Conference 7.286::digital

    See additional discussion in Asimov::Marketing, Note 566.

From:	GERBIL::BLINN "Dr. Tom @MKO, CMG S/W Mktg, DTN 264-4865  06-Oct-1988 1122"  6-OCT-1988 11:26
Subj:	DEC / Tandy (Radio Shack) PC joint marketing/engineering announced

From:	DSSDEV::EPPES "All my life I've wanted to be somebody...Now, who was it?  06-Oct-1988 1052"  6-OCT-1988 10:58
Subj:	DEC/Tandy agreement

[...]

From:	SPCTRM::NUSBAUM  "30-Sep-1988 1626" 30-SEP-1988 16:22
Subj:	Draft Sales Flash for announcing Tandy Agreement

On October 6, Digital Equipment Corporation and Tandy Corporation will
announce a number of agreements between the two corporations:

WHAT IS BEING ANNOUNCED

1) A Technology Exchange agreement, similar in scope to those executed
between Digital and Compaq and between Digital and Olivetti.  This
agreement will result in Tandy MS-DOS based personal computers being
supported by Digital in PCSA networks.  Two two companies will exchange
technology on an ongoing basis to ensure that future products are
supported as well.

2) A Service agreement.  This agreement will lay the foundation for
Digital Field Service to service Tandy PCs.

3) A Marketing agreement.  This agreement will define the guidelines
under which each company can use the fact of Tandy PCs being supported
in PCSA networks.

4) A Joint Development agreement.  Under this agreement Digital and Tandy
will jointly engineer a family of personal computers to be manufactured
by Tandy and sold by Digital under a Digital logo.

WHAT DO YOU SELL?

This is not a product announcement.  Products should be announced in a
few months.  A PID is being developed, and will be made available through
the standard Corporate Product Operations channels.

SELLING STRATEGY

PC Integration is still our #1 priority in the personal computing space.
The decision to offer a line of PCs was made in support of the overall PC
Integration strategy.  By offering PCs, we can now offer our customers a
complete integrated solution from a single vendor, with everything
counting towards DBA volumes, single-source service, etc.

This step does NOT lessen our commitment to the principle of the open
desktop, and to supporting PCs from IBM, Compaq, Olivetti, Zenith, and
Apple.  Because the PC systems business is secondary to the integration
business in impact on account control and revenue, you should never lose
an integration or network sale over the customer's choice of a PC.  In
particular, implementations of customer PCSA networks should not be held
up waiting for product announcement of availability of new Digital PCs.

    At last.  I hope this one sticks. It sounds like we've finally admitted
    that we're OUT of the MS-DOS PS2 business and will concentrate solely
    on integrating PCs into the corporate wide enterprise network. Because
    as far as integrating PCs is concerned PCSA is a first class product
    and in my view beats the competition hands down.
    
    Now if only we could persuade some of these clone makers to ship
    PCs with an Ethernet port instead of the useless Token Ring port.
    Still I see signs that people are beginning to realize that they's
    like to connect their ringlets of PCs into the corporate network
    and IBM isn't making a very good job of it.
    
    Dave

    It's true!  The announcement appeared in today's (Friday, Oct. 7)
    Wall Street Journal.

    This seems a good move. We now have access to the SOL (Silicon On
    Leather) technology.
    ;^)

    re:  .5  --  "Silicon on Leather"
    
    Guffaw if you must, but I've worked with the high-end Tandy PC's
    and they seem to be quality items.  At least they don't melt before
    your eyes (low blow).  While I've never been fond of Tandy's retail
    methods, they have one other important thing going for them: they
    are a USA company, and they are actively bringing back manufacturing
    jobs from overseas.  For some reason, I like that ...
    
