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StarShip 5 MINUTE Weekend Newscast (1993 06 04)
Welcome to the
____
/ ___) *StarShip* 5-MINUTE Weekend Newscast
/ (_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/ ___)
/ (__ very weekend the *StarShip* on GEnie presents a new 5-MINUTE Weekend
(_____) Newscast in Communications Room 10 in the Real-Time Conference Area.
Featuring late-breaking stories from the Amiga community, these dynamic,
scrolling newscasts cycle every 5 minutes, so you can stop by between 6PM and
3AM Eastern time on Friday, or 3PM and 3AM Eastern time on Saturday or Sunday
and learn everything that happened during the preceding week. Industry news,
product announcements, upgrades, rumors, special *StarShip* activities, trade
show reports, GEnie usage tips, humor, recommended files to download...
... the works -- and it ONLY takes 5 minutes!
Each 5-MINUTE Weekend Newscast is available on *StarShip* Menu #10 during the
following week. Periodically, newscasts are combined and made available for
downloading from the *StarShip* Library.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks to Denny Atkin, Editor,
COMPUTE's Amiga Resource,
for his generous input.
Here we go!...
DateLine: June 4, 1993
This 5-MINUTE Newscast presents the following stories:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Commodore Loses $177.6 Million in Third Quarter
2. Commodore International is in a Jam
3. A Little Commodore Stock History
4. Next Week's *StarShip* Amiga Conferences
5. Telecommunications Virtual Reality Gaming Simulator Announced
6. 3DO Launch Delayed, 300+ Developers Signed Up
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
1st of 6 Stories
Commodore Loses $177.6 Million in Third Quarter
____ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/ ___) New York, N.Y. -- May 28,1993
/ /
/ (__
(_____)ommodore International Limited (NYSE: CBU) today reported a net loss
of $177.6 million, or $5.37 per share on sales of $120.9 million for the
third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 1993. This compares with earnings of
$4.1 million, or $.12 per share on sales of $194.6 million in the year-ago
quarter.
For the nine months ended March 31, 1993 the net loss was $273.6 million,
or $8.27 per share compared with net income of $49.5 million, or $1.47 per
share in the same period of the prior year. Sales for the nine months were
$517.2 million compared with $770.3 million in the year-ago period.
Overall the sales decline of almost 40 percent for the quarter was
primarily due to prevailing economic softness in all of the Company's major
markets, especially Germany. There was also significant pricing erosion for
the Company's older Amiga models and PC products. Unit volume of Amiga
products declined 25 percent while Amiga revenues declined over 45 percent.
PC unit volume increased 30 percent, but revenues increased only slightly
from the prior year. C64 computer sales were nominal in the quarter.
The unit sales decline and severe pricing erosion during the quarter,
primarily in the month of March, had a substantial adverse effect on
profitability for the March quarter. In light of this significantly changed
business environment, the Company reevaluated projected inventory values and
determined that writedowns of $65 million were required to reduce inventory,
including the older Amiga products, to current estimated net realizable
value. In addition, the Company made a provision of $70 million for special
pricing and promotional allowances, additional restructuring costs, and asset
writedowns.
Mr. Irving Gould, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated: "We are
extremely disappointed with our results for the first nine months of this
fiscal year. We believe that Commodore's technology, brand name and
distribution network continue to have significant value and we are exerting
all of our efforts to restructure the company to take advantage of these
values during this period of severe difficulty."
Commodore International Limited through its subsidiaries around the world
is a manufacturer and marketer of computer-based products for professionals
and consumers. The company's major product group is Amiga multimedia
computers. In addition, the company has a range of PC compatible computers
and the entry level Commodore 64.
