Ibm Pc

IBM is getting ready to challenge Intel Corp.'s dominance in personal computers with a new line of PC chips that experts say rival the most powerful devices on the market. The world's biggest computer company, which launched Intel to prominence by hiring it to develop the processor for the first IBM PC in 1981, has been working secretly on new PC microprocessors based on proprietary IBM microcode.

The library at IBM's labyrinthine complex here features the latest books on management trends and corporate restructuring. Someone must be reading them. Facing an unprecedented loss of market share, IBM in the last eight months has overhauled its slumping personal computer business, which revolutionized the industry from this tony Atlantic coast resort town more than a decade ago. International Business Machines Corp.

As prices plunge and models proliferate, an age-old computer question arises with new urgency: PC or Mac? Does it really make a difference which family you buy into? Most corporations have already answered that question by adopting computing standards, and most specify IBM-compatible machines. But that has a lot more to do with the past than the present: Apple didn't offer Macintosh models for every need and they weren't as competitively priced.

In this State of the State address (Jan. 7), Gov. Pete Wilson's demand for a revision of the fraud-riddled workers' compensation program was right on. At one time, I had two secretaries. Now my secretary's name is IBM PC. A small business person in California can't afford to hire help in a state that has gone nuts with its high workers' compensation insurance premiums and even higher income tax. Unless taxes and fees are lowered, California's biggest export will become ex-employees moving to Nevada.

It appears that IBM, with the introduction of its new PS/Value Point line of personal computers, is finally back in the business of selling what its customers want most--peace of mind. These new computers are so traditional, so PC-compatible that they look as though they were designed and built by a high-quality clone maker, not IBM.

In a long-anticipated effort to give its troubled personal computer operation greater autonomy, International Business Machines Corp. said Thursday that it had established the IBM Personal Computer Co. as a separate business unit. Robert A. Corrigan, an IBM vice president who will head the new company, said the restructuring will enable the computer giant to respond more quickly to fast-changing conditions in the PC business. "This takes out a lot of the bureaucracy," Corrigan said.

International Business Machines Corp. will make its long-awaited debut in the U.S. market for notebook computers today with a machine expected to sell at the same low prices offered by its rivals, industry sources said Monday. The PS/2 N51, which weighs 6.2 pounds and is based on Intel Corp.'s 386SX 16 megahertz chip, will list for $2,250 but is expected to be marked down to between $1,700 and $1,800 by dealers.

The personal computer industry has come a long way in the 10 years since IBM introduced its first PC on Aug. 11, 1981. The enhanced version of that machine--which cost about $3,000--came with 64k of memory, a 160k floppy disk drive and a monochrome display. IBM didn't offer a hard disk on its first model, but by mid-1982 you could buy a 12-megabyte hard disk from an independent company for $3,300. A 20-megabyte drive cost $5,995. An expansion board with 256k of memory cost just under $1,000.

IBM on Wednesday announced four new, aggressively priced personal computers, another move by the world's largest PC maker to compete with low-cost personal computer "clones." The PC announcement, part of a spree of product unveilings and enhancements by International Business Machines Corp., followed two rounds of PC price cuts by the leading computer maker in recent months. "It's IBM adjusting to the reality of the market," said Don Young, an analyst with Shearson Lehman Bros.

A software development alliance between International Business Machines and Microsoft Corp., two of the largest and most important players in the $60-billion personal computer industry, may be close to dissolving, a leading computer publication is reporting.