Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!ucsd!ucbvax!MITCH.ENG.SUN.COM!wmb From: wmb@MITCH.ENG.SUN.COM (Mitch Bradley) Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth Subject: Harris Message-ID: <9012051459.AA18722@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Date: 4 Dec 90 18:56:32 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Reply-To: Mitch Bradley Organization: The Internet Lines: 30 After having talked to Rod Young from Australia at FORML, I am not surprised that Harris has dropped the RTX line. Rod described to me the great difficulty that he had in getting any information about the RTX from either the Australian Harris distributor or from Harris in Florida. I realized that Harris does not know how to sell microprocessors. This is not an indictment of Harris; it simply isn't their business. Their sales force primarily has training and experience in selling analog ICs, and you can't just dump a new class of product in their laps and expect them to run with it. It takes time and LOTS of money to develop an effective worldwide sales team. Salesmen spend years developing contacts within engineering teams, and the intersection between the people using the analog line and the RTX line is probably small. A lot of companies have gone out of business by straying too far from the center of their expertise. You can't expect an aluminum siding salesman to switch to selling computers and to be effective immediately. You can't expect a PC salesman to immediately be a good mainframe salesman. The merchant microprocessor industry is BIG business, and it takes big bucks and commitment to "ante up" and get in the game. "$15 and no support" may sound like a good idea, but as a business plan for a multinational company, it doesn't begin to work. Mitch Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com