Published on 01/01/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

ATARI PLANS TO GREET NEW YEAR WITH OLD RETAIL STRATEGY

It's a new year time to ring out the old and ring in the new, right?

Maybe that's true for some people, but not for Sunnyvale- based Atari Corp. and its chairman, Jack Tramiel. He seems ready to resurrect a profitable old strategy from his days at Commodore International Ltd.

Published on 01/09/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

ATARI UNVEILS COMPUTER

Atari Corp. of Sunnyvale today announced a personal computer with one megabyte of memory, or enough storage for roughly 500 typed pages. It follows the company's $799 520ST computer that competed with limited success against more established personal computers at Christmas. The new machine, the 1040ST, will be priced at $999.95 with a monochrome monitor, and $1,199.95 with a colour monitor. In an interview last week, Atari executive vice president Michael Katz said that the price on the 520ST would be drop soon.

Published on 01/11/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

ATARI PLAN GETS MIXED REVIEWS

Some computer dealers expressed confusion and anger here Friday over Atari Corp.'s decision to start selling the 520ST personal computer at big discount stores.

Henry Ehle, owner of Computer Works in Phoenix, complained that Sunnyvale-based Atari's new computer, the 1040ST, isn't a good replacement for the 520ST. Atari plans to sell the new 1040ST, a more powerful computer, through computer dealers, while concentrating 520ST sales in major discount stores, such as K mart and Service Merchandise.

Published on 01/22/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

ATARI SUED FOR $55 MILLION

Atari Corp. of Sunnyvale has been sued for $55.2 million by a Japanese printer maker that claims Atari reneged on a contract to buy nearly 500,000 printers. The suit, filed in Santa Clara Count Superior Court, alleges that Atari promised to buy 45,150 printers during the first three months of 1985, then buy 50,000 printers a month for the rest of the year.

Published on 01/29/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

ATARI'S NEW SALES STRATEGY SPURS WALKOUT BY TOP EXEC

One of Atari Corp.'s top sales executives has quit after only three months on the job, apparently angered by the Sunnyvale computer maker's plans to shift its marketing focus to department stores and away from computer dealers.

Al Montross, who was vice president and general manager of the company's domestic sales operation, abruptly decided to leave during the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Published on 02/09/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

FORGOTTEN ATARI USERS JUST WANT SOME RESPECT

As an Atari 800 user, Gary Gerber, a Foster City microcomputer consultant, has suffered the scorn of IBM PC owners. But he's stuck to his guns and explains here why he still loves his Atari. I have a confession to make, and it won't be easy. I've slipped into a now-rare class of human, shunned and ridiculed by my peers. But love me or hate me, I'm proud of it.

Published on 02/19/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

TANDON SUES ATARI INC.

Tandon Corp. of Chatsworth has sued Atari Inc. -- not to be confused with Atari Corp., the Sunnyvale computer manufacturer -- in Santa Clara County Superior Court, claiming it is owed $645,000 for design work done on Atari's never-released 1450 XLD computer. Atari Inc. represents some of the parts of Atari that weren't sold to Jack Tramiel by Warner Communications Inc. of New York. Warner officials couldn't be reached for comment.

TWO FORMER ATARI EXECUTIVES GET TOGETHER TO SELL COMPUTER PRODUCTS THROUGH NEW FIRM

Al Montross, who left a general manager's post at Atari Corp. earlier this year in a dispute with Atari Chairman Jack Tramiel over his marketing plans, is now working for another ex-Atarian, James L. Copland.

Montross, 46, recently joined Copland's fledging marketing organization, Mountain View-based Shanner International, as president and chief executive of the 17-person company. Copland, a former marketing vice president for Atari who had been president of Shanner, took the title of chairman.

Published on 04/16/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

ATARI'S HIGH-TECH TELEPHONES ARRIVE -- AT LAST

BACK in 1982, when Atari was riding high and expecting to climb even higher, the company started work on a new product line that would be a complete departure from its usual business of videogames and home computers. The project was code-named Falcon.

After Atari began tumbling, the company spilled the beans on its plans: It was working on a line of high-tech telephones. The division was given a name, AtariTel, but none of the products ever made it to market -- until now.

Published on 04/20/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

MAY THE BEST LOW-END COMPUTER WIN IN ATARI-COMMODORE BATTLE, ONLY ONE COMPANY MAY SURVIVE

To the great rivalries of all time -- Cal vs. Stanford, Coke vs. Pepsi, "Dallas" vs. "Dynasty" -- add Commodore and Atari.

Both sides in this undeclared computer war are locked in a struggle for supremacy in the low end of the personal computer market. Some outsiders say only one will survive.

Published on 04/22/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

WOZNIAK, BUSHNELL PLAN TO POOL COMPUTER TALENTS

Two of Silicon Valley's best-known computer pioneers -- Steve Wozniak and Nolan Bushnell -- are talking about joining forces. Wozniak, who co-founded Apple Computer Inc., and Bushnell, who founded Atari, have already begun mapping plans to develop a computerized, educational toy.

