Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.tech From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: tech Tue, Feb 25 1992 Date: Tue, 25 Feb 92 06:35:01 EST Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Feb. 25, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network COMPUTER PRICE WAR CONTINUES: Compaq Computer made its move in the personal computer price-cutting wars Monday. It slashed prices on its least expensive PCs by 36%. Consumers can now buy a Compaq PC controlled by Intel Corp.'s powerful 386 microprocessor for less than $1,000. A year ago, that same model cost $2,800. With the way the price war is going, some say computers could soon sell for as low as $500 each. (For more, see special Price package below.) IBM EXECUTIVES TO GET PAY CUT: The top executives at IBM will likely get their compensation cut be at least 40% this year, IBM announced Monday. Chairman John Akers would get $2.6 million of his salary cut, plus more than $1 million more in bonuses. IBM said its board will make a decision on the pay cuts this week. Last year, IBM posted its first annual loss ever, $2.83 billion. CONRADES LEAVES IBM: George Conrades announced his retirement from IBM Monday. In November, Conrades, 52, was demoted as head of U.S. sales and marketing to head of marketing at corporate headquarters. Conrades said he was leaving to review job offers elsewhere. Last week, Michael Armstrong, who headed IBM's international sales operations, said he was leaving to head Hughes Aircraft. GUGLIELMI TO HEAD TALIGENT: Apple Computer and IBM named an IBM software executive to head Taligent Inc., a technology-sharing venture IBM and Apple announced last July. Joseph Guglielmi, 50, was named CEO of Taligent. It will develop advanced operating system software to run on Apple and IBM personal computers. Other top executives named Monday are from Apple, including Edward Birss, Taligent's chief operating officer. COURT RULES FOR MATSUSHITA: The merger that gave Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial, Japan's largest consumer electronics company, control of MCA's Universal Pictures was supported by the Supreme Court Monday. It rejected an effort to undo the takeover by group of U.S. citizens. The citizens argued that the 1990 takeover threatened the free flow of political information in the USA. ARBITRATOR RULES ON INTEL CASE: An arbitrator ruled Monday Intel Corp. must pay Advanced Micro Devices Inc. $15.2 million for breaching a pact the firms signed a decade ago. AMD had sought $2.2 billion. The arbitrator could have awarded AMD the right to use Intel's 386 microprocessor. Instead, the arbitrator gave AMD "some type of right" to continue imitating the 386 chip, says Intel attorney Thomas Dunlap. INTUIT TO HIRE 100: Intuit Inc., the manufacturer of Quicken computer finance software based in Menlo Park, Calif., said Monday it is beginning a hiring effort in response to the company's sales growth. A total of 100 positions are open, including 60 Technical Support Representatives. The other 40 positions include telemarketing, engineering, marketing and executive positions. MILITARY SATELLITE LAUNCHED: A $65 million military navigation and communications satellite was hurled into orbit late Sunday night atop a U.S. Air Force Delta 2 rocket. The $110 million mission marked only the second flight since November 1990 of a Navstar Global Positioning System spacecraft. It is part of an $8.5 billion system that ultimately will consist of 24 spacecraft ringing Earth in six groups of four. MARTIN MARIETTA TO BUILD SENSOR: Martin Marietta Corporation said Monday it has received a $20.8 million, 29-month contract from General Dynamics Corporation to build two prototype smart sensor systems for flight tests. The package will enable autonomous air vehicles to locate, identify and attack mobile targets. The system will detect targets using either millimeter wave radar or infrared sensor, or both simultaneously. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON PRICE: PRICE CUTS HURT INDUSTRY: Though great news for consumers, the ongoing price war is sapping the profitability of every personal computer maker, including industry giant IBM Corp. Rampant price-cutting "just weakens the industry," says Fernand Sarrat, an IBM marketing executive. Sarrat called the price-cutting war "a temporary problem. ... And it's up to us to make it temporary." SOME COULD GO OUT OF BUSINESS: Sarrat said IBM won't compete with its rivals simply by trying to lower prices. "That is true death, in my mind," says Sarrat. Others expect that prices will continue to plunge - and the battle ultimately will drive dozens of small PC makers out of business, leaving some customers with PCs that can't be serviced or have useless warranties. PRICES MAY GO DOWN MORE: Consumers who postpone purchasing a PC might get a better deal when the carnage abates. By year's end, 386 models could be selling for under $500. And state-of-the-art models based on Intel's 486 microprocessor will be selling for under $1,500. Tandy Corp. has unveiled a 486-based system that sells for $1,999 with a 120-megabyte hard drive or $1,699 with a floppy drive. (End of package.) Technology Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 08:0002250000D0225 TELE- R M 3.6-million-own-dishes................ A D0225 This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. 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