Over in Burlingame, Lotus Development Corp president and chief executive Jim Manzi was insisting that there is no need for Lotus to be acquired in order to survive – It would be stupid to close our doors or for that matter open them to a potential bidder, Manzi told Reuters’ representative at the conference; Manzi also said Lotus Notes will end this year with 4,000 to 5,000 customers, compared with just 70 customers at the end of 1990; asked whether Lotus may cut prices on Notes, Manzi said, We should potentially pull (prices down) at the right moment, but pulling prematurely would be dangerous; the Lotus SmartSuite office product, which has had difficulty competing with Microsoft Corp’s Office suite, has about 10% of the US market, slightly more than that in Europe, and about 50% in Japan, he said, but Lotus’s alliance with AT&T Corp will not likely reap much in revenue until 1996 – We will not expect palpable, measurable, decipherable impact until 1996, Manzi advised.
