PCs trudge out of the Valley of Death
Article Abstract:
The computer industry is in the midst of 'the Valley of Death': the transition from slow-moving, highly integrated systems to cost-efficient but poorly integrated systems that can be quickly developed. This transition has been under way since the late 1980s and shows no sign of coming to an end soon. At one time, computer giants such as IBM and Wang competed against each other as vertically aligned organizations but not any more. Today's market is characterized by a great number of hardware and software vendors using common components. For example, microprocessor architectures from Intel and Motorola have about 95 percent of the PC market share. Competition is fierce. Various obstacles face today's computer industry, including the problem of building secure PC networks, proliferating standards in Europe, and the high cost of maintaining old systems while migrating to the new.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1993
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Global PC outlook: a report from Tokyo
Article Abstract:
The ongoing recession has slowed the computer market's growth worldwide. According to market researcher Dataquest Inc, the value of computers sold worldwide was down 7.8 percent in 1991, to $109.7 billion. Business was slowed for all four of the industry's leading manufacturers: IBM; Apple Computer Inc; NEC, of Japan; and Compaq Computer Corp. US companies still control the largest part of the world market, but they still have only a ten percent share of the market in Japan. There is considerable potential for growth in the market in Japan. It is estimated that the Japanese market is now about 20 percent saturated, whereas in the US, the market is 50 percent to 60 percent saturated. NEC currently dominates in Japan, with 51.3 percent of the market. Portable computers continue to do well worldwide, constituting the fastest growing part of the overall market.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1992
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Creative destruction at IBM
Article Abstract:
IBM's current troubled state is natural and predictable. It is evidence of the marketplace at work; the cause of the company's problems stem from the inability of its managers to understand the competitive dynamics of the computer marketplace. In the computer industry, business innovation wins over technology innovation. IBM had the right idea when it focused on mainframes in the 1960s and introduced the personal computer in the early 1980s. The company, however, killed its lead by imposing an umbrella software strategy called Systems Application Architecture (SAA) that was proprietary, very complex and mainframe-based. SAA robbed IBM's PC unit of its independence. It also exemplifies the failure of the company to organize around the right business idea.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1993
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