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'''Librex Computer Systems Inc.''' was a short-lived American subsidiary of the [[Nippon Steel|Nippon Steel Corporation]] that manufactured [[Laptop|notebook computers]] from 1990 to 1992.<ref name=Bartolik1990>{{cite journal | editor-last=Bartolik | editor-first=Peter | date=August 27, 1990 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6wpPH35JpIkC&pg=RA4-PA11 | title=Nippon steel enters PC market | journal=Computerworld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=XXIV | issue=35 | page=103 | via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=Rockman1996>{{cite journal | last=Rockman | first=Simon | date=June 1996 | url=https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorldMagazine/PCW%20199606%20June%20Created%20From%20PCW%20Cover%20CD/page/n91/ | title=Retro Computing | journal=Personal Computer World | publisher=Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen | volume=19 | issue=6 | pages=202, 232 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref> Librex had roots in Nippon Steel's Electronics and Information Systems Division (EISD) back in Japan, which starting in 1986 had formed joint ventures with several high-profile American computer companies. Librex was Nippon Steel EISD's first venture in the United States. Its products received praise in the technology press, but a fierce price war in the market for notebook computers in the early 1990s combined with dwindling profit margins forced Nippon Steel to dissolve Librex in 1993.
==History==
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===First products (1990–1991)===
Librex contracted the mass manufacturing of the company's initial product lineup, a duo of notebook computers, to an unnamed American firm.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Sexton | first=Tara | date=August 27, 1990 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A8783238/GPS?sid=wikipedia | title=New Nippon Steel Division to Launch Line of Computers | journal=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=7 | issue=34 | page=24 | via=Gale}}</ref> The Librex office in San Jose mostly handled sales and marketing and other operational duties, although the office did posses limited manufacturing facilities.<ref name=CBR1990 /> The Librex 386SX and Librex 286—two notebook computers based on [[Intel]]'s [[Intel 80386SX|80386SX]] and [[Intel 80286|80286]] processors respectively—were unveiled at [[COMDEX|COMDEX/Fall]] in November 1990.<ref name=Fitzgerald1990>{{cite journal | last=Fitzgerald | first=Michael | date=November 12, 1990 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uq5aBOwhFnoC&pg=PA144 | title=Pick your portable | journal=Computerworld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=XXVI | issue=46 | page=144 | via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=Krohn1990 /> The former was released on time in December 1990; the Librex 386SX was released in limited quantities that month,<ref name=Krohn1990>{{cite journal | last=Krohn | first=Nico | date=November 12, 1990 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DVEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26 | title=Japanese Steel Maker Tries U.S. Notebook Market | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=12 | issue=46 | page=27 | via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=Skillings1990>{{cite journal | last=Skillings | first=Jonathan | date=November 12, 1990 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A9589291/GPS?sid=wikipedia | title=386SX chip dominates scene in new laptop releases | journal=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=7 | issue=45 | page=17 | via=Gale}}</ref> shipping en masse in March 1991.<ref>{{cite journal | last=O'Brien | first=Bill | date=March 12, 1991 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GF_6VuE4h2MC&pg=PT114 | title=Battery-Powered 386SXs and 386DXs | journal=PC Magazine | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=10 | issue=5 | pages=111–187 | via=Google Books}}</ref>{{rp|114}} The Librex 386SX was mostly positively received in ''[[InfoWorld]]'', ''[[ABA Journal]]'', and ''[[PC Magazine]]''.<ref name=Garza1991>{{cite journal | last=Garza | first=Victor R. | date=October 7, 1991 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zT0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA74 | title=Librex wades into the 386SX | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=XXVI | issue=13 | page=40 | via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=Mass1991>{{cite journal | editor-last=Mass | editor-first=Debra Cassens | date=November 1991 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BvJHc73NRKwC&pg=PA97 | title=Of First Impressions: New Products for Attorneys | journal=ABA Journal | publisher=American Bar Association | volume=77 | pages=95–97 | via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=Howard1992a>{{cite journal | last=Howard | first=Bill | date=April 14, 1992 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoKUhNoOys4C&pg=PP178 | title=High-End Notebook PCs | journal=PC Magazine | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=11 | issue=7 | pages=113–181 | via=Google Books}}</ref>{{rp|156}} ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'' praised Librex for its usually generous warranty policy for the price point of the Librex 386SX, which offered free replacement of defective notebooks within 24 hours for the first 100 days of ownership.<ref name=OReilly1991>{{cite journal | last=O'Reilly | first=Richard | date=September 30, 1991 | url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1991-09-30-1991273119-story.html | title=Nippon Steel enters U.S. computer market with new laptop models | journal=The Baltimore Sun | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622052207/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1991-09-30-1991273119-story.html | archivedate=June 22, 2021}}</ref>