Commodore International Limites and Subsidiaries
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(Unaudited; $000's)
Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
March 31, March 31,
1993 1992 1993 1992
Net Sales $ 120,900 $194,600 $ 517,200 $770,300
Cost of Sales 232,200 140,300 618,400 538,300
Gross Profit (Loss) (111,300) 54,300 (101,200) 232,000
Operating Expenses 55,800 49,100 146,100 168,600
Operating Income (Loss) (167,100) 5,200 (247,300) 63,400
Interest Expense, Net 5,000 2,800 13,900 11,200
Other Expense (Income) 5,500 (1,900) 11,700 (100)
Income (Loss) Before
Income Taxes (177,600) 4,300 (272,900) 52,300
Provision for
Income Taxes --- 200 700 2,800
Net Income (Loss) $(177,600) $ 4,100 $(273,600) $ 49,500
Net Income (Loss) Per Share $(5.37) $ .12 $(8.27) $1.47
Average Shares
Outstanding 33,086,000 34,137,000 33,068,000 33,782,000
Commodore International Limites and Subsidiaries
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Unaudited; $000's)
March 31, March 31,
1993 1992
Cash and Investments $ 21,500 $ 60,800
Accounts Receivable, Net 152,100 255,400
Inventories 106,700 202,200
Other Current Assets 10,000 9,400
Total Current Assets 290,300 527,800
Other Assets 83,900 108,200
Total $374,200 $636,000
Current Debt (Notes A and B) $115,300 $ 71,800
Other Current Liabilities 191,800 165,800
Total Current Liabilities $307,100 $237,600
Long-Term Debt and Other 37,100 60,300
Shareholders' Equity 30,000 338,100
Total $374,200 $636,000
(A) Current debt includes $46 million of Senior Notes, $13 million
of which were repaid on April 12, 1993 as required. As of
March 31, 1993 the Company is in non-compliance with certain
financial covenants under the Note Agreement with respect to
the remaining $33 million. The lender has waived non-
compliance through the end of July 1993 in order to allow the
Company to pursue a debt restructuring.
(B) Current debt at March 31, 1993 includes a $10 million 11.75%
demand loan from a company controlled by the chairman of the
Company. On April 12, 1993, an additional $7 million was
borrowed, with $9.5 million being repaid May 24, 1993 through
the sale of inventory. The remaining $7.5 million debt is
collateralized.
-*-
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
2nd of 6 Stories
Commodore International is in a Jam
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Anthony Gnoffo Jr., The Philadelphia Inquirer
______
(__ __) Philadelphia --Jun. 4, 1993
/ /
/ /
(_/he computer maker, which keeps its headquarters in West Chester, Pa., but
does most of its business in recession-weary Europe, already is in default on
a $33 million loan and has until July 31 to restructure its debt. And its
pitch to lenders for support in that restructuring effort is based largely on
its hope that the coming Christmas shopping season in Europe won't be a
repeat of last year's disaster. "If Christmas is another bad season in
Europe, this company's going to be hard-pressed to continue," the company's
chief financial officer, Ronald B. Alexander, said in an interview this week.
That bleak assessment followed the company's equally bleak third-quarter
financial report, issued a week ago today at 6:30 p.m., 2-1/2 hours after the
stock market closed for the long Memorial Day weekend.
Sales plummeted to $120.9 million in the fiscal third quarter, 40 percent
less than its sales during the same quarter a year earlier, and the company
lost a whopping $177.6 million, erasing all but $30 million of the company's
net worth. For the first nine months, it lost $273.6 million on sales of
$517.2 million, compared to a profit of $49.5 million and sales of $770.3
million a year earlier. Predictably, the disasterous results clobbered the
company's stock price. On Tuesday, the market's first opportunity to react to
the news, Commodore shares lost more than 25 percent of their value, falling
to $2.87 on the New York Stock Exchange. It closed at the same price
Thursday.
A year ago, the shares were trading at more than $11. The stock fell as
Commodore struggled to maintain its dominant position in the European market
for personal computers, a market critical to Commodore's success since the
company is mainly a niche player in the U.S. In its last full fiscal year,
which ended June 30, 1992, Commodore derived 87 percent of its sales from
Europe and just 8.4 percent from North America. The rest came from Asia and
Australia. And Commodore holds a commanding position in that European market,
at least in terms of unit sales.
In 1991, Commodore made 13.4 percent of the personal computers sold in
Europe, more than any other manufacturer, according to the market reseach
firm, Dataquest. Last year, though it remained the number-one vendor, its
share fell to 12 percent.
