Tandon Will Unveil Own Personal Computer Line

Tandon Corp. is to unveil a line of IBM-compatible personal computers today that will be sold in the United States under the Chatsworth company’s name.

The models, company sources and securities analysts said, will be compatible with IBM’s XT and AT models and are similar to ones that Tandon has been selling under its own name in Europe since last fall. Tandon was scheduled to make the announcement at a New York press conference.

The introduction of a Tandon-brand computer domestically, expected since early this year, is another major step in the company’s shift away from primarily making disk drives.

That move has been spearheaded primarily by two former IBM executives hired by Tandon last fall--Dan H. Wilkie, Tandon’s president and chief operating officer, and H. L. Sparks, senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Skeptics in the industry have questioned as risky the company’s move into the highly competitive personal computer business at a time when many computer makers are struggling.

Tandon executives, however, argue that the company’s name recognition is strong because its disk drives--devices used to store and retrieve data in computers--are well known. They further contend that Tandon can build a less expensive computer than most U.S. companies, and thus offer better profit margins for retailers, because the company makes its own disk drives and has low-cost manufacturing plants in Singapore and India.

Tandon executives and analysts say the company is encouraged by better-than-expected European sales of the Tandon-brand personal computers, which analysts estimated have exceeded $5 million in some months.

Tandon is also expected to release a list of retailers that have agreed to sell its computers. Company sources said Tandon is negotiating with a number of major computer retailers.

Analysts said Sears Business Systems Centers, which are Sears, Roebuck & Co.’s office equipment outlets, most likely will be on the list, noting that Tandon-brand disk drives and other products are already selling there. Another likely outlet is Entre Computer Centers, a Vienna, Va.-based chain.

Businessland, which recently introduced a line of computers to be sold under its own name, said it will not carry the Tandon machines. Analysts doubt that the prominent ComputerLand chain, which also introduced its own computers last month, would stock the Tandon computers.

The company has not disclosed its suggested retail prices for its new computers, but they are expected to be lower that those of similar IBM and Compaq models.