Word: tramiel
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...surface, Commodore's troubles seem to have started with the abrupt departure in January 1984 of President Jack Tramiel, who resigned after a dispute with Chairman Irving Gould and later became head of Atari, a rival home-computer maker. A savvy salesman and cutthroat competitor, Tramiel made Commodore a huge success by bringing out quality products at rock-bottom prices. But Tramiel bears some of the responsibility for Commodore's recent slide. He focused on sales and skimped on research and development of new models...
Since he took over after Tramiel's exit, Smith has been scrambling in vain to bring out a successful follow-up to the Commodore 64. One candidate that flopped was the Plus-4. Unveiled in the summer of 1984, it was more powerful and versatile than the Commodore 64, but it did not run the same programs as its predecessor. Owners of the 64 who might have upgraded to the Plus-4 were reluctant to do so because they would have had to buy entirely new software libraries...
...last week's Comdex show. Dealers gathered around for a peek at a new Atari machine that is similar to the Macintosh but will cost only $800 to $900. Though its official name is the ST, the computer has already been nicknamed the Jackintosh, after Atari Chief Executive Jack Tramiel. He built Commodore into a home computer powerhouse, but left last year and bought Atari from Warner Communications. Commodore, meanwhile, is expected to square off against both Atari and Apple with yet another low-price Macintosh-like machine, called the Amiga...
...once booming videogame business has also been decimated. Industry leader Atari was bought by former Commodore President Jack Tramiel in June after running up losses of $652.9 million. The computer and game maker has given up space in more than 30 office buildings around the valley in an urgent effort to cut costs. Now Activision is also threatened. The firm, whose products include such popular games as Space Shuttle and Pitfall II: Lost Caverns, had a market value of $413 million in 1983 when its stock stood at $12.63. But Activision has lost money for four straight quarters...
...Tramiel may try the same tactic at Atari, only this time against his former company. Atari sold roughly 250,000 of its 800 series computers last year, far fewer than the average 1 million Commodore 64s sold annually. The best guess by experts is that Tramiel's first marketing move may be to try to reverse those numbers by drastically underpricing Commodore's products. Later, perhaps next year, he might develop a model that would compete against more powerful machines made by Apple and IBM for the sophisticated home user. The general's campaign has just begun...