Digital stubs its toe kicking IBM mainframe
Article Abstract:
DEC's VAX 9000 mainframe, intended to earn $1 billion in its first year and offer competition to IBM's 3090, fails to meet sales expectations. Company officials expect to sell 325 mainframes by Jun 30, 1991, yielding less than half of the first-year revenue forecasted. The DEC mainframe costs an average of $1.4 million each. Its sluggish sales underscore the difficulty companies face against a competitor as entrenched as IBM. IBM shipped 2,263 3090 units in 1990. Analysts also say that the timing of DEC's mainframe release was bad: instead of coming up with a water-cooled unit in 1988, when customers were clamoring for a more powerful machine, the company chose to concentrate on technology that needed no plumbing. The wait cost DEC's competitive advantage a year; manufacturing setbacks caused another year of delay in volume shipments. By the time the product was released in the fall of 1989, recession had set in and smaller machines were eating into the mainframe market. Despite these problems, DEC officials remain confident. Customers are generally impressed with the VAX 9000's performance.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1991
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Digital elbows for room in fault-tolerant market
Article Abstract:
DEC is expected to enter the fault-tolerant computer market, competing with market leader Tandem Computers Inc and Stratus Computer Inc. DEC is also expected to introduce on-line transaction processing software that will compete with IBM's offerings. IBM is the dominating force in the on-line market. The fight over fault-tolerant systems is at the forefront of the battle for on-line market share. On-line systems form the backbone of bank teller networks, retail point-of-sale systems, reservation systems and telecommunications billing systems. The battle between DEC and Tandem for Number Two behind IBM is expected to rage until the mid 1990s. DEC will use its entry into fault-tolerant systems as a way of getting further into the lucrative on-line market. DEC currently has a $2.2 billion share of the on-line market; that figure may double before 1994.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Digital begins to make cuts in work force; buy-out may be offered to up to 8,000; charge seen in fourth quarter
Article Abstract:
DEC, the world's second largest computer maker, may cuts its work force, due to soaring costs and slow sales growth. The action could cause a charge in the 4th qtr ending June 30, 1990. DEC will offer employees a voluntary severance package if they cannot be placed in other positions within the company. The company is expecting to offer the package to between 5,000 to 8,000 of the company's 125,900 employees. DEC is expecting a sharply lower profit in the current quarter, and may report the first loss in its 32-year history.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Digital to test IBM's mainframe strength. Digital unveils its first mainframe line, taking aim at IBM's 70% market share
- Abstracts: Digital to test IBM's mainframe strength. IBM likely to unveil potent mainframes in firm's biggest such move in a decade
- Abstracts: Lotus spreadsheet to run on IBM's mainframe units. Transarc Software may lend a hand to smaller firms