Chapter 10 - Networking: Market Competition 1981-1983
10.24 Ungermann-Bass - 1982
The negotiations with Amdax to secure a source of token ring technology soon led UB to make an offer to buy the firm, an offer accepted with a close scheduled for January of 1983.
1982 was a great year for UB: sales totaled $11.3 million, up nearly 200 %, with profits of $300 thousand. The team of Ungermann, Bass and Jordan was working, even if there were some signs of stress. Yet wasn’t stress part of the entrepreneurial pressure cooker? Nevertheless, they felt no pressure to do something about the IBM PC for there were not enough installed to drive their product planning. Ungermann explains:
What happens to most pioneers? You get a customer base, they’re demanding things, you’ve got commitments, you’ve got contracts, you’re doing well, you’re meeting your business plan. All of a sudden, a new opportunity comes up, it’s hard to get the company focused on that.