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→Vendors shifting gears; remain loyal to TI market
=Vendors shifting gears; remain loyal to TI market=
'''Nothing is permanent except change. -Heraclitus'''
For some, it's a newfound opportunity, with the major competitor out of the market.
For others, it's a signal that they'd better start looking for other pastures.
Tex.as Instruments' decision to get
out of the home computer market
have been met with varying reactions
from thfrd party vendors.
Nobody was really ready for it, but
most vendors interviewed by the
Compendium have made plans for
future actions, one way or another.
Gene Harter, a general partner in
Not-Polyoptics, reflects what he says
was his firm's "mixed reaction" to
the TT oullout.
"At first we were dismayed," he
says. "We knew the TI was the best
home computer you could get at
twice the price. Even at $250 that
computet outclassed its competition
and it just wasn't fair when that
computer went away.''
Yet there is a bnght side.
"TI was our biggest competitor
and they've gone out of business,"
Harter comments. "As far as business
goes, it's going to help us."
Roger Dooley, president of Tenex
Computer Marketing Systems, South
Bend, Indiana, echoes this optimistic
viewpoint.
''I think that there is going to be a
large aftermarket for the next one or
two years," he says.
He notes that among the third
party vendors whose orders Tenex
handles, there is "95 percent enthusiasm
to stay in a market in which
t h e i r l a r g e s t c o m p e t i t o r h a s
deserted.''
However, he notes, "in the long run
people question the viability of the TI
market" unless some of the rumors
of a compatible console to be produced
by another company· prove
true. (See related story Page 6). He
notes that there are ''two m1111on Tis
in place. Our position as a company is
to support the TI market."
He feels that the ''mass market
channels the products used to move
through were typically not very supportive.
They didn't know what went
with what. I think that the aftermarket
will return to firms that can
help them more."
Gary Siegel, president of Challenge
Software,.a division of Ashford
Computers, says, "Our plans, I suppose,
are to wait and see. We have
advertising in place that involves
mail order sales and we'll see what
develops."
He notes that some future plans
may depend on whether "the patent
on the 99 is sold to a major company
like Milton Bradley. That' going to
affect the shape of the market, or at
least the length of the demand."
Siegel says, "We don't see a lot of
change so far. A lot of people have put
things on hold. We hear from some
places that sales are very brisk."
As for the future, Siegel says, "Not
having a crystal ball, I don't know."
Craig Reitan, ownr of Unisource
E l e c t r o n i c s , L u b b o c k , Tex as,
another large mail order distributor
of TI products, says that his company
is ''in the process of selling everything
as fast as we can."
He says that since consumers
"aren't going to be able" to buy TI
products at outlets such as K-Mart or
Best Products, "mail order dealers
like us are in a strong position."
His company is now '' 100 percent
TI mail order and 70 percent retail
TI," but, he observes, "five years
from now that's going to be a very
small business. We need to look at
other businesses to be in while continuing
to support the TI market."
