Acer America Inc, San Jose, California, (incorporating the former Altos Computer Systems which the Taiwanese Acer Group parent now bills as its Unix systems business unit) is to announce the multi-processing systems it promised last June, early next quarter. With up to four 50MHz, 40 MIPS, 80486 processors, which it says can handle up to 200 users, the company will market the machines both as new additions to its MS-DOS-based AcerFrame series, and as commercial Unix multiprocessors under the Altos badge that it will continue to use. The hardware all comes from Acer, while Altos, trying hard to maintain an identity, has added the Unix stuff. With its Altos label, Acer is pitching into the fiercely competitive market for commercial multiprocessing Unix systems, currently dominated by the likes of Sequent Computer Systems Inc, Pyramid Technology Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co. Acer is launching the things at a time when Sequent and Pyramid, it believes, will be diverting their energies into reducing their respective cost bases. With its experience of operating on narrow margins, derived from a volume, low-cost manufacturing base, Acer reckons it can become a significant player in this sector. The Altos-badged box is to run Santa Cruz Operation Inc’s multi-processing Unix MPX implementation. However, it doesn’t intend to offer a productised transaction processing monitor, such as Unix Systems Labs’ Tuxedo or NCR’s Top End, but says it will provide its own performance monitoring tools. Acer is confident the Santa Cruz Unix will be able to meet all its requirements despite the lack of Unix System V.4 compatibility, but says that it has V.4 escape routes in hand if such a strategy becomes necessary. Acer Altos is now headed by Ronald Chwang, following the departure of Bob Bozeman, with Lee Cannon as director of marketing. Eugene Cheng heads the UK group effort.
