Four days after parent company Olivetti flew journalists out to Berlin for the launch of the new Olivetti 1 line of portable computers (CI No 1,623), TA Triumph-Adler AG took its own select press gathering to view the production line in Nuremberg, South Germany, as a reminder that it is not only responsible for all the hard work, but will also be marketing the products – ranging from the Walkstation 286C notebook to the Walkstation 386/33 laptop – under its own badge to be sold through the TA Triumph-Adler dealer network. TA Triumph-Adler is 96 years old and best known for its typewriters which it has been manufacturing for more than 80 years, but also makes personal computers, laptops, video typing systems, printers, photocopiers, calculators and other office equipment, which it sells through dealers of office products. Olivetti took over Triumph-Adler in 1986 after Volkswagen AG decided that its attempts to diversify into high technology at the end of the 1970s had been a disaster – the company had been making losses for a period of 10 years and dealers were losing interest in the company because it wasn’t expanding its office product range in line with the market demands. Then Olivetti came to the rescue, taking over 98% of Triumph-Adler’s shares and, in return for TA’s OEM products and extensive European dealer network, after a devastating couple of years of blood-letting that saw the workforce slashed, provided TA with the resources to expand its production facilities in Germany, and therefore with the means to extend its personal computer product line to encompass the laptop computer. And the new Walkstation range – which is the result of 14 months development and an $11m-a-year research and development allowance – is TA’s latest attempt to convince dealers that it has a wide and varied product line. A $3m investment in tools and robotics is what has enabled Triumph-Adler to manufacture all its computers from scratch at its Nuremberg facility, says the company – the robotics do the work of 100 Asian employees, and there are no heavy transport costs or import tariffs. Production capacity for the new laptops is expected to be between 80,000 and 100,000 per year depending on demand – 70% will be sold through Olivetti channels, some will be sold on an OEM basis, and the rest through TA’s own dealer network which is 6,000-strong across Europe. The company says its mission for 1991 is to expand its personal computer and laptop range, as part of the drive to play down the typewriter manufacturer reputation. TA, which now forms part of the Olivetti Office subsidiary, was turned around over a period of two years under its new ownership, and last year the company which still maintains a healthy degree of independence – did the equivalent of $422m, with computers and printers contributing $52m. TA has been manufacturing personal computers for 10 years and says it was the first company to sell them in Germany. In 1990, the company produced over 100,000 personal computers at its German production plants. Until last September, Triumph-Adler was represented in the UK by distributor Office & Electronic Machines Plc, and a wholly-owned subsidiary, the Switzerland headquartered Hermes Precisa, which Olivetti acquired in 1984. When problems arose with the distribution agreement with Office & Electronic, TA severed the contract and re-christened Colchester-based Hermes Precisa Triumph-Adler UK Ltd. The Triumph-Adler personal computer range, as available in the UK, consists of the P35, P45, P67, P92 and the tower model P100. The P35 and P45 are made and sold by TA, but separately badged as the Olivetti PCS 286 and PCS 386SX respectively – TA also makes Olivetti’s PCS 86, which TA does not market in the UK. The 80386/25MHz P92 and the 80386/33MHz P100 are Olivetti’s own products. In 1989, Triumph-Adler introduced its first laptop computers – the L21V 80286/16MHz and the L31V 80386SX/16MHz. The 12MHz Walkstation 286C and 16MHz 286V notebooks won’t be available from TA dealers until May, but the 80386SX notebook will be out in April alo
ng with the docking station – which enables the computers to be linked into a network or to access externally stored data – and the 20MHz SX/20 and top-of-the-range 33MHz Walkstation 386/33 laptops ship later this month. Prices as Olivetti’s reported on March 1.
