French computer companies may have a rotten record when it comes to trying to break into the UK computer market – SEMS, when it was part of Thomson, was a notable failure, but IN2 Ltd, the Newbury, Berkshire-based British arm of Paris-based Intertechnique Informatique, reckons it will succeed with its IN8000 series fault tolerant multi-user […]
French computer companies may have a rotten record when it comes to trying to break into the UK computer market – SEMS, when it was part of Thomson, was a notable failure, but IN2 Ltd, the Newbury, Berkshire-based British arm of Paris-based Intertechnique Informatique, reckons it will succeed with its IN8000 series fault tolerant multi-user Pick systems (CI No. 774). Claiming to meet the present demands of the UKP250m UK Pick market with its floating point capability, proprietary co-processors, Motorola 68020 processors and 1Mb memory machines, IN2 aims to make its name in the government, finance and health sectors. It hopes to net a few orders before Christmas with the first installations beginning in the first quarter of next year. Run by Brits and established as a limited company over here, it plays down its French connections and stresses the attractions of the products which meet the demands of the user today. It says users will buy anywhere to get the performance they require and if the company that fulfills their needs happens to be French so be it. The IN500 bit-slice minicomputer range based around a proprietary processor is still being manufactured for the French market, but IN2 sees little point in introducing it to the UK as it does not fit in with the current product line. It also has no plans to follow the Pick-under-Unix route, saying that it would sacrifice too much Pick performance. Nevertheless the parent is in Unix with a line of NS32000-based technical and industrial systems.
