Hewlett-Packard Co seems a perfect example of a company not believing its own press agents. Networked Systems Group chief Wim Roelandts says the company misforecast demand for its Unix machines – including its Motorola boxes – by 100% or tens of thousands of units. Backlog for the new Snake series, the HP 9000 Series 700, aggravated by shortages of the Texas Instruments Inc floating point unit, has stretched out as much as five months, with the 66MHz box the hardest hit. Roelandts calculates that the shortfall has cost the company 5% to 10% of its customers. The company now believes it’s got a handle on the situation and may see Texas chips this month, but deliveries won’t be reasonable before the end of the year.
