With almost none of the functionality of the new IBM Personal System/2 machines deliverable before the first quarter of 1988, there is plenty of time for would-be clone-makers to have compatible machines on the market within weeks of Microsoft’s MS OS/2 becoming available – if they judge that pulling all the stops out is necessary. Phoenix Technologies Inc, Norwood, Massachusetts, told the Wall Street Journal it would have a Basic Input-Output chip ready for would-be cloners within six months, and Chips & Technologies Inc, the Milpitas, California company that designs and manufactures IBM-compatible support chips that greatly cut the cost of building a clone, says its set for the Personal System/2 will be out in six to nine months.
