Business Overview 4. DX Regional Collaboration Project Signpost's DX and Regional Collaboration Project started in March 2022 with the establishment of the DX and Regional Collaboration Division. It aims to provide products and services that contribute to regional collaboration by collaborating with local financial institutions nationwide, utilizing its own DX technology and open innovation. In August 2022, it began working with Oita Made Co., Ltd., which was established with the investment of multiple companies in Oita Prefecture, including Oita Bank, to sell original products made in Oita Prefecture to both domestic and overseas markets and to match local companies and Signpost's products and services in order to promote the revitalization of Oita Prefecture's economy. In addition, in April 2024, it started offering DX support services for medium-sized and small businesses. As the first effort, it supports the creation of DX declaration by (The) Fourth Hokuriku Bank, Ltd. (Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture) to deploy DX declaration support services to the market. Furthermore, it will realize new solutions by commercializing its own technology and open innovation and promote regional collaboration through innovation.
In the SP business, many products, such as car equipment, require 3-4 years from the adoption of Ubiquitous AI<3858> products to the development and mass production of customer products. The pre-investment is a challenge before the royalty is generated. However, the SD, SS, and DA businesses have formed a balanced business portfolio of the business, which requires upfront investment but has relatively short-term profitability, by adding them.
Summary by business segment
Sub-segment trends (1) SP business
We develop and sell software and tools necessary for electronic and electrical equipment, provide services such as writing and implementation to the system. Our main product is "Ubiquitous QuickBoot," which achieves fast startup on Linux/Android. We hold patents and account for 53% of SP business revenue. In addition, we have "Ubiquitous DeviceSQL" as a database product, "TOPPERS-Pro" as an RTOS embedded platform product※, and "Ubiquitous TPM Security", "Ubiquitous DTCP", and "Ubiquitous HDCP" as security products. These products represent 90% of SP business revenue. We also sell and support Grape Systems' middleware "GRAPEWARE" and various software products related to printers. Our products respond to many standardized products, and we update them in a timely manner with updates to the standards. We are maintaining competitiveness by adding features such as added functionality for semiconductor and OS updates and new features to the latest devices that semiconductor manufacturers release.
* Refers to OS and middleware-related products that make up embedded systems.
■ Ubiquitous QuickBoot
(Purpose) Reducing user's stress of waiting for startup, improving ease of use, quickly starting each processing such as recording and monitoring, improving productivity by shortening inspection time, reducing standby power consumption, etc.
(Sales destination) Manufacturers of car equipment, tablets, displays, wireless communication devices, medical diagnostic devices, etc.
■ Ubiquitous DeviceSQL
(Purpose) Data management of embedded devices, management of configuration information, logging of sensor data, search of various metadata (e.g., music), firmware update management
(Sales destination) Manufacturers of car equipment, blood test equipment, displays, printers, etc.
■ TOPPERS-Pro
(Purpose) OS possessing functions and characteristics for executing processes with temporal constraints in embedded devices. It is implemented in devices as control software for “real-time systems,” which are devices with fixed completion times, such as transport machinery and industrial robots.
(Sales destination) Manufacturers of industrial equipment, medical devices, business printers, measuring instruments, electronic musical instruments, etc.
■ Ubiquitous TPM Security
(Purpose) Software solution to use TPM (Trusted Platform Module), an international industry standard specification established by the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), for security features such as encryption/decryption and secure boot implemented in hardware TPM chips to prevent hacking, impersonation, tampering, and achieve high system security.
(Sales destination) Manufacturers of car equipment, industrial equipment, IoT equipment
■ Ubiquitous DTCP
(Purpose) DTCP (Digital Transmission Content Protection) is an encryption technology for communication channels designed to protect digital content, which can be used as a technology available for communication devices of all kinds that exchange digital content over networks. It is implemented in digital appliances and car infortainment equipment.
(Sales destination) Automotive equipment and digital home appliance manufacturers.
■ Ubiquitous HDCP
(Usage) HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) is a link protection technology that protects digital content with copy protection when transmitting digital content, and is implemented in digital home appliances and in-car infotainment devices with digital interfaces such as DVI, DisplayPort and HDMI.
(Sales destination) Automotive equipment and digital home appliance manufacturers.
(Author: FISCO Guest Analyst Shuji Matsumoto)