#Rumor Update
The rumor mill has slowed down the last 10 days or so, so here are the
latest and greatest from sources who have no problem with being identified
…
From Gilles Bourdin, an Amiga developer in France, 29 may, 1994
——
Hi all,
There haven't been much news these last days and lots of rumours again.
The status is still the same, Commodore and Samsung are now negociating
bits and pieces. Commodore employees are not allowed to reveal the name
of Samsung in public yet. Internal news are tending towards a finalization
in the near future (Commodore could be Samsung on Monday, actually, it's
quite imminent). Apparently, Commodore would like more money than Samsung
is willing to pay, that's why it takes so long.
There's been a rumour floating around on Usenet, saying that Samsung will
get the Amiga line and leave the CD 32 to Phillips. This is not true. As
told before, the main point in the negociations between the two firms is
that The ENTIRE Amiga product line is to be maintained and in no way
splitted around among several companies or taken apart for some part of
its technology.
No news wether or not the production has started again in the Philippines,
there was also a rumour about this but no one at Commodore Germany could
confirm or deny this. So it may be true… or not.
Apparently, Commodore Germany is still delivering to distributors in
Germany and now also to France. There has been a delivery of 70 A4000Ts in
Braunschweig (subsidiary of Commodore Germany) a few weeks ago and all of
them are sold out by now.
The assets of Commodore France have been transferred to Braunschweig,
where most of the computing stuff was sold at an auction.
There are 3 or 4 other companies than Samsung on the line, which are
seriously interested in Commodore and the Amiga. Samsung is the only
company Commodore is negociating with though, for now.
Commodore employees in Frankfurt were paid this month.
Commodore Germany is running as usual.
I know this is not extraordinary stuff, but there's no need at this point
to make false scoops if there's nothing more to report.
——
From Terry Rickan, an attendee of the MultiMedia '94 exhibition in
Toronto … 28 May 1994
——
As of Thursday, CBM staff appearing at the Multimedia 94 exhibition in
Toronto were openly acknowledging the fact that Samsung had placed a
bid for the company, and had already presented a proposed $2 million
North American marketing campaign to the trustees. What has yet to be
determined is who will ultimately make the acquisition. Despite the
assumptions that Samsung is a certainty, Philips appears to think
otherwise. On Thursday morning they upped the ante, and rekindled the
buyout race. In either case, the trustees have supposedly made it a
mandate that any company which succeeds in acquiring the technology
must in principle have an intention to continue producing Amigas.
They can't regulate this once the takeover has been made, but they can
use it as leverage in determining who gets what.
According to CBM Canada, there is a strong likelihood that this
situation will be resolved on Tuesday, with a press release to follow.
——
From Mike Smithwick, author of Distant Suns by VRLI, 25-May-94
Just a bit-o-news I heard today while down at my publisher's
World Headquarters. Our marketing person was on the phone
in the corner, hung up and said something to the effect :
"the Samsung deal went through".
Her contact was someone who should be "in the know". And she
confirmed the NewTek/CA/Samsung meetings. Anyway, apparently the
deal has been agreed upon, and now some final paperwork has to
be finalized, and we should get the announcement by the
fabled May 31st date. If it falls through, there are a number
of other companies standing in the wings to take over.
Our marketing person used to work for Samsung and feels that
it would be a very good match.
Oh, BTW, it would now be known as the Samsung Amiga. The commodore
name will apparently be dropped.
mike
——
There are a LOT of rumors floating around … Samsung closed the deal,
Samsung backed out, Philips outbid Samsung, Sony bought Amiga, Commodore
bought Samsung, Amstrad wants Amiga for 1 more good Xmas, etc.
So many rumors out there — take your pick — there's enough for everyone.
-sja