Are three heads better than one?

Honeywell has sold 42.5 percent of its computer business to Compagnie des Machines Bull of France and 15 percent to NEC of Japan; the price was just $175 million. The transaction creates the first computer manufacturer that will be jointly owned by Japanese, U.S. and French companies. The three firms have been closely connected for many years, and they are now poised to act together to establish themselves as a joint force against IBM in the mainframe computer market, a market that is growing at a rate of between five and six percent per year. NEC and Honeywell are working on a mainframe computer that will be based on the DPS 90. Meanwhile, Honeywell is expected to focus on the minicomputer market following the market entry of its new DPS 6 medium-range minicomputers.