IBM Adds New Computer Division : Technology: The New York-based unit will develop a powerful line of PCs based on a chip built with Apple and Motorola.

International Business Machines Corp. added a division Thursday to develop a powerful new generation of personal computers based on a RISC chip built with Apple Computer Inc. and Motorola Inc.

The unit, called the Power Personal Systems Division and based in Somers, N.Y., will focus on delivering advanced PowerPC computers to the marketplace at a price comparable to current PC models.

PowerPC technology is the product of a 2-year-old alliance among IBM, Apple and Motorola. The PowerPC microprocessor is based on RISC, or reduced instruction set computing, designs that vastly boost power by requiring individual chips to perform fewer tasks.

Last month, Motorola launched an aggressive advertising campaign for the PowerPC chip, which is designed to rival the new-generation Pentium chip developed by leading semiconductor maker Intel Corp. PowerPC’s backers say that the new chip is faster, cheaper and smaller than its Intel counterpart.

The latest phase in the advertising blitz was a 12-page ad insert in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday touting the Motorola chip.

Apple, the No. 2 PC maker after IBM, also plans to roll out new versions of its popular Macintosh computers based on the PowerPC microprocessor. Product introductions from both IBM and Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., are expected early next year.

IBM’s latest action moves the world’s biggest computer company closer to introducing products based on the new RISC chip, which could provide both IBM and Apple with an important new weapon against rival PC makers such as Compaq Computer Corp. and Dell Computer Corp.

RISC-based technology is now used by advanced workstation computers that are powerful enough to handle complex engineering, design and scientific tasks.

Up until now, the market for IBM-compatible personal computers has been based largely on microprocessors built by Intel Corp. in Santa Clara, Calif., and a handful of clone makers.

But some companies, such as Digital Equipment Corp. in Cambridge, Mass., have recently introduced new PC systems based on their own RISC chips.

Analysts say the application of RISC chips to PCs has been limited largely by a lack of software that can exploit the power offered by the new microprocessors.

After Thursday’s announcement, IBM’s stock was unchanged at $49.375 in New York Stock Exchange trading.

IBM, based in Armonk, N.Y., has appointed Vice President Nobuo Mii as president of the new division. Up to now, Mii has been general manager of Entry Level Systems Technology at IBM.

IBM Senior Vice President James Cannavino also outlined plans for further integration of the IBM Personal Computer Co., giving it responsibility for all PC technology development.

In effect, the change merges most of the Entry Systems Technology operation, formed in 1991 to develop emerging technologies and subsystems crucial to future PC design, with the IBM Personal Computer Co.