When Honeywell did actually plan to abandon computers?
It has been said in France that such a plan existed already since 1974 and that the acceptance of the loss of the majority in CII-Honeywell-Bull in exchange of the absorption of CII and advantageous conditions in case of CII-HB nationalization was due to such a plan. Each financially conscious company being in distinct business do reexamine its commitments and reposition its investments at least yearly. The enthusiasm of the Honeywell shareholders for computers had certainly decreased since 1967-1970, and some members of the Board may have mentioned a bail-out hypothesis. Possibly also the guarantees that Honeywell asked and obtained from the French government in 1975 in case of changes in French shareholders (read in case of nationalization) may have been interpreted as signal of a potential withdrawal. But it is not before 1979 that signs of abnormal worry transpired at the operational level. In 1979, Honeywell recognized that there was no more hope to have customers switching from I
