Data points: OS/2 in the retail channel.IBM's year-long effort to sell OS/2 Warp The client version of the OS/2 operating system. It includes peer-to-peer networking, fax and communications programs, multimedia viewing and editing applications and IBM Works (word processing, spreadsheet, database and other office tools). Introduced in late 1994 as Version 3. as a consumer operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. has fizzled like a wet firecracker, judging from the latest channel statistics from PC Data, a research firm that tracks sales across 19 major retail chains. In April, PC Data found only 22 active OS/2 SKUs, nine of which IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) published. Moreover, Warp itself continues to be virtually the only significant product in the OS/2 retail market, with a hefty 89% of the $835,497 in total OS/2-related sales that PC Data reported for April. Among the nine third-party companies that have any presence in PC Data's sample (which represents about 45% of U.S. retail volume), Lotus currently generates almost half of all OS/2 revenue, primarily from SmartSuite. The runner-up (with 14% of the market) is Advanced Ideas, developer of an OS/2-based simulation game A simulation game, or sim game, (also known as a game of status or mixed game) is a game that contains a mixture of skill, chance, and strategy to simulate an aspect of reality, such as a stock exchange. called Galactic Civilization. But consumer titles in general-- which ought to be especially visible in a survey that emphasizes retail outlets--remain conspicuously absent from the OS/2 application market. Instead, OS/2 developers seem to have ignored IBM's low-end market positioning and (presumably pre·sum·a·ble adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. ) continue to sell tools and high-end applications directly to corporate accounts. PC Data, 11260 Roger Bacon Dr., Reston, Va.: 703/435-1025. |
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