Olivetti Shake-Up Fails To Make Pc Unit Compatible

Their difficulties have raised questions about the financial strength of the company: Olivetti's net debt was L1,260 billion at the end of June, up from L774.8 billion at the end of December, representing gearing of almost 60 per cent.

The most pressing problem is the PC business, which has been slow to change, being constrained by Italian labour laws and management pride. Most of Olivetti's competitors re-engineered, moving away from low-margin hardware to higher-value services businesses.

Although there have been recent signs of a revival in the restructured PC operations