Apple Reference & Presen…rary 8 (Internal Edition)/Apple R&P Lib Internal v8.0.iso/3-Presentations/Apple Computer Inc./Industry Competition/ROMs/Misc./Tandy 1000 RL

Text File | 1990-06-24 | 9.0 KB | 178 lines | [TEXT/GEOL]

Confidential / Need to Know

Apple Competitive Analysis -- Contact: Ken Lim


TANDY 1000 RL:  The Kitchen Computer?

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

On July 25, Tandy announced the 1000 RL, a new system aimed specifically at
families at home.  This new member of the broad 1000 product line was designed
with focused testing of real in-home users.  This entry-level 8086-based PC is
very similar to the recently announced IBM PS/1 and comes in four versions
priced from $750 to $1300.  The RL series features instant-on capability,
ease-of-use and setup, auto sense floppy disk drive and 24 built-in programs
for home PC users.  It is available via Radio Shack stores immediately.

This is the third major home PC announcement this summer (Commodore CDTV, IBM
PS/1, Tandy).  The battle for the home is heating up, but the competition has
major flaws.  With our new high-volume CPUs in the fall, Apple has an excellent
opportunity to capitalize on competitors’ publicity and regain leadership of
the resurging home market.


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PRODUCT & PRICING INFORMATION

The 1000 RL features an 8086 mpu running at 9.54 MHz, a 10-inch PC XT slot,
jacks for microphone input and stereo audio output, 2 joystick ports, a printer
port, a mouse port and a 101-key keyboard.  RAM can be expanded from the
standard 512 KB up to 640 KB.  Several video modes are built-in including
Tandy-enhanced CGA video mode (640 x 200 x 4 colors).  There is 128 KB of video
RAM on board.  The RL uses an 8-bit DAC (Digital/analog converter) monaural
sound recording and playback.

The compact unit, which measures only 2.88 inches high, 14” wide and 14.9”
deep, weighs 10.7 pounds.  It houses a 3.5-inch 720 KB  floppy disk drive and
room for a 20 MB 3.5-inch hard disk drive.  As on the Macintosh, inserted
floppy disks are auto-sensed.  There is no fan in the unit.   The industrial
design was allegedly developed to look good in any room in the house (a la the
Apple //c.)

The 1000 RL comes in four configurations as follows:
•  1 floppy, monochrome CRT, 512 KB @ $749.90
•  1 floppy, color CRT, 512 KB @ $899.90
•  1 floppy, 20 MB hard disk, monochrome CRT, 512 KB @ $1149.90
•  1 floppy, 20 MB hard disk, color CRT, 512 KB @ $1299.90
A separate CPU without monitor is $599.95, with the hard disk it’s $995.95

Perhaps the most interesting and unique feature of the 1000 RL is its
“Instant-on/Sleep” mode.  After a predetermined amount of time with no
activity, the RL shuts the screen off.  Some time later the hard disk will spin
down.  Touch any key or move the mouse and the screen instantly comes back on
exactly where you left it.  This allows for silent operation, the power
consumption of a clock radio, the ability to leave it on continuously, and
instantaneous response to the user.  Tandy says its research shows this to be a
compelling feature for home users.

Tandy’s user-interface shell, DeskMate is included in ROM.  Various disk-based
DeskMate applications include word processing, drawing, address book and an
educational program.

The RL’s software suite of 24 programs designed specifically for home users
includes:

•  Financial --  portfolio management, check writing and balancing, savings
computations, interest and payments calculator
•  Personal -- home inventory, password-secured electronic diary, 800-number
directory, a trip planner, measurements converter and mini-database designed
for tracking collections, such as coins and stamps.
•  Kitchen -- cookbook (automatically adjusts measurements according to
servings required), 20 sample recipes from Good Housekeeping, shopping list.
•  Info Center -- Messageboard for leaving messages for other family members,
calendar/scheduling, notepad, phone number directory, etc.

Options include realtime clock chip for $39.95, mouse for $49.95, 2400 baud
modem for $149.95, 128 K RAM for $59.95, and a 20 MB SmartDrive hard disk for
$399.95.  For a limited time, Tandy is throwing in the mouse for free.


