SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY : Optima Technology Moves Into European Computer Market

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Optima Technology Corp., an Irvine manufacturer of mass storage systems for networks of personal computers, is establishing a joint venture in France.

Optima said it has teamed up with distributor ComputerWorld France to start a joint venture to be called Optima Europe.

The venture opened a manufacturing and distribution plant in Paris this week.

Tarek Ayoub, vice president of sales and marketing, said the venture will give Optima a foothold in the European market for computer peripherals, or devices such as hard disk drives that boost a computer’s memory.

“This plant will put us in the heart of Europe and prepare us for the formation of a single European market in 1992,” Ayoub said. “We are in the process of customizing our products for all of the local markets.”

Optima will retain a majority ownership in the venture, which will market Optima storage products to customers in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. ComputerWorld France will assist in distributing the equipment to 450 computer dealers in the region.

The plant is expected to reach full production in the next six months, said Ayoub, who will run the venture.

Ayoub declined to say how much Optima would invest in the venture, which he said would have been too expensive for the company to undertake on its own.

Optima, a privately held company, does not disclose its sales or earnings.

Last week, Optima introduced a spate of new products to supplement the memory capacities of a new line of Macintosh computers made by Apple Computer Inc.