It became much more likely in the wake of IBM Corp’s settlement of its lawsuit against Comdisco Inc over the marketing of remanufactured memory. And on Wednesday, October 12, it happened: IBM settled its differences with Phoenix International Inc. Details of the settlement are secret. The IBM-Phoenix dispute became important, even though Phoenix is a small firm with a mere handful of people in Connecticut and an even smaller affiliate in London. Defending its trade in remanufactured memory on two continents, Phoenix hauled IBM before the European Court, losing its initial battle but continuing to wage a war that might have been riskier for Big Blue than little Phoenix.

Calves

Whatever the nature of the settlement, it couldn’t have been too painful. Phoenix is still in business worldwide and the company’s boss, Larry Erdmann, who had been named individually in IBM’s suits along with his companies, appears to be returning to business as usual. Phoenix, generally unknown to end users, is an active trader in IBM mainframe hardware and communications boxes within the industry. Outstanding in his field, Erdmann also operates a small cattle ranch in the American West, at which he can now lose some of the money he apparently didn’t lose in the courts. At just about the time he got out from under the threat posed by the litigation, Erdmann’s calves, being readied for the market, were treated to an early Montana snowstorm: Weight Watchers for livestock. A footnote to the memory dispute: despite IBM’s successful foray against the marketing of rebuilt IBM mainframe memory bearing an IBM logo, dozens and possibly hundreds of 3090s are still using remanufactured memory without a name brand. Generally speaking, it works, it can be maintained by third parties and vendors are willing to keep spare memory boards on site in the unlikely event a chip checks out. Both Comdisco and Phoenix, among others trading large 3090s and electronically identical J-prime processors, are undoubtedly moving some of this memory. Neither company emphasises this fact but neither will say that it is avoiding the practice, which is perfectly legitimate. Sources at both firms, coincidentally, say some users simply prefer cheap rebuilt memory. – Hesh Wiener (C) 1994 TNA