INFORMATION WORLD PC sales booming

Press, 12 May 1987, Page 31

INFORMATION WORLD PC sales booming

Personal computer sales are soaring, report the makers as quarterly financial reports are made. IBM has made a strong increas in sales. Compaq sales are up 39 per cent in the latest quarter, and Mac sales are up 30 per cent. Seagate Technology, the hard disk maker, says its sales are up 150 per cent in the latest quarter. The push is into AT models. Intel has sold 4 million 80286 microprocessors this year, as many as in the previous three years combined. Business is steady for mainframe makers. Sales of large computers by American manufacturers rose an average of 29 per cent a year from 1981 to 1985. It is now estimated that sales will rise 2.8 per cent a year in value until 1991 and 4.2 per cent in number. Control Data Control Data has ended 10 consecutive quarters of losses with a first quarter profit of SUS7.2M on a rise in revenue of 3.2 per cent. Tandem reports a profit rise at 81 per cent on revenue up 37 per cent to $242.4M in the latest quarter. Cray Research, the supercomputer maker, reports earings up 86 per cent and revenue up 51 per cent in the latest quarter. Unisys In its first quarter, Unisys reports earnings of about SUSBS million after paying preferred dividends. The corporation reports that cost-cutting measures are ahead of schedule. Commodore Mr Thomas J. Rattigan has been ousted as presdient of Commodore International just a year after his appointment, and only months after the corporation gave him a five-year contract for his role in bringing the firm back from the brink of bankruptcy. He came to Commodore from PepsiCo. According to American press reports, Mr Rattigan reported for work as usual on a Monday morning and was removed from his office by security staff. Mr Rattigan has announced he is suing Commodore for damages of SUS9M. Unix reaction Mr lan Howard, president of the New Zealand Unix Systems User Group, has criticised the IBM Personal Systems/2 microcomputers, just announced. He calls them “strategically questionable in light of the increasing end-user sophistication, particularly in the end of the marketplace.” IBM’s technique of locking users into a proprietary approach had had its day and would not be strongly supported by users. Meanwhile, Novell has announced it is extending the support of the Net Ware family of network operating systems to support the IBM Personal System/2 series. Film scheduling Grahame J. McLean and Associates, of Wellington, has developed a programme for scheduling films and television series. It extracts data such as actors, props and locations from a word processor into a database. It then sorts it into a logical filming order and prints all the reposting systems needed for production management. Mr McLean, producer of the series, “Worzel Gummidge Down Under,” is using it in the sequel to this series. Project management A project-management system for personal computers is being launched this month by Metier Management Servicfes, Ltd. The Artemis project will run IBM PCs and compatibles. It has been adapted from Metier’s systems run on mainframe and minicomputers. Artemis was developed in the late 1970 s for project control in the North Sea oilfields. Since then it has been used in engineering, construction, aerospace, and manufacturing. Metier is a subsidiary of a division of Lockheed. Adobe fonts Brimaur Computer Services, of Auckland, is importing and distributing through Apple dealers Adobe fonts software packages for the Macintosh. Adobe Systems developed the Post Script language, which allows a downloading of font-command information to intelligent printers. Griffins purchase Griffin and Sons, Ltd, the biscuit and confectionery manufacturer, has installed a Unisys A3-K mainframe to handle corporate information. Griffins has had Burroughs equipment since the mid-19505. 12MHz Deskpro Compaq has replaced its BMHz Deskpro, an AT compatible, with a version that runs at 12MHz and BMHz. The power supply has been increased to 192 watts. Depending on the . disk configuration, the machine sells for between $6564 and $10,506. Compaq *. L

earlier brought out a 12MHz portable computer based on the 80286 chip. Impact purchase Impact Systems, Ltd, of Australia, has bought the Melbourne-based Archives Computers for sAusts.2M. A network distributor, the purchase will be renamed Impact Networks and will report to the group through the new associate, Impact Technologies, Ltd. The Archives product range includes personal computers from American Research Corporation, Santa Clara work stations, and file servers. Software on show New Zealand-written software will be one of the features on the New Zealand Computer Exhibition in Auckland from May 28 to 30. The show is organised by the magazine, “Bits and Bytes.” More than 60 companies will have displays at the exhibition. —Neill Birss