Aggressive Pricing Strategy Leaves AST Competitors Breathless; Recent Price Slashings No Match For AST's Already-There Pricing Strategy.IRVINE Irvine, town, Scotland Irvine (ûr`vĭn), town (1991 pop. 32,507), North Ayrshire, SW Scotland, on the Irvine River estuary. Industries include iron and brass foundries. Other products are chemicals, electric goods, and clothing. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 1996--Armed to the teeth with strategic and well-thought out pricing plans, AST (AST Computer, Irvine, CA) A PC manufacturer founded in 1980 by Albert Wong, Safi Quershey and Tom Yuen (A, S and T). It offered a complete line of PCs that sold through its dealer channel. Computer today announced that despite recent price slashing slash·ing adj. 1. Bitingly critical or satiric: slashing wit. 2. Dashing; pelting: a slashing hailstorm. 3. activities by several major PC vendors, the company's commercial desktops are still as much as 35 percent below similarly-equipped models from other PC players. "Since we were aggressive last month, we don't have to react to recent pricing activities now happening because we are already there," stated AST's president and chief executive officer, Ian Diery. "We are priced well below our major competitors with comparably equipped systems, representing hundreds of dollars of savings for our reseller An organization that sells hardware and software to the general public. Resellers purchase products from software publishers and hardware manufacturers. customers. In addition, AST systems add value due to features such as SGRAM (Synchronous Graphics RAM) A type of dynamic RAM chip that is similar to the SDRAM technology, but includes enhanced graphics features for use with display adapters. technology that other companies don't even come close to matching," he added. AST recently introduced its next generation of Bravo BRAVO Cardiology A clinical trial–Blockade of the GP IIB/IIIA Receptor to Avoid Vascular Occlusion– which evaluated lotrafiban in preventing strokes and acute MI. See GP IIB/IIIA. commercial desktops with prices ranging from $1,250 for an entry-level Bravo LC to $2,400 for a high-end, fully loaded Bravo MS desktop. AST's powerful Bravo MS 5166, for example, comes with a 166MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. Pentium processor, 2.0 GB hard drive, 16MB EDO RAM (Extended Data Out RAM) A earlier dynamic RAM chip that improved the performance of fast page mode (FPM) memory in the mid-1990s. As a subset of fast page mode, it could be substituted for page mode chips. , 6X CD-ROM drive A device that holds and reads CD-ROM discs. CD-ROM drives generally also play audio CD discs by sending analog sound to the sound card via a 4-pin cable. For specifications of 10x, 20x, etc. drives, see CD-ROM drives. See CD-ROM, CD-ROM changer, CD-ROM server and CD-ROM audio cable. and 1MB SGRAM -- all for $2,400. "We have developed a solid, comprehensive pricing structure that enables us to balance our inventory and product distribution to optimal levels. Unlike other PC vendors who are reacting, we thought out our strategy and are executing to deliver to our resellers and end-users," Diery stated. AST's revised business strategy focuses on being first-to-market with aggressively priced leading-edge technologies. The company's January implementation of this strategy resulted in being first to deliver to the indirect channel Pentium Pro The sixth generation of the Intel x86 family of CPU chips. The term may refer to the chip or to a PC that uses it. Introduced in 1995 as the successor to the Pentium, models from 150 MHz to 200 MHz were released. 150MHz processor-based solutions in the form of the Bravo MS-T 6150 commercial desktop. Last month, AST claimed the honor As a verb, to accept a bill of exchange, or to pay a note, check, or accepted bill, at maturity. To pay or to accept and pay, or, where a credit so engages, to purchase or discount a draft complying with the terms of the draft. of again being first-to-market with the incorporation of Intel's fourth generation PCI (1) (Payment Card Industry) See PCI DSS. (2) (Peripheral Component Interconnect) The most widely used I/O bus (peripheral bus). chip, the 430HX PCIset, into the spring line of Bravo MS commercial desktops. "Some direct manufacturers would like resellers to believe that they cannot quickly pass along component cost reductions to their customers due to high levels of existing inventory," said Diery. "We are proving this theory to be dead wrong with our new Bravo systems. Our spring products allow resellers to deliver the fastest and most highly-configured desktop systems to their customers at super aggressive prices." Diery also noted that AST has been able to gauge and respond to the needs of the reseller community by growing its inventory turns. "Our inventory turns rate of 11.5, compared to a typical target rate of about 7.5 turns per year, is evidence of our stringent asset management and success in anticipating the needs of our resellers," Diery continued. AST believes that users and resellers today are extremely savvy about what they want - power and performance without compromising technology or value. They want a return on investment that doesn't sour in a year's time. "Our new Bravo systems are designed to address these needs and also allow users to move toward the twenty-first century without having to worry about their PCs becoming obsolete OBSOLETE. This term is applied to those laws which have lost their efficacy, without being repealed, 2. A positive statute, unrepealed, can never be repealed by non-user alone. 