Hi Mike,Mike Watters wrote:Hi Nickspacious_mind wrote:I also think it is possible contrary of how we are told what to believe, that Mephisto based on business practices that happen all the time, their only reason to buy Fidelity was to remove a competition so they worked on that strategy but of course they would never tell you that.
Because it is strange at how much was produced in 1988 and how starting in 1989 Fidelity was only allowed to produce the more expensive products. Other than the Designer 1500 nothing for the mass market was made. Of course it is easy to blame Fidelity for not meeting expectations if that is your mindset from the outset Of course Mephisto had engineers to oversee Fidelity in the U.S. but those engineers did not seem to be doing much
So maybe it was a deliberate run down of Fidelity which also failed because Mephisto's US market presence did not really increase for their own products. Could be a deliberate run down of Fidelity and of course US Management push back by Fidelity in coming on board with Mephisto US strategy.
Things are not always as they seem or officially publicized. Ask a politician
Best regards
Now let me understand this theory of yours.
So Sid Samole is still in charge of Fidelity from the moment it was sold to Mephisto (H & G) in 1989 until he is replaced by a German on 1st September 1991. Running it, we are told (?), like an independent company. However through 1990 and 1991 all the time Sid is really overseeing the destruction of his company, as he is in cahoots with Mephisto.
The purpose is to destroy the competition Fidelity used to provide in Germany and to leave the US market wide open for Mephisto.
A sort of joint suicide mission, handing the market over to Saitek a while later. Success!! Which then leaves the way wide open for Excalibur to sell lots of cheap Chinese stuff, as if it were made in the USA. Cunning.
(Computer Chess Reports 1991 Vol.2 No2)
Dazed regards
Mike
The Germans were there from day 1, sitting side by side with Fidelity. That is how it works. I know I have worked for German companies, as well as British and now I work for a Spanish Company and they all act in the same manner, regardless of size. So do US companies for that matter.
As in any takeover, the financials would have been scrutinized, the order books would have been scrutinized, the capital investments would have been scrutinized, the assets would have been scrutinized. You don't go into something like this blindly. You have a plan.
The moment it was sold it was no longer in Sid Samole's control and there would be Germans sitting at Fidelity. It is normal to keep a figure head hanging around for a short time and probably part of the settlement. German companies just like Spanish or English companies have absolutely no hesitation in sending over their people to run it and fix what is needed to be fixed in order to secure their multi-million dollar investment.
In this case it did not happen because they did not fix a thing and watched or should I say let it run to the ground.
Either that, or Mephisto was run by a bunch of incompetent accountants and Lawyers. Mephisto was big enough to have a competent Team. They knew what they were doing. What they couldn't forecast however was the recession towards the end of the 80's and early 90's and the increasing lack of interest in chess computers.
They made the decision to buy too late and as soon as they had it they realized they didn't want it and that is how it goes.
What's the saying...the victor rewrites history to suit his needs. Well do you really think that Mephisto would stand there and praise the fallen when the alternative makes you look like a tyrant and fool.
They just did what the romans did and rewrote everything to suit their image... regards
ps... what seems to have been forgotten in all this is that there were probably hundreds of people that wanted to come to work in a place where by now they had worked for almost 10 years and this was taken away from them pretty much overnight after the takeover.