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A host of companies is eagerly leaping into the IBM AT-compatible market fray -- not the least of which are several Bay Area firms.
Televideo Systems Inc., Sunnyvale, recently introduced an AT doppelganger at COMDEX in Atlanta. Small fry Basic Time, Santa Clara, expanded its line of IBM-compatible products to include an AT look-alike in April. And heavyweight Hewlett-Packard Co. is reported to be developing its own AT clone.
In addition, at least two Bay Area companies, Faraday Electronics, Palo Alto, and Nara Technologies Corp., Santa Clara, produce main hardware boards essential to the construction of IBM AT-compatible products.
The AT clone-makers believe they can steal a larger portion of IBM's market share than did makers of IBM PC look-alikes. IBM is not their only nemesis, however. Clone-makers must also contend with the reigning IBM-compatible champion -- Compaq Computer Corp. of Houston.
Kenneth Lim, an analyst with market researcher Dataquest, San Jose, estimates 65 percent to 70 percent of all personal computers shipped are either IBM or IBM-compatible products. Last year, the PC-compatible market accounted for 3.6 million units, and that number will grow to 5.6 million units in 1985, says Dataquest's Peter Teige.
IBM controlled approximately 55 percent of the PC-compatible market in 1984, but will probably get only 46 percent of the compatible market this year, Teige says.
AT clone-makers are also heartened by the fact that, so far, competition in their sector hasn't become bloody.
Lim estimates there are currently 10 to 12 companies producing AT look-alikes and that the maximum number won't exceed 50. That compares favorably with the IBM PC market, which became overrun with nearly 200 manufacturers, he says.
"I would expect there to be less competition, since it takes more money to get into the AT market," says Robert David, director...