SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY : CMS Enhancements to Offer New Line of Mass-Market PCs
CMS Enhancements Inc., an Irvine company that makes storage components for personal computers, is forming a division to market a new line of six computers configured for mass-market sales.
The company, which unveiled the products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago over the weekend, is shifting its emphasis from sales of add-on storage systems to sales of computer systems made by its strategic partner, TriGem Computer Corp. in South Korea.
Several weeks ago, CMS announced that it would sell CMS-brand computers made by TriGem through its network of hundreds of dealers who operate personal-computer stores.
Now CMS will try to get mass merchandisers, such as Sears, Roebuck & Co., to sell its line of computers--ranging from a notebook computer that fits inside a briefcase to a computer workstation--under the ESP brand name. Prices range from $999 for an ESP 286 PC1 entry-level desktop computer to $2,999 for an ESP 386NB notebook computer.
The computers will be sold with software programs, such as accounting spreadsheets and word processors, and will come with service guarantees, which include on-site repair.
James Farooquee, chief executive of CMS, said the new division would focus on selling home computers, which are generally less powerful than office computers, to first-time computer buyers. The strategy is being pursued by a number of computer makers, including Apple Computer Inc., International Business Machines Corp. and AST Research Inc. in Irvine.
JoAnne Stahel, president of Storeboard Inc., a market research firm that follows the retail computer industry, said the mass market--typically defined as super stores that sell big volumes of computers at low prices--is becoming crowded with new entrants because personal-computer manufacturers have decided that they cannot afford to ignore it.
“I think there has to be a shakeout coming in this market, and there is going to be a lot of maneuvering and competition to get shelf space in mass merchant stores this summer,” she said.