===Subsequent lineups and dissolution (1991–1992)===
In November 1991, Librex unveiled the M486 and M386SL lines of notebooks. They were based on Intel's [[Intel 80486|486]] and [[Intel 80386SL|386SL]] processors respectively and were compatible with an optional [[docking station]]. Interfacing to the laptop through a 130-pin connector, the docking station added two 16-bit [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]] expansion slots, a [[SCSI]] hard drive adapter, a passthrough for serial, parallel, and external monitor cables, and three 3.5-inch disk drive bays. Slated for an early 1992 release,<ref name=Quinlan1991>{{cite journal | last=Quinlan | first=Tom | date=November 4, 1991 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xz0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA32 | title=Librex moves to desktop with batch of portables | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=13 | issue=44 | page=32 | via=Google Books}}</ref> they were shortly followed up by the introduction of the Librex T386SX, featuring a modular design that extended into the design of the caddy for the internal hard drive, which could be removed toollessly for replacement or stored away as a security precaution. It took propriety [[Random-access memory|RAM]] modules for memory upgrades, supporting up to 12 MB of RAM from the stock 4 MB. The T386SX's floppy drive was external only, connected to the notebook via a detachable cable.<ref name=Lee1992>{{cite journal | last=Lee | first=Yvonne | date=March 16, 1992 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3D0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30 | title=Librex introduces mix, match notebook | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=14 | issue=11 | page=30 | via=Google Books}}</ref> The T386SX's case bore a rubberized coating to make it scratch-resistant and slip-proof.<ref name=Levin1992 /> It was the first and only Librex laptop to feature [[PC Card]] slots.<ref name=Fitzgerald1992>{{cite journal | last=Fitzgerald | first=Michael | date=March 23, 1992 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6fxsaF0QuVEC&pg=PA36 | title=i486-based notebooks hit market | journal=Computerworld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=XXVI | issue=12 | page=36 | via=Google Books}}</ref> Like the Librex 386SX, it received mostly good reviews.<ref name=Levin1992>{{cite journal | last=Levin | first=Carol | date=August 1992 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hqQJaNzN9IcC&pg=PA40 | title=First Looks: Librex T386SX | journal=PC Magazine | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=11 | issue=14 | pages=40–41 | via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=Mass1992>{{cite journal | editor-last=Mass | editor-first=Debra Cassens | date=September 1992 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NUPdREzSRGkC&pg=PA89 | title=Of First Impressions: New Products for Attorneys | journal=ABA Journal | publisher=American Bar Association | volume=79 | pages=89–90 | via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=Howard1992b>{{cite journal | last=Howard | first=Bill | date=December 22, 1992 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9TVJ_G_sk8C&pg=PA238 | title=Portable Computers: On the Road | journal=PC Magazine | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=11 | issue=22 | pages=153–265 | via=Google Books}}</ref>{{rp|238}}
Although Librex's laptops continued to receive high marks for their build quality, the company saw pressure in the crowded notebook market by the beginning of 1992.<ref name=Eisenstodt1992>{{cite web | last=Eisenstodt | first=Gale | date=January 24, 1992 | url=https://www.afr.com/companies/nippon-steel-learns-from-diversification-19920124-kaoas | title=Nippon Steel Learns from Diversification | work=Australian Financial Review | agency=Forbes Reprint | publisher=Nine Entertainment | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011033237/https://www.afr.com/companies/nippon-steel-learns-from-diversification-19920124-kaoas | archivedate=October 11, 2022}}</ref> Amid falling profit margins, Nippon Steel announced in August 1992 that they would dissolve both Librex in the U.S. and Nippon Steel Computer PLC in the United Kingdom,<ref name=New_York_Times1992 /> in what was called "the first visible fallout from the price war" hitting the portable computer market in the early 1990s, according to [[International Data
In its three years of existence, Librex managed to attain the rank of the 47th largest personal computer maker in the United States by the time it ceased operations.<ref name=New_York_Times1992 /> Dan Crane, vice president of sales and marketing for Librex, reflected in 1996 that Nippon Steel's remote management imposed handicaps in selling Librex's products at attractive prices: "Nippon Steel simply didn't have the cultural infrastructure needed to compete here ... [having a] rather cool, ultraslim notebook for 1992 with quantities and prices that were [arbitrarily] set in 1991", in part due to management honoring the initial quotes it gave to retail and direct sales partners, refusing to ask for adjustments after the fact.<ref name=Doyle1996>{{cite journal | last=Doyle | first=T. C. | date=July 1, 1996 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/194167590/ | title=Pacific Power | journal=VARbusiness | publisher=CMP Publications | page=68 | via=ProQuest}}</ref>
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