AST Research to Unveil PC for Novices

AST Research Inc., following a trend among some major personal-computer manufacturers to pursue mass-market sales, plans to introduce a PC targeting computer novices within the next two months, the company said Friday.

The new line, internally dubbed “M&M;” for mass market, could be available within months at some Circuit City retail stores, said AST President Thomas Yuen. The M&M; line, which may be sold under the “Encore” name, is the third major personal-computer line developed by the company since 1986.

The line will be easier to use and priced lower than the company’s Bravo and Premium brands, Yuen said. The machines would compete with other mass-market PCs introduced in the past year by Apple and IBM.

“This is a treacherous market,” Yuen said, “but I think we can carve out a niche.”

The machines will be packaged with “mouse” pointing devices, the Microsoft Windows 3.0 user interface, on-screen instructions and other features designed to make them easy to use. The idea is that the user could be operating the machine within 15 to 20 minutes of opening the box, Yuen said.

The new system, however, will not be upgradeable like the company’s Premium line, which allows a user to snap in a new processor to boost performance without having to buy another computer.

Mass-market retailing, while fiercely competitive, is AST’s brightest opportunity for expansion within the domestic and international markets, Yuen said. The company already sells to retailers, national distributors and value-added resellers, It also manufactures PCs for other companies who put their own brands on the machines.