Tandon Introduces Laptop Computers in U.S.

Tandon Corp., an ailing Moorpark maker of personal computers, introduced two new laptop computers that it plans to begin selling in the United States this month.

The computers, the LT/286, priced at $3,874, and the LT/386, which costs $4,429, are Tandon’s first offerings in the laptop market.

The battery-operated computers, which were introduced in Europe last month, offer higher resolution screens and more powerful data processors than most laptops on the market, Tandon spokesman Ed Allwein said. That should appeal to such professionals as accountants and engineers, who require fast access to large databases while working in the field, he said.

But analysts said Tandon faces an uphill battle in the U.S. laptop market because most of the company’s sales have been in Europe, and the industry is more competitive here. “They look like middle-of-the-road products,” said Bruce Stephen, personal-computer analyst at International Data Corp., a Framingham, Mass., research group.

“Everybody is getting into the laptop market these days,” Stephen said. “It’s growing quickly, but there’s not room for everybody. Tandon might have a tough time of it.”

Tandon, which has been struggling since it shifted from making data-storage devices to personal computers a few years ago, lost $9.6 million on $274 million of sales in the nine months that ended Sept. 30.