Amstrad PCW - Amstrad Raises Prices
Amstrad shows surprising strength, raises prices
AMSTRAD SHOWS SURPRISING STRENGTH, RAISES PRICES BRENTWOOD, ENGLAND, 1990 FEB 17 (NB) -- In an unexpected move, Amstrad has hiked several of its PCs by UKP 50 ($75), and has reported better than expected sales and profits figures for the half year to 31 December, 1989.
In parallel with the PC price rises, Amstrad has upped the price of its Z80-based PCW series of machines by UKP 30 ($45), and unveiled plans for a UKP 9 million media campaign, designed to boost sales out of the doldrums.
During the half year to 31 December, 1989, Amstrad generated profits of UKP 30.1 million ($45 million) on sales of UKP 373.4 million. Although not sparkling, with the profits down 60 per cent and sales up 7 per cent on the same period last year, the profit figures were higher than the UKP 20 to 25 million that industry analysts had expected.
According to Alan Sugar, chairman and founder of Amstrad, the improved profits were due to the company taking a conservative approach to sales in the pre-Christmas run-up, resulting in higher than expected sales and therefore, profits.
Amstrad's spring promotion splits neatly into two sections. The first is a predictable UKP 7 million spread of ads across TV, radio and press media, hopefully to boost brand awareness amongst consumers. The remaining UKP 2 million is being spent on what Amstrad calls its merit initiative scheme.
The merit initiative scheme works in two ways. From the consumer's point of view, Amstrad's business computers will - from 2 April, 1990 - come with a free 12-month on-site maintenance scheme. From the dealer's point of view, the scheme allows him/her to sign up to a national repair scheme operated by Dictaphone, or assume warranty repairs themselves. If they choose to do this, a number of dealer benefits begin to accrue, making self-warranty a very attractive option. Newsbytes notes that the user benefits as well, since local warranty repairs are usually expedited faster.
(Steve Gold/19881206/Amstrad: UK 0277-228888)
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