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TANDY DIRECTIONS:  Ease-of-use and Family Computing

Tandy clearly has had the RL in the works for quite some time, it should not be
construed as a response the IBM PS/1.  While Tandy has been selling many Model
1000s into the home market since they were first introduced in 1985, this is
its first attempt to design and position an MS-DOS PC specifically in the home.
Tandy did a lot of research with real users in their own homes.  The company’s
press release states that it believes the RL can become an “essential part of
the family” and that it’s “so easy to use, we guarantee success.”  Tandy calls
the RL a “new generation of home computer for automating home tasks.”  Tandy
says customers can do productive work within fifteen minutes of opening the
box.

Support is available from Tandy Computer Centers as well as via telephone and
modem to a dedicated team of  customer service representatives in Ft.Worth,
Texas.  Service is, of course, available at any Radio Shack.  Tandy is also
proudly showing off the fact that the RL has earned the “Good Housekeeping Seal
of Approval.”  (Remember who wrote those recipes??)

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TECHNICAL ANALYSIS:  The Home Appliance Computer

The only new feature of the RL is its Instant-on/Sleep mode; all other features
and programs are old hat.  However, Instant-On/Sleep makes the RL behave like a
home appliance...always ready and at your command.  This combined with the
ease-of-use of DeskMate and the extensive software bundle could make the RL
very attractive to many home buyers.

The knock against this is the hardware -- the 1000 RL is very limited in
expansion capabilities.  It has limited memory, poor video resolution and only
one slot.  The slow, low-powered 8086 will not be sufficient to run Windows
3.0, not to mention OS/2 or any of the newer advanced applications.  Since the
work-at-home and home business segments comprise a large portion of the home
market, Tandy has missed the mark here.  Future growth in the home market might
depend on various multimedia technologies such as CD-ROM and  video genlocking
and overlay.  Here too,  the RL’s limitations will brand it as a primitive
machine.

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MARKETING ANALYSIS

Tandy’s formidible distribution via 7000 Radio Shack stores virtually
guarantees large volumes for the RL.  However, Tandy tends to sell to a loyal
base of customers and hasn’t  really shown the ability to draw new customers or
strongly impact its competitors.  Whether or not it has any success outside of
Tandy’s customer set will depend on what kind of advertising and positioning
Tandy is willing to do.  There is also a strong possibility of pushing the RL
through Tandy’s branded consumer electronics stores, McDuff’s and Video
Concepts.

Because all of Tandy’s channels are so isolated from Apple’s, we are not likely
to see any obvious impacts.   However, in the big picture view, the RL, like
the other Model 1000s, are direct competitors to the Apple II line and the
Macintosh SE and below.  Tandy’s actions affect the MS-DOS clone makers, which
in turn impact Apple.

If Apple reps should ever come up against the RL, we should be able to dismiss
it most of the time by playing up its old technology and limited power and
expansion.

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IMPLICATIONS

Entry-level systems are heating up.  We could well see the beginning of a war
for the home market this fall. IBM, Tandy and Commodore have marched out their
weapons down Main Street and the parade is sure to get longer.

Apple is suddenly faced with two of its biggest competitors, IBM and Tandy,
marketing entry-level PCs specifically designed to meet the needs of the home
computer user.  Depending on the success of their advertising campaigns, IBM
and Tandy may be able to mold a public perception that only machines
specifically designed for the home are worthy of consideration.  This could
have a strong negative effect on many competitors including Apple, which does a
substantial portion of its unit volume in the home market.

Apple’s upcoming low-cost systems present us with a major opportunity to once
again position some of our products as being “for the rest of us.”  We should
let people know that we are indeed interested in the home market through our
advertising and positioning.  However, Apple must also push a major advantage
it has over the PS/1 and the 1000 RL, namely, that Apple’s PCs are general
purpose, expandable systems with future growth paths that are perfectly
suitable for home, education AND business use.

In stark contrast, the PS/1 and 1000 RL are low-powered, dead-end machines that
are designed ONLY for home use.  They have limited expandability and will not
be able to run the latest and greatest operating systems or applications.  The
Macintosh Plus and its descendents can technically blow them out of the water
if we can get our message across quickly and with force later this year.  Apple
has an excellent chance to re-establish itself as the market leader in
computing at home.
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