Motorola stops cloning around

Vendor?s decision to halt production of Star Max Mac clone raises fears of product dumping

The industry is bracing itself for large-scale Mac clone product dumping in the wake of Motorola?s decision last week to phase out production of its Star Max line.

Taiwanese Umax is now Apple?s sole clone licensee. Samer Roumieh, VP of computer products at Motorola Computer Group Europe, said the firm would continue to produce and sell Power PC chips, and would maintain its supply relationship with Apple, but not produce new designs.

Neil Wright, marketing manager at Umax distributor IMC, warned: ?Over the next quarter there will be a lot of product dumped as distributors and dealers try to clear existing stock from Motorola, Computer Warehouse and other cloners.?

Wright predicted that prices of an average Motorola machine, priced at about #1,000, would be cut by up to 20 per cent, that and some machines could be sold below cost.

But Jonathan Cole, MD of Computer Warehouse, Motorola?s sole UK distributor and a clone manufacturer, said that as long as it could still obtain chips, its own-brand clone would continue.

Joe Guglielmi, corporate VP of Motorola Computer Group, said: ?We really had no choice. Without Apple?s support there is no viable cloning model.?

Motorola had been due to release its first CHRP-based Mac clone this month, the Star Max 6000. The company has now confirmed that this product will not ship, but said it will honour its warranty agreement and would extend its 90-day telephone support package to a full year.

IBM also announced last week that it would give up its right to license Mac OS 8, leaving the Mac clone market without a licensor. But Edward Gams, Motorola director of investor relations, said: ?Our relationship with Apple as a semiconductor supplier is separate from our relationship as a licensee for the Mac OS. We foresee no change in that relationship.?