Published on 04/24/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

WOZNIAK SAYS MERGER DEAL IS OFF

The merger between Silicon Valley pioneers Steve Wozniak and Nolan Bushnell is off because "I found out that all he wanted was my money," Wozniak said Wednesday.   But Bushnell -- the 43-year-old founder of Atari and Pizza Time Theatre -- denied the charge and said "what we really want to do is work together."

Published on 05/01/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

'VISUAL' TELEPHONES WILL BE SOLD FOR $1,450

Luma Telecom Inc. of Santa Clara on Wednesday introduced its long-awaited "visual" telephone, a unit that can transmit and receive still pictures through the existing telephone network. The unit sells for $1,450, and shipments to distributors will begin in 90 days, Luma officials said.

Published on 06/04/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

ATARI TO PAY EX-WORKERS WHO WERE LAID OFF
LABOUR LAWYERS SAY AGREEMENT BREAKS NEW GROUND

In a settlement that labour experts say breaks new ground, Atari Inc. has agreed to pay 537 former employees who sued the company after they were laid off without notice in 1983.

The settlement will cost Atari Inc. -- a wholly owned, non- operating subsidiary of Warner Communications Inc. of New York -- legal fees plus $600,860, or approximately $1,119 for each person represented by the suit. The settlement was tentatively approved Tuesday by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Peter Stone.

Published on 07/03/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

2 TEENS SUE ATARI - REDWOOD CITY BOYS' IDEA FOR VIDEO GAME REJECTED BY COMPANY, THEN USED, SUIT ALLEGES

Two Redwood City teen-agers have sued Atari Games Corp. for $1 million in damages and any profits accrued by the company for a video game called "Paperboy." Mark Caesar, 14, and his long-time friend, Robin Hallingstad, 16, allege in their suit that Atari rejected the boys' idea and then later used it to produce a game.

Published on 07/13/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

NOW, MICROSOFT MEETS ATARI

MICROSOFT Corp. did the Apple Macintosh a tremendous favour. And now perhaps the Seattle-area software company will give a similar boost to the Atari ST.

Last week, Atari Corp. of Sunnyvale and Microsoft announced that Atari would market Microsoft Write, a word processor, for the Atari ST. This means that Microsoft is committing some of its considerable resources to support the ST, an $800 system that does many of the graphics tricks that the Macintosh does.

Published on 08/17/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

NEW VERSIONS OF ATARI ST ARE ON THE WAY, TRAMIEL SAYS

In an interview in the first issue of Compute!'s Atari ST, a magazine from ABC Publications that will be on newsstands Aug. 26, Sam Tramiel, president of the Atari Corp., Sunnyvale, says his company will introduce both 2-megabyte and 4-megabyte versions of the ST computer by the end of the year.

The ST's now come in half- and full-megabyte versions. The company has no plans, he said, to design ways for current ST owners to upgrade their machines.

Published on 09/19/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

ATARI PLANS $50 MILLION STOCK OFFERING

Atari Corp., which in a previous life was one of Silicon Valley's biggest success stories and then one of its biggest flops, Thursday disclosed plans to start a new life as a public company by selling more than $50 million worth of stock.

The Sunnyvale company was taken over by personal computer industry pioneer Jack Tramiel when it lay in ruins in 1984. In a prospectus filed Thursday, the company said that its sales of computers and video games is now running at a $200 million- a-year clip.

Published on 09/22/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

JACK TRAMIEL HAS NURSED ATARI BACK TO PROFITABILITY, BUT ANALYSTS SAY IT'S STILL WEAK CONTENDER IN PC ARENA - HE HAS PLENTY LEFT TO PROVE

At San Jose Computer, the Atari line of personal computers is selling fast. "I'm hard put to keep them in stock," said Tony Colwell, the store's manager. But San Jose Computer is something of a renegade among computer retailers, and its decision to stock and sell the Atari computers is in keeping with its image.

Published on 11/08/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

ATARI GOES PUBLIC IN $51 MILLION STOCK SALE

Atari Corp., the symbol of boom and bust in Silicon Valley, became an independent, publicly held company for the first time in its history Friday when it sold $50.6 million worth of stock on Wall Street.

The company sold 4.5 million shares for $11.25 each. That was slightly less than the scheduled price of $11.50 to $12.50 a share, a sign of Wall Street's weakened demand for new issues. The stock rose in value during the day, and closed at $12.50 a share.

Published on 12/11/86, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

ATARI'S NEW MACHINES BOOST SALES AND PROFITS

Atari Corp., reporting its first results as a publicly held company, said sales of its ST personal computer and its redesigned video game player boosted overall sales and earnings in the third quarter.

The Sunnyvale company, which sold its first public stock in November, had net income of $9.1 million, or 41 cents a share, in the three months ended Sept. 30. That compares with a loss of $2.5 million, or 11 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.