More importantly, however, Commodore had to slash its prices to maintain that
position. Commodore may have been first in the actual number of personal
computers purchased by Europeans, but in both years it was fourth based on
the dollar-value of the computers it sold, according to Dataquest.
Its dollar-value share, in a market that saw consumers spend $22.6 billion on
personal computers, was just 4.4 percent in 1992, according to Dataquest. In
1991, Commodore accounted for 5 percent of the $21 billion Europeans spent on
personal computers, the research firm reported.
That makes Commodore very much a low-end player in the European market,
according to analysts. Most of its sales there are from its line of Amiga
computers, which start at less than $600 each and are used largely as game-
playing machines, although they are also capable of running productivity
programs such as spreadsheets and word processors.
"Commodore was hurt by the price-cutting in the European market," said
Charles Smulders, a Dataquest analyst based in the United Kingdom. And, he
said, "more and more of the (European) market is going toward Intel-
compatible machines."
Those are the personal computers that use Intel microprocessor chips or
clones of those chips, which dominate the market in the U.S. Only 16 percent
of the machines sold by Commodore in Europe use those Intel-type chips, while
the rest use a Motorolla chip that is largely unique to Commodore's products,
according to Dataquest.
That key difference means most of the machines Commodore sells in Europe
can't run the vast library of software available for the Intel-compatible
machines. Commodore's unique microprocessor has discouraged software
developers, who aim for the widest possible audience, from devising programs
for the company's machines. Instead, most have focused on programs for Intel-
based or Macintosh computers.
Still, Commodore's computers in the U.S. have won acclaim from users for
their capabilities in combining sound, video and data. But their products
face new threats even in its niche markets - which include video production,
business presentations and education - from bigger-name personal computer
makers such as Apple Computer Co., IBM and Compaq, all of which are adding
multimedia capabilities to their products and can boast of a wider selection
of software.
Commodore's immediate strategy, according to Alexander, "is first to manage
the liability side, then move the inventory." He said the company is meeting
with the Prudential Insurance Co., the lender with whom Commodore is in
technical default, and with other lenders to work out a restructuring of its
debt. That, Prudential has told the company, must be arranged by July 31,
Alexander said. After it achieves that debt restructuring, Alexander said,
the company will then look to Christmas in Europe for its salvation. "There
aren't many comapnies that can take two bad Christmas seasons in a row,"
Alexander said.
Copyright 1993 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News
Reprinted by permission.
-*-
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
3rd of 6 Stories
A Little Commodore Stock History
____ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/ ___)
/ (_ *StarShip* News Network -- June 4, 1993
/ ___)
/ /
(_/or those of you who don't regularly follow the market on Commodore
International Ltd. stock trading (and even for those who do), a brief
historical perspective may be in order.
Here's a summary of CBU stock trading information on a WEEKLY basis for the
past year. Of interest is not only the price (in the last column) but also
the volume of shares traded (column two) which represent the weekly total.