    Geoff

<><><><><><><><>  T h e   V O G O N   N e w s   S e r v i c e  <><><><><><><><>

 Edition : 1675               Friday 14-Oct-1988            Circulation :  6321 

 DEC - More info on personal computer deal with Tandy. Micro Channel mentioned.
   Formal announcements of the products are planned later this year, said
 Geoffrey Burr, DEC's manager, strategic relations, for its personal computers
 group. He declined to describe the planned computers, but some analysts said
 they probably will have only cosmetic differences from those that Tandy sells
 itself. Although there had been some reports that DEC wanted to buy Tandy
 computers that mimic IBM's new Micro Channel architecture, Mr. Burr said,
 "Digital doesn't consider the Micro Channel an industry standard and has no
 plans to market a Micro Channel product." He said DEC backs the current
 standard based on IBM's old products and a recently announced new standard
 called EISA. Mr. Burr said that the company talked to many makers of personal
 computers about reselling their computers. He said one reason Tandy was chosen
 is that Tandy's retail sales channel doesn't compete with DEC's sales force,
 which is strong in corporate marketing. Stephen Smith, an analyst with
 PaineWebber Inc., said, "Digital is looking to make money by providing
 networking and connectivity. This should allow it to be very competitive in
 bidding competitions" where personal computers are part of the network. But
 Susie Case, an analyst with First Boston Corp., questioned whether DEC
 salespeople will push Tandy's computers effectively. "It's sort of like asking
 your husband to find you a date. They don't have the same enthusiasm," she
 said.
	{The Wall Street Journal, 7-Oct-88, B4}

<><><><><><><><>   VNS Edition : 1675      Friday 14-Oct-1988   <><><><><><><><>

    I was at COMDEX earlier this week, and of course stopped by the
    Tandy exhibit to see the 3000/4000/5000 series machines.  I talked
    with the Tandy rep there, who saw "Digital" on my COMDEX badge,
    and pointed out the machines that were going to be sold as the Digital
    PC's.  He also mentioned that these were *exactly* the same models
    that PANASONIC was going to be selling under the same contract
    conditions; ie, made by Tandy, but sold with a Panasonic label.
    He said the Panasonic contract was only "recently signed".
    
    Has anyone else heard this?  If it's true, wouldn't it have been
    smarter for Digital to add something into the contract that says
    we're the only ones that can play Maytag/Kenmore with these specific
    Tandy machines?
    
    Curious
    Jon

(extracted from...)
VNS Edition : 1697           Tuesday 15-Nov-1988            Circulation :  6385 

VNS COMPUTER NEWS:                            [Tracy Talcott, VNS Computer Desk]

 Tandy, Matsushita - Plan computer pact
   Tandy, pushing hard to become a major player in the personal computer
 market, is expected to announce today [Monday - TT] that it has teamed up with
 Matsushita Industrial Ltd. of Japan to sell its computers under Matsushita's
 Panasonic label. For Tandy, whose personal computers were long regarded in the
 industry as second-class citizens among IBM clones, an agreement with
 Matsushita would be a major coup. Matsushita, which also sells Quasar and
 Technics products, has annual sales of more than $4.5 billion in the U.S.,
 more than any other electronics company. The agreement would be the first
 time that a Japanese company has purchased personal computers made in America
 for sale in the U.S. Analysts said that not only would Tandy's reputation
 benefit from association with a high-quality brand name, but the company would
 gain significant manufacturing and pricing advantages from buying huge
 quantities of Matsushita's memory chips. "It has the potential to place Tandy
 in one of the preeminent positions in the personal computer industry," said
 Jack Freeman, a senior analyst at the Yankee Group in Boston. Selling personal
 computers under the Panasonic label, he said, gives Tandy a widely-recognized,
 quality product with immense market potential. The expected agreement with
 Matsushita would enhance Tandy's reputation as one of the industry's
 lowest-cost personal computer manufacturers. This is underscored by the fact
 that Matsushita already makes personal computers. Tandy "has done a great job
 of lowering manufacturing costs," said Freedman, adding that Tandy's costs are
 as low as those of Japanese manufacturers. The link between the two companies
 is the most striking example of Tandy's aggressive strategy to boost its
 personal computer market share. A few weeks ago, Tandy announced that DEC
 would buy and sell under its own label computers made by Tandy. Last June,
 Tandy teamed up with one of the nation's largest discounters, Wal-Mart stores,
 to broaden its distribution. Tandy previously only sold its products through
 its chain of 4,800 company-owned and 2,200 dealer-owned Radio Shack stores.
 Last year, Tandy sold 650,000 personal computers through its Radio Shack
 stores.
	{The Wall Street Journal, 14-Nov-88, p. B4}

