IBM has unveiled more than 40 new products in its low-end ValuePoint personal computer range - but has still not decided whether price cuts announced in the United States last month will be enjoyed by Hongkong users. According to Mr Jackson Lam, marketing manager of IBM China/Hongkong's personal systems business unit (PSBU), the local office is still considering which of the new ValuePoint systems to launch in Hongkong. Pricing is also still under consideration. ''We are still looking at the new models to see which of them are most applicable to Hongkong,'' Mr Lam said. ''Decisions should be made in the next week.'' Mr Lam said unit shipments of IBM personal computers had increased more than 50 per cent during last year with the launch of the competitively priced ValuePoint range. Both IBM and rival Compaq Computer announced price cuts of up to 15 per cent in the US last month as the latest salvo in the ongoing PC price wars, though neither company has followed up with similar reductions in Hongkong. Mr Lam said the local operation would not necessarily follow pricing moves in the US, as ''the economies of scale between Hongkong and the US are totally different'', and the ''cost structure in Hongkong is different''. Mr Lam said the new products announced in the US last week added faster machines to the range, with better graphics capabilities, and easier expansion and up-gradability features. The 40 new models are variations of three types : the regular desktops systems; floor standing ''mini-tower'' models; and so-called ''SpaceSavers'', a smaller, narrower desktop model with fewer expansion slots. The high-end ValuePoint models include a ''slot'' for Intel's future OverDrive chip based on Pentium - which lets users upgrade a system based on a 486 processor to the new generation Pentium performance.
