[comp.sys.apollo] HP takeover

tomg@hpcvlx.HP.COM (Thomas J. Gilg) (04/20/89)

> Well, word is in (has been for a while actually Im just slow :)
> HP has taken over Apollo. Well, personally I don't know all that
> much about HP, so could someone fill me in (Are they a decent company,
> what are their strengths, etc.)?

HP - the "Best Kept Secret" some poeple say.  I was intrigued to see
headlines to the effect "HP Plunges into the Workstation Market", etc.

Breakdown of Workstation Players previous to Apollo + HP deal ( which
is still underway and not written in stone I should add )

  Sun     28.3%
  DEC     18.6%
  HP      16.9%   <- really !
  Apollo  13.5%
  Others  22.7%

As for HP's Workstation product line, HP's has a line of Motorola
Workstations ( MC68020 and MC68030, and soon MC68040 ).  In the 
RISC ballgame, HP has a line of Precision Architecture 
machines ( HP9000/825, 835, 840, 850, 855 ).  To go with
these is a wide range of display subsystems, ranging from
simple mono bitmaps, to color 2-D accelerated systems, to 3-D
accelerated supporting transform and rendering engines ( multiple
light sources and Phong light model in hardware, etc ).

I'll leave it up to someone else to comment on HP's OSF involvement.

> Mostly I'd like to know if the reports that Im hearing are true.
> ie: that HP will allow apollo to continue as it is for quite some time,
> in order to keep their current markets.

I'm just an engineer, but I would think that there is concern for
maintaining current marketing strongholds ( ie, Apollo won't just
go away ).  Being a top player, they obviously have some unique
strengths.

> Well, that's about it. I just wanted to provoke some
> information exchange on the takeover idea, as Apollo's machines
> seem to be quite workable, and I'd hate to see them slide because 
> of this.

Apollo's strengths coupled with HP's over the next few years
should only improve things.  I'm looking forward to it,

      Thomas Gilg
tomg%hp-pcd@hplabs.hp.com