P.M. BRIEFING : IBM Offers Low-Cost Computers
From Times Wire Services
NEW YORK —
International Business Machines Corp., hoping to make mid-range computers more attractive to small companies, today introduced two new models priced as low as $18,250, or 27% less than IBM’s previous lowest-cost model.
The new lower-cost models of the IBM AS/400, a series first introduced two years ago, are intended to be more competitive with personal computing systems linked through local area networks, IBM representatives said.
Some observers had predicted that the advent of local area networks, which link personal computers, would spell the demise of mid-range, or “mini-computer” systems offered by a variety of computer makers including IBM, Digital Equipment, Hewlett-Packard, Data General and NCR.
