#Atari woes continue
17 messages in this thread
According to some posted (uploaded in the libs section of AtariArts) news
items, Atari laid off 15% of all U.S. employees effective 5:00 pm on the
17th. The cuts were in low-lever service personnel but there are no
predictions on rehiring them. Executives and name personnel (?) were not
affected.
-Chs
I read those articles. Supposedly the layoffs point to restructuring in
the company for the short-term, since the Portfolio and Lynx are supposedly
doing very well, and Atari posted profits of $5million last quarter, up
from a 92 million loss for the same quarter last year.
John
Yes, the Portfolio is doing well, but it is a PC clone machine and not
supposed to be their mainstay. The ST isn't doing so hot here in the U.S.
and they are rumored to be releasinga 16 MHz '030 machine soon, but I've
seen noting tangable. The STacey (is that their lap top?) seems to be a
hit since it is a decent Mac laptop with the Spectre thingy and much
cheaper than the Mac Portable. Ah well, luck to them. CBM needs some form
of competition and unless they can gear up to play ball with Apple and IBM,
Atari looks like it.
-Chas
That's the funny thing about the ST. Though it has been a bomb in the
U.S., it is one of the most popular systems in Europe(they outsell Apple).
That's why I don't think the layoffs are the specter of any impending doom,
but just some internal restructuring in Atari.
John
True, and most U.S. Atari people can't stand the fact that Atari considers
Europe its home market. However the U.S. market is larger than Europe and
nowhere near as diverse (half a dozen major languages, two different video
standards, etc.) and with eastern Europe opening up for conglomorate
exploitation & expansion, the market will get that much more complex.
It was speculated that the layoffs were due to the fact that Atari had
nothing new to ship and their business volume had fallen drastically in the
U.S., so they had oodles of people with job descriptions but no work. They
were "pruned" to promote new growth. The accounting branch of Atari lost
50% of the people (less money to count).
-Chas
Chas,
One other item to consider…even if the Portfolio is a run-away
success (BTW…it's NOT MS-DOS compatible)…it's essentially a throw-away
computer.
More than likely…it'd cost Atari more money to fix one than to
simply replace it. At it's selling price of $400, it's real cost is
probably somewhere near $40 (or less). Considering overhead, shipping,
labor, parts inventory, etc….that' $40 would probably be eaten up in
about 15 minutes worth of bench time.
Don
I thought the Portfolio was a DOX 2.11 machine? If not, what is it? As for
throw away, that may be true. Still, with the release of the Sony Palmtop,
the Poquet PC, etc. I think the Atari will have a fight on its hands.
Atari doesn't have the best name in the MS-DOS world.
-Chas
Charles,
I *think* than the Portfolio is compatible with 2.11 at the INT 21 level,
but not at the BIOS level. Since most PC programs call a BIOS routine at
one point or another, this means that the Portfolio isn't as compatible as
your average PClone. Note: I could be wrong on all this. If I am wrong,
I'm sure that someone on this forum will graciously point it out to me <g>.
Robert
Evan worse than you state it. Last I heard (from a Portfolio
owner/distributor_ it WON'T LOAD OTHER PROGRAMS, just serial port text
files! Atari techs are trying to figure a bypass to this David
David,
There's probably not that much Portfolio stuff out there to download
anyway. My guess is all the Portfolio software is on cards anyway.
Robert
Well, the Poquet PC isn't really competition for the Port, when you
consider the fact that it cost 5 times that of a Portfolio, and that the
Atari is meant to be something like a Casio BOSS, but *much* more powerful
for about the same price. The portfolio isn't fully MS-DOS compatible in
that direct writes to the video will cause it to bomb. However, Atari is
being very liberal with licensing developers to make applications for it,
and there have been a bunch already made supposedly.
John
Chas:
The Atari Portfolio IS ms-dos compatible, but not IBM-PC-compatible. It
also has a really nasty LCD screen that looks quite cheap. In a review of
'palmtop' PC's I read recently, the price was applauded but the rest of the
machine was considered junk. (I think that was in 'PC Laptop' or some such
mag. One on the mags I flip though at the newstand but never buy. 🙂
BTW, I'd heard Atari posted a large LOSS last quarter. My news may be
confused: does anybody have solid $ figures?
-TL
Atari posted a $5 million profit last year as opposed to a $96 million the
year before. I think 4Q might have been a loss, but am not sure. Their
stock certainly isn't doing to hot (under $6 as of Friday close).
-Chas
No, it was a $96 million *loss*.
John
Hmmm, thought that's what I said. Oh, well. Wish I could afford a $96
million loss and stay in business.
-Chas
Chas:
I understand, they posted a $5M profit last YEAR, not last quarter.
Yow, that sure ain't much. Course, the $24M I seem to recall CBM making
ain't much either, when you consider the gross sales of both companies. I
'seem to recall' CBM grossed $950M or so last year.
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