Commenting on its 14% decline in first quarter net profit (Company Results, page 7), Stratus Computer Inc, Marlborough, Massachusetts puts the slippage down to its OEM agreements: the company says that its direct sales business was strong both home and abroad – up 32% on a year ago in the US, up 21% in the rest of the world – but that revenue from IBM was down from last year’s first quarter, and we remain cautious in our outlook for this channel for the rest of 1990, while business with Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA was up that for the same period in 1989, placing the biggest single order yet for the XA2000-30.
