Despite all efforts to diversify, Ashton-Tate Corp essentially remains a one-product company, and the dangers of this are highlighted in its first quarter figures, which saw sales plunge 36.5% to $57m, leading to a $1.0m loss for the period: the company puts the slump in sales down to the fact that sales of the 1.0 release dBase IV have ground to a halt – by common consent, the thing doesn’t work too well – as users wait anxiously for the 1.1 release – for which there is still no delivery date; biggest danger for the company now is that once 1.1 is ready, the market for it will have disappeared as users look elsewhere for alternatives.
