It would appear that IBM has a problem getting enough of its new 9336 disk drives for the AS/400 out of its Rochester, Minnesota factory: the company is offering generous terms to people buying AS/400 Models 50, 60 and 70 to take their machines now with the slower, lower capacity 9332 or 9335 disks and wait for the 9336s until next summer in the US. At announcement, IBM promised 9336s for the affected models – both installed and new ones – at the end of this month, for users of the lower-end AS/400s in March, and for OEM customers in June. Under the offer, a customer that orders the AS/400 model with either 9332 Model 600 or 9335 Model A01 and B01 disks can trade in the disks between April and September next summer for a 100% credit toward purchase of 9336s of equal or greater value and a credit of $4,000 for a half-rack configuration and $8,000 for a full-rack configuration to put toward the cost of IBM products and services. A customer that orders one of the same disks but decides to keep them rather than trade up to 9336s gets a triple credit of $12,000 for a half-rack or $24,000 for a full-rack configuration; to receive credit customers must install a minimum of one full rack and up to eight full racks of IBM 9332 or 9335s. The order must be in by December 7, the AS/400 installed by December 31. Assuming that IBM is short of 9336s, the offer discourages users from buying IPL Systems Inc’s alternative to the 9336 (which uses IBM’s own 3.5 disks), ensures that 9332s and 9335s go back to IBM rather than hitting the used market, and encourages users of the Model 40 to upgrade to a substantially more expensive 50 before the end of the year, boosting IBM’s fourth quarter book.
