ICL Plc is getting into the bargain basement personal computer business through its distribution subsidiary Technology Plc, which today launches two new ICL-made ranges, in an initiative it embarked upon before ICL bought it last summer. Other low-end additions and multimedia products will follow over the next few months. ICL acquired Technology in July 1992 (CI No 1,956), and merged it with its third party trading division to create what it claims is the UK’s largest personal computer and Unix reseller. It already sells ICL’s high-end Ergoline family, and the two new ranges are TechnICL and Zeno. The TechnICL family will initially comprise three slimline models: the 25MHz SL386s/25; the 33MHz SL486; the 25MHz SL486s/25; and a sub-notebook, the SN386SL. They are all based on Intel Corp chips because Technology has ‘an advantageous’ purchasing agreement with the company, and come pre-loaded with Microsoft Corp MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1. The 80486 versions have 4Mb of RAM, as does the sub-notebook, but the 80386 machine comes with only 2Mb RAM. Including monitor, the SL386s/25 costs between UKP855 and UKP900; the SL486 between UKP1,054 and UKP1,400; the SL486s/25 between UKP1,200 and UKP1,480, while the SN386SL is UKP1,260. They will be manufactured by ICL Finland, which had to make a competitive bid to win the business – Technology may still go outside for particular models. Ink-jet, bubble-jet and matrix printers will be bought in OEM from Mannesmann Tally GmbH. The Zeno range, manufactured at ICL’s site in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, is a high-volume, low-cost offering. The initial models are the 386SX/25, costing UKP775; the 486SX/25, costing UKP850, and the 486SX/25 at UKP1,000. They are not upgradable, and they will also be offered as OEM products.
