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  1. ________________________________________________________________________
  2. |                                                                      |
  3. |     Report prepared by:    Faulkner Information Services            |
  4. |                                                                      114 Cooper Center                        |
  5. |                                                                      7905 Browning Road                       |
  6. |                                                                      Pennsauken, NJ 08109 USA                 |
  7. |               Telephone:   609-662-2070                             |
  8. |                                    Fax:                              609-662-6634                             |
  9. |                                                                      |
  10. |     Report submitted on:   August 2, 1993                           |
  11. |______________________________________________________________________|
  12.  
  13. Chapter 8:  IBM's RISC System/6000
  14.  
  15. Section 8.1:  Introduction
  16.  
  17. Section 8.1.1:  Product Line Positioning 
  18.  
  19. IBM's current share of the RISC system market is estimated at 14
  20. percent, up from 11 percent in 1992. This places IBM fourth in the
  21. market, behind Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Digital Equipment.
  22. Analysts further estimate that by 1996, IBM will hold a 22 percent share
  23. and rank second after Sun, indicating high industry confidence in the
  24. RISC System/6000 line.
  25.  
  26. Section 8.1.2: Product Line Strategies
  27.  
  28. RISC System/6000 systems are used in traditional graphics workstation
  29. and server installations, as well as in commercial multiuser
  30. environments similar to those slated for IBM's midrange AS/400. IBM has
  31. stated a strategy of providing continuous product line extension both
  32. upward and downward. 
  33.     In support of this strategy, and in order to compete with new
  34. offerings such as Digital's Alpha AXP workstations, IBM has enhanced the
  35. RISC System/6000 line with a number of new models in the last six
  36. months. These enhancements, coupled with dramatic price reductions on
  37. many systems and peripherals, prove IBM's dedication to the workstation
  38. market and help to dispel the vendor's market reputation of blind
  39. loyalty to mainframe computing.
  40.     Specifically, IBM has targeted the following markets with the RISC
  41. System/6000:
  42.    o  Technical:
  43.       o chemical/physical analysis
  44.       o computer-aided design (CAD)
  45.       o computer-aided software engineering (CASE)
  46.       o geologic/geographic analysis
  47.       o graphical visualization
  48.       o process control
  49.    o  Commercial:
  50.       o accounting/financial/banking
  51.       o insurance
  52.       o manufacturing
  53.       o retail/distribution
  54.       o government
  55.       o utilities
  56.  
  57. Section 8.1.3: Strengths and Weaknesses
  58.  
  59.     Strengths
  60.     =========
  61.    o  The RISC System/6000 benefits from IBM's dominance in the
  62.       commercial market and its huge support organization.
  63.    o  RISC System/6000 models are easily expanded via Micro Channel
  64.       expansion slots and SCSI/SCSI-2 ports. 
  65.    o  All models are upgradable within the product line.
  66.    o  IBM's RISC-based POWER (Performance Optimization With Enhanced
  67.       RISC) architecture provide the strong floating-point performance
  68.       required in scientific/engineering applications.
  69.  
  70.     Weaknesses
  71.     ==========
  72.    o  Due to the size of the corporation and the continued enhancements
  73.       to the product line, it can be difficult to find an IBM sales
  74.       representative with current, accurate information on all RISC
  75.       System/6000 models.
  76.  
  77. Section 8.1.4: Futures
  78.  
  79. No recent announcements have been made regarding specific future
  80. directions; however, IBM will most certainly continue to enhance the
  81. RISC System/6000 line with new models and capabilities in order to
  82. compete against other new entries to the market, such as Digital's Alpha
  83. AXP workstations.
  84. ________________________________________________________________________
  85. |                                                                      |
  86. |     Report prepared by:     Faulkner Information Services            |
  87. |                                                                      |
  88. |    Report submitted on:     August 2, 1993                           |
  89. |______________________________________________________________________|
  90.