Sanyo Electric is reportedly developing a Japanese version of an IBM AT-alike to be released in autumn: at the current state of development of the Japanese market, an IBM-compatible machine like the Toshiba J3100 lap-top (T3100 here) is thought to have some chance of countering the overwhelming dominance of NEC and its PC-9801 series, of which 1.06m have been sold in Japan; the Sanyo move probably has two aims – to capitalise on the wealth of IBM software, and to maintain its profitability as exports slump due to trade friction and the soaraway yen; the obvious thing to do would be to do a 9801-alike, but NEC’s success in its copyright infringement suit against Seiko Epson has put the frighteners on others hovering on the brink.
