AST Will Aim Products at New Markets

AST Research Inc., the fast-growing computer accessory maker, will look to three relatively untapped markets to expand its sales of supercharging equipment for IBM desk-top computers, President Safi U. Qureshey told stockholders Tuesday at the company’s first annual meeting.

Qureshey said the Irvine company will be looking to the areas of computer graphics, networking and data communications for an increasing percentage of its sales starting in the current fiscal year. Qureshey said 70% of the company’s $139 million in sales last year came from three products, including the industry-leading “SixPakPlus,” an accessory that increases the power and tasks performed by the IBM desk-top computer.

“It is AST’s intention to continue to expand its product lines, to fully capitalize on the complete spectrum of opportunities that are developing as the personal computer continues to change the face of business and industry,” he told the shareholders.

Thomas Yuen, executive vice president for marketing and strategic development, revealed that the company will be unveiling more than half a dozen new products next month at the computer industry’s major trade show in Las Vegas, including AST’s first laser printer, aimed at the computer-aided-design market, such as architectural and engineering firms and print shops.

Yuen said AST will also be introducing products next month to help tie independent desk-top computers into networks of machines capable of sharing information. Still other new products, he said, would link small desk-top computers to a company’s larger machine storing its central files.

Qureshey said AST managed to buck the general slowdown in the computer industry and post impressive gains in sales and profits by concentrating on selling products for the 10 million or so personal computers already installed in businesses, not just for new machines.