From: price@mrktng.enet.dec.com ("Dave Price, UNIX Press Relations  25-Aug-1992 1737")
Subject: DECnews/Digital Introduces PC Family
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 14:38:20 PDT
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||||||||||||  DEC n e w s  ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
                                              Digital Equipment Corporation
                                          Maynard, Massachusetts 01754-2571
Editorial contact:

         Edward J. Canty			
         Digital Equipment Corporation
         508-486-6387 or

         Peter Basmajian
         Digital Equipment Corporation
         508-486-6406
         
         
         
         
         Business Strategy Enhances Digital's Competitiveness...
         
         
                     DIGITAL INTRODUCES PC FAMILY BASED ON 
                     INTEGRATED WORLDWIDE BUSINESS STRATEGY
         
         
         MAYNARD, Mass.--August 25, 1992--Digital Equipment Corporation 
         today introduced a family of high-performance, upgradable 
         desktop PCs and launched a new, worldwide strategy to increase 
         the profitability of its PC business.  Components for the 
         DigitalR-built, industry-standard DECpcTM LP (Low-Profile) 
         family will be manufactured at the company's world-class 
         facility in Taiwan and assembled and tested at seven Digital 
         "integration centers" worldwide.
         	Digital launched a full range of 386- and 486-based 
         desktop systems, starting at $899.  The family includes a 
         66-MHz 486DX2 system that uses Intel's fastest 486 processor, 
         released earlier this month.  Five of the six new models offer 
         extremely high-performance graphics technology and plug-in 
         processor upgrades.
         	The business strategy, according to James J. Liu, vice 
         president, Personal Computer Group, is designed to increase 
         Digital's competitiveness, market share and profitability, and 
         to provide customers with the highest-quality products at 
         extremely aggressive prices.  "We will achieve these goals by 
         implementing a worldwide `franchise model,' under which all 
         Digital regions follow similar business practices, and by 
         tightly controlling all aspects of our entire process of 
         product engineering, manufacturing, and worldwide distribution 
         to reduce costs," he said.
         	One advantage for customers is that Digital can provide 
         a consistent product on a worldwide basis.  For many large 
         companies, product uniformity is an important purchasing 
         criterion, because they invest heavily in computer-related 
         training and need to install applications, networks and 
         upgraded equipment uniformly throughout the world.
         	Digital said it will target FORTUNE-class 1000 customers 
         and the 5,000 largest enterprises worldwide for its new family.  
         Products will be shipped directly to customers from integration 
         centers in Springfield, Mass.; Kanata, Ontario, Canada; Tokyo, 
         Japan; Taoyuan, Taiwan; Sydney, Australia; Sao Paulo, Brazil; 
         and Ayr, Scotland.  
         
         DECpc LP Family Models

         	The six modular PC family models are configured and 
         priced to serve a wide range of applications and users.  The 
         models are:
 
              o	   ENTRY-LEVEL SYSTEM:  DECpc 333sx LP uses a 386SX 
                   processor running at 33 MHz, which typically is 32 
                   percent faster than competing 25-MHz 386SX machines.
         
              o	   CPU-UPGRADABLE SYSTEMS:  DECpc 340dx LP, DECpc 425sx 
                   LP, DECpc 433dx LP, DECpc 450d2 LP and DECpc 466d2 LP 
                   are 386- and 486-based units with clock speeds of 40 
                   MHz, 25 MHz, 33 MHz, 50 MHz, and 66 MHz, for 
                   demanding desktop business and technical 
                   applications.
         
         U.S. catalog prices range from $899 for the DECpc 333sx LP to 
         $2199 for the DECpc 466d2 LP.  The family is shipping today, 
         with limited availability for the next 45 days, Digital said.
              Digital will market the new PCs in the United States 
         through its direct sales force, resellers, and Desktop 
         DirectTM, its telephone ordering system.
              
         Three-Way Upgradable PCs 
              DECpc LP models can be upgraded in three ways:  The 386 40 
         Mhz model can be upgraded to any of the 486 models; 486 models 
         can be upgraded to faster 486 processor speeds, and the speed 
         of the 486 models can be doubled through the addition of a 
         clock-doubling chip.
              The upgradable systems also include industry-leading 
         technology specifically designed to run Microsoft WindowsTM 
         four times faster than similar machines without the technology.  
         Local-bus video directly connects the video processor to the 
         CPU, which allows them to communicate at speeds up to 33 MHz, 
         instead of 8 MHz on conventional machines.  The systems also 
         incorporate GUI (graphical user interface) acceleration, which 
         recognizes commands used by Microsoft Windows and runs them 
         faster.  The family's Super VGA video supports resolutions up 
         to 1024 x 768 pixels.
              "Windows and menus appear to snap open, and graphs and 
         diagrams appear instantaneously," said Roger Matus, director of 

         marketing for the Personal Computing Group.
              Ergonomically designed, family models feature a compact 
         footprint, offer one of the quietest fans in the industry, and 
         support flicker-free 72Hz monitors that reduce eyestrain.  All 
         models run under Digital PATHWORKSTM, NovellR NetWareTM, and 
         BanyanR VINES PC networking software.
         
