Fujitsu poised for second NC launch

Fujitsu is jumping on the network computer (NC) bandwagon as the manufacturer attempts a second stab at the market.

Speaking at the launch of its NC in Finland last week, Tom Idermark, Fujitsu architecture and technology manager, said that although the launch was pencilled in for Q3, the product could ship at any time.

?We will wait for our customers to tell us when they want it,? he said.

The pricing of the NC has not yet been decided, but Glen Koskela, product marketing manager, said it would have to be at least 20 per cent less than the cost of a PC.

The introduction of the NC is part of Fujitsu?s aim to become the number three PC manufacturer worldwide, and the number two in Europe, by the year 2000. The company claimed it could achieve this target by reducing the cost of ownership to the SME market, an issue it has invested considerable resources in.

It is also aiming to maintain high quality and performance, competing more with Compaq hardware, rather than the second-tier manufacturers it has traditionally targeted.

Raimo Puntala, executive vice president for professional PCs, claimed that Fujitsu had originally invented the concept of a network computer 10 years ago, but that the product it produced was unsuccessful. He added that it takes a company with as much size and power behind it as Microsoft for such a launch to be successful.

Puntala pointed out that the market for NCs would never overtake the standard PC in the future, but that the two would co-exist.

In the UK, the company?s NC offering will be sold through Fujitsu?s existing channel partners.