Computers Introduced At A.T.&T.

By Calvin Sims
The New York Times

September 3, 1987

The American Telephone and Telegraph Company yesterday introduced a desktop computer and a minicomputer that offer significant advances in technology at a competitive price.

The introductions promise to lift the company's sagging credibility in the computer business, analysts said.

A.T.&T. said that its desktop computer, which is based on the Intel 80386 microprocessor, could run programs that use both the Unix operating system, developed by A.T.&T., and MS-DOS, the operating system created by the Microsoft Corporation and used by the International Business Machines Corporation.

First Fully to Use 80386 Chip

By running both MS-DOS and Unix at the same time, the A.T.&T. machine is the first computer to make full use of the 80386 chip, the most powerful microprocessor in the PC market. Other computer companies have introduced 80386-based machines, but none has the capability of A.T.&T.'s computer.

In separate announcements, the Unisys Corporation introduced three mid-range computers designed to compete with similar machines made by I.B.M. and the Digital Equipment Corporation, while the Hyundai Group of South Korea said that it would market computers under its own name.

Analysts predicted that the A.T.&T. desktop would have wide acceptance.

''From a corporate standpoint, it will have wide applications because of its multi-tasking and multi-user capabilities,'' said Charles Nichols, an E. F. Hutton & Company analyst.

''This clearly hits on the fat part of the bat,'' said Jack Grubman, an analyst with Paine Webber Inc. ''This is a terrific product with very competitive price performance and will sell very well for them.''

Computer Commitment

Analysts said that the A.T.&T. products reinforce its commitment to the computer marketplace at a time that many industry experts have expected the company to drop out of the business because of its dismal performance.

Analysts estimated that A.T.&T. lost $800 million on computers last year and predicted that the company would succeed only in reducing those losses by half this year. Meanwhile, A.T.&T.'s core business of long-distance and telecommunications services is booming.

A.T.&T. said that the new desktop system, called the 6386 Work Group System, could function either as a personal computer, using MS-DOS or the new O/S 2 applications when they become available, or as a minicomputer serving up to 32 people.

The price of the new desktop ranges from $4,899 to $10,395, depending on configuration, and was considered competitive by analysts.

A.T.&T.'s Strongest Minicomputer

A.T.&T. also introduced its most powerful minicomputer to date, the 3B4000, aimed at the transaction-processing market, which generates annual revenues of $17 billion. These machines are used mainly to run airline reservation systems and automated teller systems.

In its largest version, the 3B4000 can handle more than 43 million instructions per second and support up to 300 users at a time, A.T.&T. said. Its price starts at $187,000. However, some analysts questioned the price performance of the 3B4000, and they noted the limited software applications available for Unix-based machines.

Criticism of Sales Structure

Although they lauded the technological advance of the new computers, analysts attributed A.T.&T.'s poor performance to the lack of a separate computer sales force reporting directly to the head of its computer division. Vittorio Cassoni, A.T.&T.'s senior vice president, Data Systems division, was recruited from A.T.&T.'s computer partner, Ing. C. Olivetti & Company, to turn the division around.

In an interview at A.T.&T.'s computer products center in Parsippany, N.J., Mr. Cassoni said that the company had 600 field representatives devoted to selling computers and that the number would be increased to target specific customers. He also said that A.T.&T. recently received a contract from the McDonald's Corporation to place the 6386 system in its restaurants.

Mr. Cassoni said that A.T.&T. expected to make at least two major computer announcements a year because of technological developments.

''One announcement does not make a computer company,'' Mr. Grubman said, ''but it's a step in the right direction. We'll have to wait and see where they go from here.''

Copyright 1987 The New York Times Company