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)
AUGUST 27, 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 August 27, 1996, AST Research, Inc. (the "Company") announced the resignation
of Ian Diery as President and Chief Executive Officer. The Company also
announced that the Board of Directors appointed Young-Soo Kim as President and
Chief Executive Officer, to replace Mr. Diery. Mr. Y.S. Kim was formerly
Corporate Vice President at Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 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 August 27, 1996 announcing that the Board of
Directors of AST Research, Inc. named Y.S. Kim as new Chief Executive
Officer and President. The release also announced the resignation of
Ian Diery from both posts.
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/ JOSEPH E. NORBERG
Joseph E. Norberg
Senior Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer
Date: August 27, 1996
AST RESEARCH NAMES Y.S. KIM NEW CEO AND PRESIDENT
2-2-2
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media & Analyst Contact: Emory Epperson
(714) 727-7958
AST RESEARCH NAMES Y.S. KIM NEW CEO AND PRESIDENT
IRVINE, Calif., August 27, 1996 -- The Board of Directors of AST Research, Inc.
(NASDAQ: ASTA) has appointed Young-Soo Kim as chief executive officer and
president following the resignation of Ian Diery from both posts. Mr. Kim was
formerly corporate vice president at Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., which holds
a significant equity stake in AST. Mr. Kim, who was one of the primary
engineers of Samsung's initial 1995 investment in AST, has more than 25 years of
experience in the U.S. computer and electronics industries in executive
positions at companies including IBM and Honeywell in addition to Samsung. Mr.
Kim has relinquished his post at Samsung to accept the new positions at AST.
The change in the top position was amicably agreed upon with Mr. Diery who
is leaving to pursue other interests.
"We continue to believe in the future of AST as a truly global force in
multimedia technology, and we believe strongly that Y.S. Kim can make that
vision a reality," said Kwang-Ho Kim (no relation), chairman of the board of AST
and vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics. "This action demonstrates
Samsung's commitment to making AST strong."
Mr. Y.S. Kim, who has served as a director of AST since July 1995, sees
substantial but unrealized potential for AST. "Progress has been made at AST in
many areas during the past year," Mr. Kim said. "But substantial further
progress must be made to address the considerable challenges facing the company
and to return AST to a level where it can achieve sustained growth."
He added that AST's relationship with Samsung must be more fully utilized
in order for AST to achieve its full potential. "AST can benefit greatly not
only from Samsung's financial support but from the expertise gained from years
of success in developing and marketing innovative technology products."
Another top priority for AST, Mr. Kim said, is to continue to strengthen
the process of becoming more responsive to customers at all levels of the
organization. "AST's product development, marketing and service activities must
begin and end with a keen understanding of what our customers truly want and
need. To achieve that goal, we will increase investment in training our service
representatives and empower our employees to have greater responsibility for
customer satisfaction."
Mr. Kim has been corporate vice president of Samsung Electronics in Seoul,
Korea since January 1993. Prior to 1993, he held positions of increasing
responsibility at Samsung, including vice president of the Semiconductor
division and executive vice president of the Corporate Planning Office. He also
created and was named president of Samsung's Computer & Systems division.
Prior to joining Samsung in 1987, Mr. Kim was vice president of the Solid
State Electronics division of Honeywell, Inc., in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
beginning in 1974. In 1969, he founded Semiconductor Electronics Memory, Inc.,
a manufacturer of IBM add-on memory systems, in Phoenix, Arizona. From 1961 to
1969, Mr. Kim held the position of senior manager of Process Engineering at IBM
in East Fishkill, New York.
Safi Qureshey, AST's co-founder who now serves as Chairman Emeritus and an
AST Director, said, "Since the very first days of Samsung's relationship with
AST, I have found Y.S. Kim to be a person with a penetrating vision of the
future of the international market for technology products, and a clear sense of
how to move AST to the forefront of that market. He is an excellent choice to
move AST forward from this point."
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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