Reply answers Radius in move to PCs

Radius is attempting to move away from its traditional Mac background after acquiring Reply, an upgrade card manufacturer for PCs.

Reply will be incorporated into Radius as a new business unit, working alongside the existing business which provides Mac-based peripherals for publishing and multimedia. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Simon Ellson, general manager for Radius Europe, said the company wanted to reduce its reliance on its traditional Macintosh core product set.

?The key element of Reply that interests us is the PC Dos cards and the skill sets that accompany it,? he said. ?While the Mac OS platform remains stable, the PC is growing its market share, and we see this as a way to satisfy more customers.?

Ellson said there were no immediate plans to make staff redundant, but added there was a threat when the Reply business was eventually incorporated into Radius? Sunnyvale California operations.

?The product development is all based in the US,? he said. ?What remains outside the US is purely marketing, and will eventually be reduced to logistical essentials.?

Reply president and CEO Steve Petracca will become general manager of the Reply business unit within Radius. Ellson said Reply, which formerly sold direct, would use the existing Radius channels.

Computers Unlimited will be retained as sole UK distributor, but Ellson said the company may appoint a second, broadline distributor ?for the lower-end product? at a later date.