Notebook production part of Optimus plan for strengthening market lead
Poland's leading computer manufacturer Optimus has announced that it is to
begin production of notebook computers. The company is also planning to
increase sales of PCs by 14% this year and servers by 30%. The announcement
has come after it was revealed that Optimus's revenues last year were down
by almost 20% from 2000, at an estimated zl.534.7 million. Optimus sold
66,678 PCs in Poland in 2001, giving it a very narrow lead over its nearest
rival NTT, whose sales reached 63,700. In third place came JTT with sales of
61,692. In another development, as of today Optimus shares will no longer be
traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE). Instead the company's stock has
been divided into two; Optimus Technologie, which is responsible for c
omputer production, and Grupa Onet, which owns the country's number one
Internet portal, onet.pl, and is controlled by media group ITI. The WSE has
set reference prices for the stock at zl.21.3 for Grupa Onet and zl.21.7 for
Optimus Technologie. (Gazeta Wyborcza, Jan. 26-27, p. 26; Puls Biznesu, p.
10) T.J.
