Watson,
Here is how the Cyrix thread felt about IBM in 1997:
(IBM ME could be the primary reason why our Cyrx investment turned out so poorly. The costs for production, the obstructionist elements, and the inability of IBM Corporate to really commit to the superior M1 design resulted in Cyrix being to market too late, with too big a die, and too little marketing and sales support. IBM extracted an incredibly lucrative deal from Cyrix re chips. It was painful, but IBM could have been the necessary stepping stone for visability and a market beachhead. Cyrix took that risk perhaps naively hoping that IBM was serious about being a partner. And Cyrix gave IBM a big stake, lots of chips, accesss to the technology, and essentially an open door to any depth of partnership IBM would want. What did IBM do? It took the chips and undersold Cyrx on the third market, for pennies profit. They didn't have the forsight, even if they had the means of production, to take the M1, M2, Gx, MXi etc and reassert a challenge to INTC for control of the hardware platform. Annals of Corporate Cowadice and Stupidity take note. This is the next useful Harvard Business School case study. IBM was a GREAT partner! Thanks IBM. May your stock die a thousand deaths.)
Message 2961003
Scumbria |
