Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.tech From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: tech Tue, May 26 1992 Date: Tue, 26 May 92 05:20:39 EDT Message-ID: 05-26 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update May 26, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network THIS IS RIGHT TIME TO BUY PCS: This might be a good time to pick up the best personal computer bargains, experts say. For example, the average price for a PC powered by Intel's 386 microprocessor, the fingernail-sized chip that's the brains of most PCs, has dropped 50% from a year ago to about $1,500. The supply of PCs from an army of PC makers is plentiful now, but demand may catch up as the recovery churns on. (For more, see special Discount package below.) TOOL ORDERS FALL 9.4%: Orders for U.S.-made machine tools fell 9.4% to $220 million in April, the Association for Manufacturing Technology reported Sunday. Still, machine-tool orders were 13.6% above a year earlier. A decline in export orders shows machine tool makers can no longer rely on foreign markets to make up for slack domestic demand, said AMT President Albert Moore. April export orders fell 9.2%. HIGH-TECH SEES SALES INCREASE: Companies that make computers, semiconductors and other high-technology gadgetry say they're seeing customers return after a long hiatus. For people who watch the industry, that's a clear indication the economy is improving. "There are all the obvious signs," says Robert Herwick of brokerage Hambrecht & Quist. The U.S. economy "is clearly turning up." SEQUENT SAYS BUSINESS IS UP: Portland, Ore.-based Sequent Computer Systems has seen a definite increase in interest and actual orders the past six months, says Sequent Chairman Casey Powell. Sequent makes systems that cost $100,000 to $1 million. Sequent isn't alone. Powell has heard similar stories lately from competitors: "It gives you a feel for the fact things really have turned up." LITTON GAINS VENEZUELAN DEAL: Litton's Ingalls Shipbuilding division, Pascagoula, Miss., has won a contract worth more than $200 million to modernize ships for the Venezuelan Navy. Final terms are still being negotiated. Litton is a technology-based company providing resource exploration services, industrial automation systems and advanced electronic and defense systems. ISRAEL PART OF JOINT VENTURE: National Semiconductor Corp., the Association of Electronics Industries and Israel have agreed to establish a consortium to manufacture semiconductors in Migdal Haemek, Israel. The joint venture will take over the existing National Semiconductor facility and develop a independent business. Israeli firms will own 54.1%; National Semiconductor Corp. 19.9% and the Israeli government 26%. BELLSOUTH TO OFFER FRAME RELAY: BellSouth has announced plans to offer high-speed data and image transport services for wide-area networking. BellSouth plans to offer switched multi-megabit data services (SMDS) and Frame Relay services in Atlanta; Miami; Nashville, Tenn.; and Charlotte, N.C., by the end of the year. SMDS and Frame Relay will eventually offered in other metropolitan areas, BellSouth says. ARDIS TO UPGRADE NETWORK: ARDIS Co. has signed a $150 million multiyear agreement with Motorola Inc.'s Mobile Data Division. ARDIS will buy equipment to upgrade its network. ARDIS, a joint venture of IBM and Motorola, operates a wireless data net known as ARDISNET. The upgrade will allow users to communicate on 4.8K bits per second radio channels, as well as new 19.2K bits:sec channels. PAN AMERICAN MEETING SET: The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association says 54 exhibitors have already signed to participate in this fall's Pan American Conference in Cancun, Mexico. The conference is Sept. 9 to Sept. 11. The cellular carriers in North, Central and South America represent the largest single standardized market in the world, the association says. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON DISCOUNT: DELL CUT PRICES BY 26%: This might be the best time to buy a personal computer as supply is high and demand seems to be steady. A desktop PC powered by Intel's 486 chip - the latest microprocessor - costs around $1,600. Dell Computer this month cut prices by as much as 26% on desktop PCs and on its line of color notebook PCs - Dell's fifth price cut in the past year. BIG FIRMS FEELING THE HEAT: Big computer makers - IBM, Apple, Compaq, even Digital Equipment - are desperate to cut deals because their smaller PC competitors keep taking away customers. But the price war may not last. Brian Clark, a PC analyst at market researcher International Data, says that the past year "was a year when prices dropped to slice through the fat. Now there's not much left to cut." CONSUMERS SHOULD BUY NOW: Clark advises consumers to buy now. He expects that PC demand will pick up as the year goes on, so manufacturers will be less willing to cut deals. Plus, analyst Kevin McCarthy of Mabon Nugent says, "I think it could be a year where you see some players drop out." BIG FIRMS TO FIGHT BACK: The smaller PC makers are about to face added pressure from the big guys. Compaq and IBM both have low-cost PCs due this summer. Both will sell them through direct mail and other low-cost routes. Instead of selling just on price, predicts Clark, "PC vendors by the fall will have to shift to using creative marketing tactics and emphasizing the intangibles like service." (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. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. 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