Fortune Systems Corp, now owned by SCI Systems Corp, is now attempting a re-emergence with more competitive products, streamlined distribution lines and with the financial stability of a wealthy parent. An OEM deal with Arix Corp, formerly Arete, has added clout to an otherwise uninspiring product line-up and a new Formula 80xx range is the Fortune incarnation of the Arix products. It comes in three models – 8012, 8025, and 8050. In the UK there is now one exclusive distributor, diversifying Pick popper UCL Group Plc, which took over one of the three previous distributors, Nexel, which has so far shipped one 8025 to a test installation. To date UK prices have been worked out only for the 8012 running at 12MHz, which will come in at UKP25,000 with 4Mb memory and one disk for 16 users. The other two prices will be worked out over the next few days.