COMMODORE INTL LTD
Cusip: 20266010 Exchange: N Ticker: CBU
Friday Weeks Weeks Weeks Friday
Date Volume High/Ask Low/Bid Close/Avg
--------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
6/12/92 431,600 12 1/8 11 1/4 11 3/8
6/19/92 599,200 11 3/8 10 1/8 10 1/4
6/26/92 742,600 10 1/4 9 1/2 9 5/8
7/03/92 598,800 10 5/8 9 1/2 10 1/8 #
7/10/92 590,200 10 1/4 9 1/4 9 3/8
7/17/92 553,100 9 7/8 9 1/8 9 1/2
7/24/92 500,300 9 3/4 9 9 5/8
7/31/92 450,000 9 5/8 9 1/4 9 5/8
8/07/92 703,400 10 1/4 9 3/8 9 1/2
8/14/92 213,700 9 1/2 9 1/8 9 1/4
8/21/92 2,576,300 9 3/8 6 3/4 7 1/8
8/28/92 1,027,300 7 5/8 6 7/8 7 1/2
9/04/92 912,300 8 1/2 7 3/8 8 1/2
9/11/92 492,500 8 5/8 7 7/8 8
9/18/92 513,000 8 1/4 7 3/8 7 1/2
9/25/92 443,600 7 3/4 7 1/8 7 1/4
10/02/92 341,900 7 3/8 7 7
10/09/92 454,200 7 1/8 6 3/4 7
10/16/92 876,700 8 1/8 6 7/8 7 1/2
10/23/92 453,000 7 7/8 7 3/8 7 3/8
10/30/92 324,400 7 3/4 7 1/4 7 1/4
11/06/92 1,140,800 7 3/4 6 3/4 7 1/4
11/13/92 836,400 7 7/8 7 7 1/2
11/20/92 344,100 7 3/4 7 7 5/8
11/27/92 331,600 7 5/8 7 1/8 7 3/8
12/04/92 1,766,100 9 1/4 7 3/8 8 5/8
12/11/92 978,900 8 5/8 7 1/2 7 3/4
12/18/92 691,200 8 7 1/2 7 3/4
12/25/92 562,800 7 3/4 7 1/4 7 3/8 #
1/01/93 1,134,800 7 1/2 7 7 1/8 #
1/08/93 1,208,600 7 1/4 6 1/8 6 1/4
1/15/93 756,400 6 3/4 6 1/4 6 1/4
1/22/93 826,900 7 1/4 6 1/4 7 1/4
1/29/93 1,044,200 7 5/8 6 3/8 6 1/2
2/05/93 1,523,800 6 3/4 5 1/4 5 1/2
2/12/93 879,600 6 3/8 5 5/8 6
2/19/93 423,000 6 1/8 5 5/8 5 7/8
2/26/93 666,200 5 7/8 5 3/8 5 1/2
3/05/93 592,700 5 5/8 5 1/4 5 3/8
3/12/93 1,054,800 5 3/8 4 3/4 5 1/4
3/19/93 733,400 5 5/8 5 1/8 5 1/2
3/26/93 446,900 5 1/2 5 5
4/02/93 293,900 5 1/8 4 7/8 4 7/8
4/09/93 303,900 5 1/8 4 7/8 4 7/8 #
4/16/93 579,700 5 4 3/8 4 5/8
4/23/93 520,600 5 4 1/4 4 1/2
4/30/93 352,700 4 1/2 4 1/4 4 1/4
5/07/93 792,400 4 3/8 3 1/2 3 5/8
5/14/93 757,700 4 1/2 3 5/8 4 3/8
5/21/93 398,400 4 1/2 4 4 1/8
5/28/93 643,900 4 1/4 3 3/4 4
*6/01/93* 906,500 3 3/8 2 5/8 3
* indicates a partial period
# indicates 'last' is from an earlier date in the period
One of the more interesting aspects of this history are the following DAILY
summaries for 5/27 through 6/3/93. Commodore released its March 1993
financial statement AFTER close of business on Friday, May 28. But look at
the higher than usual volume of trading on 5/27, and see how it shoots
through the roof on 6/01. Very interesting. Remember: The figures in the
preceding summary WEEKLY volumes, while those below are DAILY.
Tick Description TP C Date High Low Close Vol 100s
CBU COMMODORE INTL LTD 05/27 4.250 3.875 4.000 2293
05/28 4.000 3.875 4.000 480
06/01 3.375 2.625 3.000 9065
06/02 3.000 2.625 2.750 7161
06/03 2.875 2.625 2.875 4441
For more information, opinions and speculation, we refer you to *StarShip*
Bulletin Board Category 15, Topic 2, where a lively discussion of this
subject is taking place.
-*-
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
4th of 6 Stories
__________________________________________________________________________
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Got a problem? If you have questions about learning to use your
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-*-
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
5th of 6 Stories
Telecommunications Virtual Reality Gaming Simulator Announced
______~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/ __ ) Chicago, IL -- June 3, 1993
/ / ) /
/ /__/ /
(______/esktop-simulation leader RPI Advanced Technology Group and
Tele-gaming software pioneer Simutronics Corp. announced today a joint
marketing venture to provide immersive simulation gaming and "edutainment,"
via phone service, for home gaming that rivals the best flight simulation
systems of the defense industries.
