Another French firm, the Grand Publique arm of Thomson SA, is pulling out of the computer business, only days after Matra SA announced the closure of its mainly Unix systems business (CI No 1,109). Thomson is terminating manufacture of its TO16, MO7 and MO6 home computers, which it originally introduced to get a share of the French government’s computers-for-schools programme. The 8-bit machines were built around Motorola microprocessors, as were almost all French-designed computers in the early 1980s, because Thomson won European second source rights to most Motorola microprocessors up to but not including the 68020. Thomson says it will continue to supply machines from stock to the end of this year, and its Thomainfor unit will offer support indefinitely. The decision brings down the curtain on an ambitious three-way project between Inc C Olivetti & Co, the French company and Acorn Computers Plc to specify a standard micro that could be used in schools across Europe.
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