The consensus was that IBM had satisfied itself that the 3990 disk drive was solid enough for it to be announced later this month, but Electronic News has tossed a note of dissent into the pot, saying it does not expect the things until the first quarter of next year: at all events, IBM is reportedly going ahead and clearing the decks for new top-end drives – leasing companies are hearing from major customers that IBM has been bidding 3380K drives at 30% off where the user wants a significant number; if the customer accepts the bid, he will not benefit from any subsequent price cut – expected by October.
