ICL Plc has followed Digital Equipment Corp and AT&T Corp in deciding that it’s best to leave the manufacturing of character terminals to the specialists, and so the parcel originally labelled Stansaab is being passed yet again. Stansaab was a Swedish manufacturer of IBM Corp 3270-compatible terminals that made the big time with airlines across Europe with its famed Alfaskop line and was serially owned by Saab Scania AB, ITT Corp, merged with Datasaab AB, bought by L M Ericsson Telefon AB, which sold it to Nokia Oy, which sold it to ICL, which is now selling it to Wyse Technology Inc, which describes itself as the world’s largest supplier of video display terminals. Terms were not disclosed but Wyse gets a three-year exclusive agreement to supply ICL-branded text terminals and other display products to ICL, and expands its expertise into the 3270 market. Wyse has acquired the ICL terminals development operation in Sweden and is now transferring manufacturing from the UK to its manufacturing facility in Taiwan. They were made at ICL’s Design to Distribution contract manufacturing operation in Ashton-under-Lyne, and people affected will move on to other work. ICL will continue to sell, support and service all of its existing terminal products and all future terminal products that it buys in from Wyse.
