COMPUTERS/TECHNOLOGY

AST Cuts Prices: AST Research Inc., a computer maker in Irvine, cut its prices on several lines of personal computers Monday to stay competitive with low-priced manufacturers that sell PCs by mail, such as Dell Computer Corp. in Austin, Tex.

To spur demand, AST cut prices 18% to 31% on its lines of personal computers. A bare-bones model costs as little as $1,295. The company also cut prices of component boards used to upgrade the speed of a used computer by 19% to 42%.

“Price cuts are a problem for some companies, but AST had the foresight to know this would happen and we planned for it,” said Dan Sheppard, director of product marketing.

Sheppard said the price cuts were selective and should not eat into the company’s profit margins.

Over the past year, PC prices have fallen as much as 50% on some models. Zenith Data Systems also cut prices 5% to 26% on 18 lines of PCs Monday. And last week, rival computer makers Dell, NEC Corp. and Apple Computer Inc. cut prices by up to 38%.