         Strategy Further Detailed
              Liu highlighted several key measures that have enabled 
         Digital to realize substantial cost reductions throughout the 
         PC business cycle.  These include design modularity of the LP 
         family (80 percent of components are common to the family 
         members), utilization of the ISO 9000 quality process at its 
         MRPII Class A Taiwan facility to ensure high quality and to 
         reduce component waste; new packaging techniques, and new 
         shipping procedures for system components.  
              "We were able to borrow from the 'just-in-time' concepts 
         of matching inventory shipments to actual orders," he said.  
         "The result is that we can reduce the costs of transportation 
         and inventory, while keeping product quality and reliability 
         high."
              For example, Liu said Digital's new shipping procedure 
         calls for standard bulky components such as monitors to be 
         shipped by sea and high-value items such as motherboards and 
         daughterboards to be air-freighted. "By setting up the pipeline 
         in this way, we enable our regions to mix and match their 
         inventories more easily and react to changing local market 

         conditions more quickly," he said.
         
         Franchise Model
              Liu said that Digital has established a franchise model to 
         govern the operation of the company's regional marketing 
         organizations and the seven integration centers that serve 
         them.  "The franchise model ensures that the regions follow 
         Digital's worldwide business practices," Liu said.  "As a 
         result, customers enjoy major benefits when they buy PCs from 
         Digital."
              "For example, large customers can get the same models 
         everywhere.  These customers save on testing and training, 
         because application software works everywhere, network 
         compatibility applies everywhere, the customers' internal 
         training is valid everywhere, and upgrades are available 
         everywhere," he said.

              The franchise model also provides speedier sales, service 
         and support, Liu said, because "each Digital region stays close 
         to its customers, and that's better for local customers than 
         dealing with large, monolithic suppliers.  On the other hand, 
         our regional operations follow world-class business practices, 
         and that's better for large customers than dealing with small, 
         local suppliers.  In short, our franchise model offers 
         customers the best strengths of large and small vendors," he 
         said.
              Liu said Digital test-marketed the business strategy 
         earlier this year when it introduced a 386-based PC in Asia, 

         Australia, South America, and Canada.  "We achieved tremendous 
         cost savings using the model, and product quality was superb.  
         We knew we were successful when we competed against the Asian 
         clone makers and won a major order for 2,000 PCs with the Hong 
         Kong stock exchange," he said.
         
         Recent Successes

              Digital recently began selling PCs through its Desktop 
         Direct telephone sales operation and recently acquired 
         800-SOFTWARE, a large PC software distributor that handles 
         thousands of world-class application packages. 
              Digital is seen increasingly as a leading competitor in 
         the PC market, according to Liu.  The company has been recently 
         rated as the fastest-growing supplier of PCs in the U.S., 
         according to Computer Intelligence of La Jolla, CA.  Also, 
         Merisel, Inc., one of the world's largest PC distributors, 
         recently expanded its distribution agreement for Digital's PC 
         products.  Merisel will carry the new DECpc LP family, Digital 
         said.
              Digital Equipment Corporation, headquartered in Maynard, 
         Massachusetts, is the leading worldwide supplier of networked 
         computer systems, software and services.  Digital pioneered and 
         leads the industry in interactive, distributed and multi-vendor 
         computing.  Digital and its partners deliver the power to use 
         the best integrated solutions -- from desktop to data center -- 
         in open information environments.

                                      # # #
         
                                        
         Note to Editors: DECpc, Desktop Direct, PATHWORKS are 
         trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.  Digital is a 
         registered trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation.  Windows 
         is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.  Microsoft is a 
         registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.  NetWare and 
         Novell are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc.  Banyan is a 
         registered trademark of Banyan Systems, Inc.
         
         
         
         CORP/93/781
============================================================================
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For subscription information please contact:
  David Price, USS Press Relations, Digital Equipment Corporation
  Voice:603-884-3467   FAX:603-884-3467   Internet:price@decvax.dec.com
============================================================================





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