Players can turn on their gaming computer and deploy software from
Simutronics and hardware from RPI to experience a shared adventure
environment with other players in a simulation which supports the suspension
of disbelief accurately enough to think they are actually in the fantasy
game. Thomas Zelinski, vice president and general manager of Simutronics, a
licensed 3DO developer, multi-player on-line game developer and provider of
the leading tele-games on the market today, says, "This industry is about to
explode, productively, and both companies are positioned to be at the leading
edge of this opportunity." Stereo sound and multi-player capability exist
today. In a few months, stereoscopic visuals, spatial audio, tele-tactiles
and other enhancements will be demonstrated.
RPI's Head Mounted Sensory Interface (HMSI)(TM) for simulation, visualization
and immersive interactive media applications provides stereoscopic color
images, spatial sound and voice command in one integral device. The HMSI
responds to the sociological need to become emotionally involved with the
working or entertainment environment. Scott Redmond, president of RPI,
stated: "No consumer electronics major is not preparing a significant effort
in this arena, you will see consumer pricing, capability and ease-of-use in a
matter of months rather than years, now."
Simutronics has the Number 1 multi-player game on the GEnie Network, GemStone
III. Simutronics' new game, CyberStrike, has been huge hit since its debut in
February. With GEnie's price reduction later this year the current 400,000
user base is expected to increase significantly.
Using Simutronics' software, RPI's hardware and the long-distance services of
the tele-communications majors, this venture will help provide a complete
realization of at-home simulation. The new systems will let people from
around the country, and around the world, play, experience and communicate in
alternative adventures and experiences as broad as their imaginations.
RPI will also demonstrate the premiere of the consumer and arcade version of
the Cyberchair(TM) electronic simulation furniture at the San Francisco site.
Trademarks are property of respective owners.
[*StarShip* News Note: They're talking about an interactive, multi-player
game using 3-ounce Virtual Reality Glasses/Sound/Mics, etc. Way cool!]
-*-
*StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
6th of 6 Stories
3DO Launch Delayed, 300+ Developers Signed Up
______ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/ __ ) Chicago, IL -- 1993 JUN 4 (NB)
/ / ) /
/ /__/ /
(______/espite promises that the 3DO player would be available this summer,
the company says the release is "on track" for fall launch. However, 3DO
reports 302 software companies have signed license agreements to develop
software for the 3DO.
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer attaches to the television set and looks much
like a video cassette recorder (VCR) that takes compact discs (CDs). The unit
is based on a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) chip from ARM that is
anticipated to offer fifty times the graphics animation performance of
traditional personal computers and video game systems. Matsushita
demonstrated the first 3DO player, the Real 3DO, at the Consumer Electronics
Show (CES) in Chicago this week and will market the player under the
Panasonic label this fall.
Seventeen software companies showed thirty-five titles at the CES, but only
ten are expected to be available when the 3DO player is this fall. However,
3DO says there will be twenty titles by the holiday season and estimates 91
titles are already in the works.
Even though it has released no products, 3DO boasts it has raised $48 million
in its initial public offering since it first displayed prototype 3DO players
at the CES show in January.
The company has also announced it licensed the MPEG I video compression
scheme for use in the 3DO player from C-Cube. A CL450 MPEG Video Decoder
built into an expansion module will allow the Interactive Multiplayer to
playback up to 74 minutes of high-quality, full-motion video from a single
CD.
Paramount and Philips have already announced a deal where Paramount will
offer 72-minute theater length movies on the Philips CD-I player, which also
connects to a television. A similar MPEG video decoder add-on device attached
to the CD-I player makes the movie play possible.
Copyright (C) 1993 Newbytes. Reprinted by permission.
[*StarShip* News Note: 3DO was developed by some of the same talented people
responsible for the Amiga, namely R.J. Mical, Dale Luck, and Dave Needles.]
-*-
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before downloading the disk. Most are available separately!
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