branches of well-known foreign companies such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Acer, Zhongjing and Lexmark.

In China, ArcSoft's development strategy is still OEM-oriented, and aimed at many domestic individual users, while increasing the retail market, it also cultivated these users in time. ArcSoft and its general agent in China, Founder Digital Imaging Department of Peking University, recently held a "Dancing with X" Photostudio tour in the national 16 city. ArcSoft and Founder of Peking University solemnly introduced the Photostudio2000 image processing software to domestic users, and specially invited two internationally renowned "Apple Super Enthusiasts" from the United States and Germany to introduce and demonstrate Apple's Mac OS X and Photostudio 2000 software to on-site users.

In the field of retail market, ArcSoft cooperated with Shida Mingtai to launch an interesting image processing software "Dream Image". According to the cultural background of China people, the contents and functions of the software have been changed accordingly, such as adding a large number of wedding templates, which are not available in other languages, thus making it more suitable for families and individuals in China.

ArcSoft: A Perfect Customer-Centered Solution

Digital cameras, digital video cameras, PDA's, printers, video cameras, notebook computers and other mobile digital devices are rapidly spreading and infiltrating into every corner of life at an alarming rate. Every time Liu Qiong lingers by the West Lake, he always feels happy when he sees all kinds of digital products in the hands of tourists. As the deputy general manager of ArcSoft, he has no reason to be unhappy-ArcSoft provides multimedia embedded software products, desktop application software products and consumer electronics firmware solutions for personal computers, digital cameras, printers and mobile terminal devices. The rapid development of mobile digital field will certainly provide a broader development platform for ArcSoft.

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, USA, ArcSoft is a professional multimedia software technology company. Its development goal is to provide first-class multimedia technology, software products and services for video and multimedia related hardware and system equipment manufacturers, shorten the development cycle of new products for customers, help them reduce hardware costs, and improve the added value of the whole product through the integration of application software.

ArcSoft's products and business are divided into three parts according to the characteristics of market customers. One is the static image department that specializes in high-quality image input and output; Second, the mobile multimedia business department specially aimed at mobile terminal equipment manufacturers; Third, all other customers who can apply ArcSoft software and technology, such as manufacturers of multimedia, high-definition multimedia and other integrated personal multimedia devices.

Seek development through cooperation.

Since 1998 entered the China market, the multimedia mobile terminal equipment business has achieved good development. In this regard, Liu Qiong pointed out, "Because ArcSoft has long-term close cooperation with internationally renowned manufacturers in Europe, the United States, Japan and other places, it can well grasp the development of products and markets, and its product research and development can plan ahead. After the introduction of new technologies and products in the China market, they can always be in a relatively leading position, in line with the trend and market demand. "

From the development of ArcSoft itself, it has accumulated more than 65,438+02 years of technical experience in still images and multimedia software products and services. The management team of China Company, represented by Liu Qiong, and many managers of ArcSoft Headquarters are international students from China, who are very familiar with the market situation in China, which is also an important factor for the smooth development of ArcSoft in China. Besides the localization of talents, ArcSoft also attaches great importance to the localization of products and services-a strong technical support team has been established in China, which can provide customers with fast and high-quality services.

The first partner of ArcSoft China Company on the road of cooperative development is Intel. During the period of 1998, the two sides took the opportunity of embedded chip cooperation, and then the cooperation between the two sides expanded to a wider field. Before launching the new CPU, Intel will provide a test prototype for ArcSoft, and the staff of both parties will jointly test and optimize ArcSoft's multimedia solution, so as to achieve the goal of common improvement.

It is understood that Intel Software Partner Department has an office in Hangzhou, which is responsible for long-term cooperation with Hangzhou Software Park and enterprises in the park. "I am very happy to cooperate with Intel. Like a big ship, Intel can carry many resources and recommend our products to their customers all over the world. ArcSoft is confident to design and optimize better products for Intel's next-generation platform system, thus fully embodying the overall advantages of Intel chips and ArcSoft multimedia solutions, which is very beneficial to both parties. "

Pay attention to customer needs

When ArcSoft entered the China market, the domestic digital products field was still in its infancy, so its products were mainly aimed at the PC market. Since then, ArcSoft has received strong support from Intel in the PC field. "The PC field is the strongest part of Intel, especially in the field of PC multimedia entertainment." Liu Qiong also said that in many cases, customers' choices have narrowed the distance between the two parties-many customers' system application environments are based on Intel's technology, so ArcSoft very much hopes to establish cooperation with Intel. "Intel can solve our problems quickly, and naturally we can gradually establish a strategic partnership with Intel," Liu Qiong said.

ArcSoft gradually realized that they used to mainly serve OEM customers and did not take the initiative to provide technical services to end customers. In this regard, Liu Qiong said, "OEM customers and businesses will continue to dominate, but in order to help end customers control costs, ArcSoft will directly provide more favorable and professional value-added services to end customers. The growing unique needs of consumers also require ArcSoft to provide more targeted value-added services. " It is understood that upgrading customers' products by using the network will become the main means for ArcSoft to provide value-added services to end customers. This business has started to operate and entered the implementation stage in the United States. ArcSoft will transplant its business to China market depending on the market development.

Liu Qiong's point of view

● ArcSoft attaches great importance to localization from technology research and development, product design and support services.

● Customer needs have always been valued by both parties, which will become the basis and center of future cooperation between the two parties.

● Intel's partner platform can support the popularity and credibility of ArcSoft, and can enhance its own value with this platform.

Reporter's comments

As a company with China background, ArcSoft has put the main strength of R&D in China, and adopted supporting policies for domestic business. The emphasis on the domestic market and the lack of communication barriers with domestic customers constitute the foundation of ArcSoft's success in the China market.

Olympic business opportunities are everywhere, and ArcSoft is no exception. The digital set-top box products jointly developed with Intel have entered the application testing stage in some areas of Hangzhou, and the products jointly developed by the two parties will also involve the IPTV field. Judging from the current market situation, handheld mobile devices and mobile TV solutions will surely become the main markets of ArcSoft in the next stage, and cooperation with Lenovo and other enterprises will also bring greater development space for ArcSoft.