Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
Subject: ESCOM - news in UK magazine
From: amm@tremas.dct.ac.uk (Angus Marshall)
Date: 26 May 95 09:56:18 +0100

From VNU`s "Personal Computer Magazine" (June 1995 issue) without
permission Any typo's are my own. I think is a fairly positive piece,
though I'm a tad worried about the lack of any mention of
Workbench/AmigaDos development. With a bit of luck, they might just equip
every Amiga with a Bridgeboard or Emplant (please!).

COMMODORE COMEBACK AS ESCOM TAKES OVER
(by Fiona Harvey)

The Commodore brand is to be revived. Escom, the German PC retail group,
has bought the rights to the name and patents for $10 million in a
bankruptcy auction. Dell`s higher bid of $15 million was rejected as it had
no plans to resume production of Commodore machines.

Commodore`s Amiga, with its colour video and stereo sound capabilities, was
the key attraction for Escom. Most PC manufacturers are striving to build
multimedia functions in to home consumer machines. Escom has plans to
remake the Commodore machines to integrate PC compatibility - which was
unavailable in the original versions - and to develop interactive TV
set-top boxes based on Amiga technology.

'The Commodore technology is not special, but the name is,' said Gerard
Lindhout, Escom's commercial director of Western Europe. 'The name is so
well known in many parts of the world and especially in consumer markets.
But the Amiga technology is very special - it is years ahead in combining
the parts needed to make multimedia machines. We will take the lead in the
multimedia markets where new technology is necessary and where the retail
outlets we have already will help.'

Analyst Heather Stark of Ovum sees the development as interesting. 'The
Amiga is a highly respected machine which never achieved the breadth of
market it deserved,' she said. 'As Europe is catching up with the US on the
home PC front, this seems a very good opportunity.'

Steve Brazier of Dataquest would agree: 'It is a no-risk move. Escom has
nothing to lose, because it has not invested much in it yet.'

The company plans to target the growing PC markets in Eastern Europe and
China, and the revived Commodore range is to be put into production as soon
as possible. Escom has licensed a Chinese firm, the Tianjin Family-Used
Multimedia Company, to set up an Amiga production line in China. The siting
of other production plants is still under discussion, but Lindhout said
they are likely to be somewhere in Europe.

* In a separate announcement, Escom said 100 Rumbelows stores have been
transformed into the Escom PC retail format.

--
        _________          | Angus M. Marshall, Dept. of Math & Comp Sci.,
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