4 Yeates, Rep. 181; Id. 215; 1 Browne's Rep. Appx. 28; 13 Serg. & Rawle, 447. ," Diery noted. Appendices ap·pen·di·ces n. A plural of appendix. I and II provide current pricing and SKU (StockKeeping Unit) The number of one specific product available for sale. If a hardware device or software package comes in different versions, there is an SKU for each one. SKU - stock-keeping unit information on the Bravo products. Corporate Background AST Research AST Research, Inc. was a personal computer manufacturer, founded in Irvine, California in 1980 by Albert Wong, Safi Qureshey and Thomas Yuen. (The name comes from the initials of their first names. Inc., a member of the Fortune 500 list of America's largest industrial and service companies, is one of the world's leading personal computer manufacturers. The $2.468 billion company develops a broad spectrum of desktop, mobile and server PC products that are sold in more than 100 countries worldwide. AST systems meet a wide range of customer needs, from corporate business applications to advanced home and home office use. Corporate headquarters is located at 16215 Alton Parkway, P.O. Box 57005, Irvine, Calif. 92619-7005. Telephone (714) 727-4141 or (800) 876-4278. Fax (714) 727-9355. Information about AST, its products and services can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.ast.com. -0- NOTE TO EDITORS: AST is a registered trademark and Bravo is a trademark of AST Research Inc. Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks and Pentium Pro is a trademark of Intel Corporation (company) Intel Corporation - A US microelectronics manufacturer. They produced the Intel 4004, Intel 8080, Intel 8086, Intel 80186, Intel 80286, Intel 80386, Intel 486 and Pentium microprocessor families as well as many other integrated circuits and personal computer networking . All other products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. -0-
Bravo Product Pricing
April 1996
Bravo LC
MODEL 5100 5133 5166 CPU P/100 P/133 P/166 HDD 630MB 1.2GB 1.2GB RAM 8MB / 128MB max 16MB / 128MB max 16MB / 128MB MAX RAM Type EDO EDO EDO Cache 256KB 256KB 256KB Cache Type Asynchronous Asynchronous Asynchronous Graphics 1MB or 2MB 1MB or 2MB 1MB or 2MB
Graphics AST-SmartShare AST-SmartShare AST-SmartShare
Type Memory Memory Memory
Architecture Architecture Architecture
Estimated $1220 $1580 $1930 Street Price OPTIONS 6X CD-ROM +$100 +$100 +$100 AST-LifeLine +$610 +$610 +$610 Service AST-LifeLine +$200 +$200 +$200 User 256KB Pipeline +$35 +$35 +$35 Burst Cache 15" Monitor +$400 +$400 +$400
AST-CommandCenter Software Utilities
AST-VirusShield -- ROM-based virus protection software using
McAfee technology, providing hardware and software virus protection
with scan and clean functionality for Windows for Workgroups 3.11
and Windows 95
AST-AssetPak -- DMI-based asset tracking with ASTAppView
helps track computer equipment and over 4,000 software titles.
AST-RemoteQuery -- Allows the remote monitoring and querying of
networked PCs.
AST-LifeLine -- Voice and data remote diagnostics over a
standard phone line.
Bravo Product Pricing
April 1996
Bravo MS
Model 5100 5133 5166
CPU P/100 P/133 P/166
HDD 1.2GB 1.2GB 2.0GB
RAM 16MB / 192MB max 16MB / 192MB max 16MB / 192MB max
RAM Type EDO EDO EDO
Cache 256KB 256KB 256KB
Cache Type Pipeline burst Pipeline burst Pipeline burst
Graphics 1MB / 2MB max 1MB / 2MB max 1MB / 2MB max
Graphics Type SGRAM SGRAM SGRAM
Audio 16-Bit Stereo 16-Bit Stereo 16-Bit Stereo
Creative Labs Creative Labs Creative Labs
Vibra 16S Vibra 16S Vibra 16S
Estimated $1725 $1840 $2415 Street Price OPTIONS Add 6X CD-ROM +$100 +$100 +$100 AST-LifeLine +$610 +$610 +$610 Service AST-LifeLine +$200 +$200 +$200 User Add 15" Monitor +$400 +$400 +$400 AST-CommandCenter Software Utilities AST-VirusShield -- ROM-based virus protection software using McAfee technology, providing hardware and software virus protection with scan and clean functionality for Windows for Workgroups A version of Windows 3.1 introduced in 1992 that added peer-to-peer networking. See Windows. (operating system) Windows for Workgroups - (WFW, WFWG) A version of Windows 3.1 which works with a network. Although stand-alone 3. 3.11 and Windows 95 AST-SystemGuard -- Advanced security features designed to provide multiple levels of protection. AST-AssetPAk -- DMI-based asset tracking with ASTAppView helps track computer equipment and over 4,000 software titles. AST-VoiceCommand -- Verbex's Listen-For-Windows voice recognition software and Centigram cen·ti·gram n. A metric unit of mass equal to one hundredth (10-2) of a gram. centigram one-hundredth of a gram; abbreviated cg. TruVoice Text-to-Speech software read documents aloud. AST-AudioWorks -- Audio software applications to make manipulating sound easier than ever. AST-RemoteQuery -- Remote monitoring (protocol) remote monitoring - (RMON) A network management protocol that allows network information to be gathered at a single computer. Whereas SNMP gathers network data from a single type of Management Information Base (MIB), RMON 1 defines nine additional MIBs that provide a and querying of networked PCs. AST-LifeLine -- Voice and data remote diagnostics Vehicle Diagnostics Vehicle diagnostics enables a mechanic to diagnose the exact mechanical condition of the vehicle and its systems and components. Remote Diagnostics enables to perform such diagnosis without requiring the vehicle to physically be present for checkup. over a standard phone line allow "real time" solutions, often during a single call. CONTACT: AST Camerone Welch-Thorson, 714/727-8858 camerone.welch-thorson@ast.com |
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