In the wake of its searing $413m loss for 1994, nothing is sacred any longer at Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA, and although it is not so long ago that it was the dominant European manufacturer of the things, the company has given its personal computer business notice that if it is not back in profit in 18 months, it faces closure. The International Herald Tribune quotes Alberto Rollo at Milan stockbroking Milla & Co saying he estimates that the personal computer business alone lost $150m last year. In the latest restructuring, the personal computer business and the office products business, which makes printers and is profitable, will be turned into free-standing entities so that joint venture partners can be brought in for them. Canon Inc, with which Olivetti has a joint venture making facsimile machines and copiers, is expected to take a stake in the printer business, but few specific names have been canvassed for the personal computer business although it could conceivably be combined with the European personal computer arm of on-off-on partner Digital Equipment Corp. The Herald Trib quotes sources within Olivetti saying that some form of preliminary understanding already exists with Hewlett-Packard Co, which runs its increasingly successful worldwide personal computer business from Grenoble in France. Its interest would be in gaining a quick way to expand manufacturing capacity. Olivetti is now pinning its hopes for fast growth and profits on its newley-created interests in cellular telephony and telecommunications services, and like all the old-line computer manufacturers is stressing services and software over hardware.
