It looks as if IBM will not be taking the Ambra arms-length tack when it it goes head-to-head with the clonemakers in the US later this year. Instead it will sell a new PS line under its own name, but with another number attached, or a name like PS Classic, Associated Press hears from executives that spoke on condition of anonymity. The new PSs will not contain as many features as the PS/2, and will of course use the AT or EISA bus that most users prefer to the Micro Channel. IBM also will unveil several notebook computers under the new PS brand, the executives said. The new machines will not be PS/1s, because the target market is not the home and very small business user at which those machines have been pitched, but the volume corporate buyers ordering machines hundreds at a time, who have been deserting IBM for something perceived to be just as good but much cheaper. IBM is expected to move in September, but in anticipation is tipped to cut PS/2 prices by up to 30% late next month. In the mainstream the company has won a fillip with news that Dell Computer Corp will shortly announce that it will pre-load OS/2 2.0 on personal computers where users ask for it; IBM is wooing others. September’s announcement will include new CPU upgrades at the top of the PS/2 line, possibly including models using the unannounced Intel Corp 80586. Some of the portables will be sourced under IBM’s agreement with Groupe Bull SA’s Zenith Data Systems, and mail order – with less support than IBM currently offers – will be one of the channels IBM will be using to market the boxes.
