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#CBM cashing in its chips
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I saw a report in Infoworld that Commodore probably will not stay solvent much
longer. Tonight there was a report that Commodore was closing two of its plants
on the news. Oh please, tell me that the Gods that watch over really inspiring
pieces of technology have not turned their backs on the Amiga. I own one and
think it is the best thing I've ever owned. If CBM goes under, I'll still love
and code for my Amiga, but the 3rd party software will never be the same.
Commodore closed an assembly plant in Great Britain which was using old
technology. They are better off with their other plants which use robots and
assembly lines than with the old hand-assembly plants. Don't get so excited!
(Information is all 23rd hand, so I would also like to see some input from the
horse's mouth…) – Bela
Commodore closed an assembly plant in Great Britain which was using old
technology. They are better off with their other plants which use robots and
assembly lines than with the old hand-assembly plants. Don't get so excited!
(Information is all 23rd hand, so I would also like to see some input from the
horse's mouth…) – Bela
As far as I've heard here, the two plants closed were not really necessary
any more. The plant in England was assembly only, and far behind Japan, Hong
Kong, and Germany in terms of production automation and low costs. The plant
in California was a small chip fab plant. As most of our production chips
are made in the far east or in King of Prussia, I believe them when they say
this too was trimming the fat (you can't always believe what you hear, even
if you work here). CBM isn't likely to be making the same volume of
computers now as it had in the past, for the simple reason that nobody wants
the extremely cheap computer (i.e. VIC-20, C64). Thus the C128 becomes
bottom of the line for future projects. The C64 is still made, but not in the
volumes of the past. CBM sold nearly six million C64s, and expects to go over
six million this year. That's more units than all IBM PCs and PClones
combined. And a C64 contains about as many custom chips as an Amiga. Of
course the Amiga parts are much more complex, but when it comes to chip fab
its essentially the same thing.
As far as I've heard here, the two plants closed were not really necessary
any more. The plant in England was assembly only, and far behind Japan, Hong
Kong, and Germany in terms of production automation and low costs. The plant
in California was a small chip fab plant. As most of our production chips
are made in the far east or in King of Prussia, I believe them when they say
this too was trimming the fat (you can't always believe what you hear, even
if you work here). CBM isn't likely to be making the same volume of
computers now as it had in the past, for the simple reason that nobody wants
the extremely cheap computer (i.e. VIC-20, C64). Thus the C128 becomes
bottom of the line for future projects. The C64 is still made, but not in the
volumes of the past. CBM sold nearly six million C64s, and expects to go over
six million this year. That's more units than all IBM PCs and PClones
combined. And a C64 contains about as many custom chips as an Amiga. Of
course the Amiga parts are much more complex, but when it comes to chip fab
its essentially the same thing.