SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported)
SEPTEMBER 18, 1996
AST RESEARCH, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
DELAWARE
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)
0-13941 95-3525565
(Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.)
16215 ALTON PARKWAY
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA 92718
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code
(714) 727-4141
NOT APPLICABLE
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)
ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS
On September 18, 1996, AST Research, Inc. (the "Company") announced that Noh
Byung Park has been named Senior Vice President, Worldwide Product Development
and Manufacturing and an officer of the Company. A copy of the press release is
attached to this report, and is incorporated herein by reference.
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS
Exhibit
Number Description
99.1 Press Release dated September 18, 1996 announcing that Noh Byung Park
has been named Senior Vice President, Worldwide Product Development
and Manufacturing and an officer of the Company.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
AST Research, Inc.
_______________________________________
(Registrant)
By /s/ DENNIS R. LEIBEL
---------------------
Dennis R. Leibel
Senior Vice President
Legal, Administration and Secretary
Date: September 18, 1996
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media & Analyst Contact: Emory Epperson
(714) 727-7958
AST NAMES N.B. PARK TO LEAD PC DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION EFFORTS
IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 18, 1996 -- AST Research Inc. (ASTA--NASDAQ) today
announced Noh Byung Park has been named senior vice president, worldwide product
development and manufacturing, and an officer of the company.
Dr. Park, a 20-year industry veteran who holds a Ph.D. in computer
engineering from the University of Southern California and also was a tenured
professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of
California, Irvine, will be responsible for global product development for the
company's Advantage! and Bravo desktop, Ascentia mobile and Manhattan server
brand families. He will lead teams devoted to product design, engineering,
testing, manufacturing and marketing.
Prior to his position at AST, Dr. Park was vice president and general
manager of the Computer Division at Samsung Electronics. He also has held other
executive-level engineering positions at Samsung following his tenure at UC
Irvine.
"As one of the world's foremost experts in computer product design,
development and production, we are expecting Dr. Park to leverage his knowledge
and enthusiasm to increase our top 10 PC industry ranking through the continued
availabilty of high-quality, technically advanced products," said Y.S. Kim, AST
president and chief executive officer. "His efforts in these areas were major
factors behind Samsung's achievment of an industry-leading share of the Korean
market in desktop, portable and multimedia products -- both of which are
currently in excess of 30 percent and well beyond second place competitors."
Appointing Dr. Park to lead AST's product development and production
efforts is a key component of the company's enhanced research and development
efforts which are designed to allow the company to more quickly adapt to
changing market requirements. AST is in the process of hiring more than 80
engineers and product development staff in order to expand into new areas,
better implement concurrent product designs and enhance other systems-related
activities.
AST is also receiving assistance on a temporary basis from more than 30
engineers from Samsung, who will help further the company's development and
design efforts until new AST employees are on board.
"Through these efforts, we will bolster AST's reputation for delivering
advanced technologies ahead of competitors," said Dr. Park. "In addition to
continuing our strategy of using third-party motherboard suppliers to be first
to market, we also will work on developing our own designs."
Dr. Park will also direct vendor efforts aimed at shortening and adding
flexibility to the AST supply chain, in order to further enhance the company's
ability to quickly adapt to changes in customer demand. Just-in-time (JIT)
delivery and closely-coupled vendor ordering and forecasting programs are two
primary examples of the worldwide activities that AST is utilizing to enhance
flexibility.
Dr. Park earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Seoul
National University, a master's degree in electrical engineering from Korea
Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and a doctorate in computer
engineering from USC.
AST Research Inc., a member of the Fortune 500 list of America's largest
industrial and service companies, is one of the world's leading personal
computer manufacturers. The company develops a broad spectrum of desktop,
mobile and server PC products that are sold in more than 100 countries
worldwide. AST systems meet a wide range of customer needs, ranging from
corporate business applications to advanced home and office use. Corporate
headquarters is located at 16215 Alton Parkway, P.O. Box 57005, Irvine,
California 92619-7005. Telephone (714) 727-4141 or (800) 876-4278. Fax (714)
727-9355. Information about AST and its products can be found on the World Wide
Web at http://www.ast.com.
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