Toshiba’s Big Surprise: a Micro-Mini Computer

IRVINE — The nation’s largest maker of portable computers unveiled a full-featured notebook Monday that weighs in at a scant 1.85 pounds and creates a new class of micro-mini computers.

Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. rolled out its purse-sized Libretto as part of a spring lineup that includes a new high-powered laptop priced under $2,000 and sharply upgraded replacements for the rest of a portable line that outstripped the competition last year.

Toshiba, which has cornered 24% of the portable computer market, introduced its new products at the Comdex/Spring 97 computer and electronics show in Atlanta.

Analysts said the company’s new micro-mini computer, which also carries a sub-$2,000 price, might appeal to a niche market, but could be difficult to sell to a mass audience.

The computer industry is much like the fashion business, requiring new offerings with every change of season to keep customers coming back. But in the high-tech world, changes are driven by the supersonic speed of new developments rather than by pure trendiness. Toshiba manages the changes better than most, said Mike McGuire, who follows the laptop scene for DataQuest, the San Jose-based computer industry research firm.

“They’ve been No. 1 for the past few years and in 1996 they extended their lead over IBM by almost a million units,” McGuire said. “That’s a huge difference, and it makes 1996 a pretty tough act for them to follow. [But] they are offering pretty impressive features” with the new lineup.

Still, McGuire wasn’t terribly impressed by the company’s micro-mini computer. The technology packed into its small case is substantial, he said, but it may have a hard time finding much of a market once the “gotta-have-it” buyers who jump onto any new product get theirs.

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While its light weight could appeal to travelers tired of hauling notebook and laptop computers that weigh 5 to 8 pounds, the Libretto’s small size also translates to a much smaller screen and keyboard than many computer users prefer, McGuire said.

The micro-mini, introduced about six months ago in Japan, has has caught on with Japanese business travelers and is being brought to the U.S. at the behest of many of Toshiba’s corporate customers here, said portable computer market analyst Randy Guisto of International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass.

Toshiba chose the Comdex Atlanta show because it is the second-largest computer trade show in the nation and provides a high degree of visibility for new products. The largest show is the Comdex/Fall event held each November in Las Vegas. While it draws 2,200 exhibitors and 500,000 visitors, Toshiba could hardly afford to wait that long to refresh its catalog.

An estimated 100,000 visitors are expected to visit the Atlanta show and about 900 exhibitors have set up booths at the Georgia World Congress Center this week. The show ends Thursday.

About a dozen Orange County-based companies are exhibiting at the show, which combines the Comdex event with the annual Windows World confab and the spring show of the consumer electronics industry.