From: frank@halcyon.com (Frank Higgins)
Subject: Re: NEW 7300's in Chicago
Organization: The 23:00 News and Mail Service
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 12:43:23 GMT

In article <C0Kutu.8u1@olwejo.UUCP> olwejo!bob@cs.widener.edu writes:
>In <1993Jan6.220401.27043@nwnexus.WA.COM>, frank@halcyon.com writes:
>>		$160 each for entire inventory (about 900) 
>>			(about 400 NON-functioning, non-warranteed
>>			 units thrown in FREE. No Found Set included.)
>[...]
>>	4000 Foundation Sets in shrink wrap
>
>Everytime a warehouse full of thousands of these things show up, it makes
>me wonder actually how many were manufactured?  Does anyone know numbers
>for manufacturing runs?  With 4,000 Foundation sets found above, I'd
>guess that 3b1/7300 production made over 50,000 units.  Anybody got
>any facts or figures?
>
>-- 
>\/\  Bob Kupiec - Amateur Radio Packet: N3MML @ wb3ftp.#epa.pa.usa.noam  /\/\
>/\/\  Internet: kupiec@hp800.lasalle.edu (or) bob%olwejo@cs.widener.edu /\/\/
>\/\/\   Geographic: Morrisville, PA, USA     40d 12' N / 74d 48' W     /\/\/\
>/\/\/\    Top 10 uses for your Intel CPU:  Number 10:  Test hammers   /\/\/\/

No documented facts. But, shortly after AT&T announced discontinuance of
the UNIX-PC (7300 and 3B1), I had several conversations with the man at
Convergent Technologies who was in charge of marketing the S/5 (or some
such model designation for CT's equivalent of the 3B1). He told me much
"folklore" of Convergent's relationship with AT&T and what CT planned to do
with the line (they were going to establish a free hotline for ALL owners
of UNIX-PCs, and replicate the STORE, and upgrade the3B1 with even larger
HD, color, etc., etc.). Unfortunately the 286-386 machines stole their
market and they dropped the idea. In the conversations he said that AT&T's
marketing projections were for sale of 50,000 per year, BUT that **less
than 50,000*** wer sold over the entire life of the product. He left the
impression that less than 50,000 were manufactured as AT&T had no mandate
to order any fixed minimum from CT, but that CT had to produce what AT&T
wanted. AT&T never ordered many because they never sold many.

Maybe someone else has more or different "facts".

The stuff in the Chicago warehouse has an interesting history. Mexico
apparently bought 1000 - 1500 UNIX PC's for their equivalent of IRS. The
machines in Chi were intended to go to Mexico (ordered by whom, I don't
know). Mexican authorities wouldn;t let the shipment into Mexico. AT&T was
stuck with them and looked for a way to unload them without taking them
back into AT&T inventory. As a result, they found their way to Chicago. I
have no idea whether the machines in the Mexican IRS and the machines in
Chicago have any relationship at all. I mention the IRS machines only for
background that the Mexican Government had allowed such machines into
Mexico earlier, and in comparable quantities. 


Frank        

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