IBM, having established its PC as the de facto standard for personal computers, now appears to be moving away from the use of standard microprocessor chips toward the use of Kustom Integrated Logic/ARay Chips (KIL/AR Chips). The new proprietary chips will enable future IBM machines to operate faster and will make it almost impossible for competitors to produce IBM-PC clones. Software developers will, therefore, have to write separate software for machines which use standard chips; presumably after they have written the software for IBM machines.
International Resource Development, a major research firm and publisher of Electronic Mail and Micro Systems (EMMS), predicts that the move to custom chips will occur in 1986 when IBM's share of the personal computer market is expected to reach 70 percent. It is currently 50 percent. Other companies expected to introduce their own custom chips are AT&T and Apple. These companies are expected to become the big three in PCs.
The effect of these developments would be a major shake-out in the personal computer market with only the large computer companies which manufacture several sizes of machines expected to survive.
