CII PREDICTS U.S. PC MARKET WILL GROW 14% IN 1996

CONSUMER MARKET GROWTH WILL CONTINUE TO OUTPACE BUSINESS MARKET GROWTH

LA JOLLA, Calif., May 6, 1996 - Computer Intelligence InfoCorp (CII), the
computer and communications industries' leading source of fact-based
information, forecast today that the overall U.S. personal computer market
will grow by 14 percent for 1996. This compares with 24 percent growth for
the PC market in 1995.

The consumer market will continue to grow at a higher rate than the
business market, with CII data predicting home PC market growth reaching
23 percent this year, down from last year's rate of 27 percent. Sales to
businesses are expected to grow by 9.6 percent. First-time household
purchases will help drive consumer sales, though the CII research showed
that the home PC market is increasingly dependent on repeat buyers. More
than half of the consumer PCs bought in 1995 were purchased as
replacements for older machines or in addition to PCs already owned.

The findings detailing overall ebb and flow in the U.S. PC market emerged
from CII's Market Model, Projected Market Monitor, and StoreBoard Channel
Tracking databases, which provide an integrated view of past, present and
future technology shipments in U.S. and international markets.

"Despite gloomy forecasts for PC market growth, there are few manufacturing
industries in the world where a 14 percent growth rate would not be
welcomed," said Dave Tremblay, CII's Senior Industry Analyst for PCs. "The
U.S. PC market is simply maturing, and that's what's slowing growth."

U.S. BUSINESS MARKET

Among PC hardware vendors, many companies that have traditionally paced
growth in the business market faltered in Q1 1996. Compaq, the leader in
this market since 1994, posted a 23 percent unit sales decline in Q1 1996
over the same period in 1995. IBM, NEC, Apple, AST and Zenith all saw
their sales to businesses drop over 10 percent in the first quarter of
1996, with Apple and AST posting sales declines in excess of 30 percent.

The findings detailing business market sales emerged from CII's Projected
Market Monitor, which surveys the technology usage patterns and purchase
plans of 3,000 workplace establishments each month.

"Our findings show that pockets of opportunity did exist, and those who
positioned themselves properly prospered," said Tremblay. Vendors posting
strong sales gains included relative newcomer Micron, which had unit sales
growth of over 100 percent. This growth propelled it onto the Top Ten list
of companies selling into the workplace market. Hewlett-Packard was second
on the list of unit sales growth winners, as it continued the strong PC
market push it began in 1995. Unit sales volumes at Acer, Dell, Toshiba
and Gateway 2000 all grew more than 25 percent as well.

CHANNEL RESULTS

Results from CII's StoreBoard Channel Tracking database show that although
purchases by corporations were down in the first quarter of 1996, other
segments picked up the slack. The retail channel (including consumer
electronics stores, PC superstores, office superstores and dealers) grew
23 percent in the first quarter of 1996, while unit sales among PC dealers
increased 29 percent.

CII found the majority of vendors showing positive growth in retail
channels in Q1 1996, with most experiencing a 25 percent increase.
Toshiba's sales through the channel doubled over the same period one year
ago, as demand for its portable computers remained strong. Alternatively,
channel sales for Packard Bell, a vendor accustomed to high growth rates,
were flat in the first quarter of 1996 over Q195. Apple and IBM both
registered sales declines through the channel in the first quarter of 1996
from a year ago.

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GROWTH IN U.S. PC UNITS SOLD THROUGH RETAIL CHANNELS

 Manufacturer       Q1 Year-to-Year Growth
 Hewlett-Packard             100%
 Toshiba                     100%
 NEC                          82%
 Acer                         66%
 Compaq                       45%
 Packard Bell               -0.2%
 Apple                        -8%
 IBM                         -21%
 Total                        26%
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Computer Intelligence InfoCorp, a Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, is the
leading source of fact-based information for the computer and
communications industries. CII's extensive research capabilities provide a
wide variety of products and services that help computer and
communications companies sell and market more effectively. All of the
company's products and services are based on proprietary information
databases built and maintained by CII specialists. Headquartered in La
Jolla, Computer Intelligence InfoCorp has offices in Cambridge, Mass.;
Farmington, Conn.; Mountain View, Calif.; and Europe. Samples of CII's
extensive market data and research results, timely commentary from
industry authorities and previews of upcoming technology events are
available at the company's site on the World Wide Web
(http://www.compint.com).
 
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