Michael Black wrote:
Chuck Harris ) writes:

All because Schlumberger had to get rid of the kit and computer division
to avoid an antitrust problem when they bought Fairchild.

-Chuck Harris


That sounds a bit garbled.

It isn't, though.


Wasn't Schlumberger out of the picture a lot earlier? Wasn't it Zenith
that bought Heath, in the late seventies or early eighties, leading to a
period when pre-assembled Heath computers were sold as Zenith's?

Schlumberger was/is a conglomerate corporation that is composed of
a bunch of dissimilar companies that they bought up and held... much
like what IBM, GE and Honeywell do. Schlumberger wanted to get into
the semiconducter manufacturing business, so they were looking for
a manufacturing plant to buy... Fairchild was up for sale.

The FTC strongly suggested to Schlumberger that if they bought
Fairchild they MIGHT be taken to court for antitrust violations.
The reason for this is Heath was one of Fairchild's major customers.
The FTC of that time didn't like anything that was vertical in that
way.

So, Schlumberger went looking for a buyer for Heath/Zenith, and that
buyer was a French company called Group Bull. Group Bull wanted to
enter the personal computer market in the worst way, so when they saw
that Heath/Zenith, a semi major player in the personal computer and
data entry terminal business was up for sale, they jumped. Bull never
had any interest in the Heath side of the business, so at the first
possible opportunity, they pulled the plug. Heath was set off on their
own. With no money, no manufacturing capability, and did I mention
no money?

What you say about the decline of the kit business is mostly true, but
I firmly believe that if FTC hadn't put their nose into the business,
and caused Group Bull to buy Heath/Zenith, there would still be a kit
company.

-Chuck Harris

For a more complete discussion of the life of Heathkit, read:
"Heathkit, A Guide To The Amateur Radio Products," by Penson.