        Who can say (I certainly can't) whether Tandy would have been
        interested in a deal like that?  I believe their goal is to
        broaden their channels of distribution.  I believe our goal is to
        get a quality PC product to broaden our product offerings. 
        I doubt we'll be competing with Matsushita/Panasonic for the
        same customers.
        
        Tom

        It seems to me all of the press that I read said that Tandy
        builds 'em with our label (and an additional hack or two) and
        we sell 'em.

        Tandy wont be selling anything with our label.

        It isn't clear what arrangement Tandy has with the other
        companies but our boxes wont be sharing the same show rooms.

        	Mike

    Does anyone have any ideas of what kind of "added value" we might
    place on these machines?
    
    I would imagine that we would make it easy to add Ethernet boards,
    if not include them with the machines.  Most likely we will also
    see the LK250 keyboard and VSXXX mouse included.
    
    The net effect seems to be a VAXmate replacement...anyone know for
    sure or have any comment on this?
    
    Doug

    re: .12
    
    Usually on a vendor buy-out we add our firmware and change the "skins",
    and yes add Ethernet support.
    
    David

    RE: .12
    
    There are quite a few potential differences between the new PC and
    the VAXmate, not the least of which should be price/performance.
    Others to consider: COLOR support, expandability, and EISA support.
    
    The VAXmate may or may not have been a well-engineered product,
    but one thing is for certain:  the market it was directed to was
    pretty much a figment of someone's imagination.  It just never
    materialized, and when the VAXmate attempted to compete with a
    commodity-priced clone, it lost.  My only fear with the TANDY
    deal is that we may end up going down the same marketing rathole
    with it as we did with the VAXmate, Rainbow, PRO, et al ...
    
    Geoff

    
    re:.14
       I agree with your comments on the VAXmate.
    
       But, think about the ROI (return on investment) for the 
    service business we'll get for an investment of a signature.
    I am sure it will cost us something but look at the possibilities,
    no major DEC built hardware investment, that's Tandy's...
    
    	John
    

    re: .16 "...it will cost us someting ..." - uh, why does it occur
    to me to ask about the support costs when users want to run WPS-PLUS
    on their dandy TANDY and flood CSC with questions regardless of
    whether they bought the unit from RS or DEC?  Will all VMS software
    be migrated to run on Tandy now?
    
    ...
    

        RE: .17 -- What makes you think that someone who buys WPS-PLUS/DOS
        to run on *any* DOS system could not call the appropriate CSC,
        provided they are entitled to do so, regardless of where they
        bought their hardware?  This isn't a hardware support issue, it's
        an application support issue.  I suspect that in the future, we
        will be selling more and more application software that runs on
        hardware platforms we didn't build, and may not have sold. (I
        won't go into specific details, because some of the things I'm
        thinking of are not yet announced.)  After all, Digital's changing
        from being mostly a "hardware" company (or iron-monger, to use a
        term that's been used both inside and outside Digital for years)
        to being a "software" company.  Products like DECnet-DOS, the PCSA
        suite, and WPS-PLUS/DOS are just the tip of the iceberg. 
        
        Tom

    An interesting bit of trivia: most of the code we write for DECnet-
    DOS has this as part of the copyright statement:
    
*   Digital assumes no responsibility for the use  or	reliability	*
*   of its software on equipment which is not supplied by Digital.	*
    
    Although we 'support' DECnet-DOS on IBM PCs and certain clones, which
    you cannot buy from DEC.
    
    ScottR