Nixdorf Computer AG has always bought substantial, if less vital, parts of its product line OEM, but it has been preparing the market and its users to come to terms with a new Nixdorf, the systems integrator that will buy in major parts of its product family. The majority of Nixdorf’s core Unix product line comes from third parties, and it has now extended its reach in the workstation world by signing to take Silicon Graphics Inc’s three-dimensional computer-aided design workstations to come in above the ones it is buying OEM from Apollo Computer Inc. The agreement also explains the decision of Silicon Graphics to do its European manufacturing just across the border in Neuchatel, Switzerland – the Mountain View company says the Nixdorf deal is one of its biggest ever OEM contracts. Silicon Graphics is also planning a Japanese plant.
