Conference 7.286::atarist

1404.0. "Atari loses truckload of money" by PRNSYS::LOMICKAJ (Jeffrey A. Lomicka) Fri Apr 08 1994 18:22

According to this, Atari is out of the computer business.  See lines
marked with >>'s.

<><><><><><><><>  T h e   V O G O N   N e w s   S e r v i c e  <><><><><><><><>

 Edition : 3056               Friday  8-Apr-1994            Circulation :  6312 

. . . .

 Fiscal News - Atari, Commodore
 Atari - 4th quarter lose widened as sales fell 67%
	{The Wall Street Journal, 28-Mar-94, p. B3}
   Atari's loss for the quarter was $22.6 million, after a $12.1 million
 charge for writing down inventory and a $6 million restructuring charge.  The
 company lost $21.9 million in the year-ago quarter.  Sales fell to $8.5
>> million from $25.5 million.  Atari said it has "substantially completed" its
>> transition to selling video games.  Separately, Atari said rival Nintendo of
 America Inc. settled a lawsuit alleging that Nintendo had infringed on an
 Atari patent for horizontal scrolling in video games.  Terms weren't
 disclosed.  Atari and Nintendo contradicted each other about the outlines of
 Friday's settlement.  Atari said in a statement that Nintendo had paid cash
 to settle and to license Atari's patents.  But Nintendo said in its own
 statement that it RECEIVED [italics - TT] "certain payments and other patent
 licenses on a royalty-free basis from Atari."  An Atari spokesman replied that
 "Nintendo is full of it."  Atari has a similar suit pending against Sega of
 America.  Separately, Nintendo said it and Atari Games Corp. - which is
 separate from Atari Corp. - settled all patent litigation between them
 concerning alleged patent and antitrust violations.  Nintendo didn't
 elaborate.  Atari Games Corp. is 78%-owned by Time Warner, which is also a
 major investor in Atari.  Time Warner has given Atari a cash infusion, buying
 $12.8 million of Atari stock, boosting its stake to 27% from 25%.

 Commodore - International Says it faces possibility of liquidation
	{The Wall Street Journal, 28-Mar-94, p. B3}
   Commodore, a once high-flying PC maker, said it is on the verge of collapse
 and could be liquidated unless it secures new funding.  In releasing a
 quarterly earnings report, the maker of the Amiga computer said it is
 attempting to negotiate a restructuring plan with creditors, including
 suppliers that have sued the company.  The release did not describe the nature
 of the lawsuits, and the company did not make a spokesman available.  In its
 earnings report, Commodore said, "In the absence of additional resources and a
 restructuring, the company may become subject to reorganization or other
 liquidation proceedings."  Commodore's Amiga PC, first released in the mid
 1980s, never caught on among mainstream computer users, though it was praised
 by computer magazines for its easy-to-use features.  For the 2nd quarter ended
 Dec. 31, Commodore had a loss of $8.2 million, compared with a loss of $77.2
 million a year earlier.  Revenue fell to $70.1 million from $237.7 million.
 Commodore stock fell 12.5 cents to $3 in New York Stock Exchange trading.


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<><><><><><><><>   VNS Edition : 3056      Friday  8-Apr-1994   <><><><><><><><>

    
     Seems like a lot of money - hope they find that truck soon ;-)
    
      Seriously though, this looks like the same release of March 24th
    and published in the current edition of 'Atari Explorer On Line'
    in which Atari are quoted slightly differently "....we believe
    that we have substantially completed our transition from our
    older technology products.." which I guess may mean that they are
    ploughing everything into this 'Jaguar' chipset thingy.
    
    Brian