to be plugged into the backplane and replaced as upgrades became available. Although the expectation for all AST customers to upgrade their purchases this way was unrealistic, Cupid technology enabled a successful marketing scheme, by eliminating customer hesitation over immediate obsolescence. Such concerns were prevalent due to the speed of innovation in computing in the early 1990s. Cupid also allowed AST to market systems based on the latest and fastest clock-speed revisions of Intel's processors almost immediately—simply by replacing one card in the system—allowing AST to price its computers between ten to sixty percent cheaper than competitors. In April 1990, the company announced the Dual SX/16, a clone of NEC's PC-9801 computer, to be sold exclusively in Japan where the PC-9800 series had flourished. This venture into Japan posed a risk for AST, as the company lacked a large dealer network in the country, but the company's executives, especially Qureshey, were persuaded by the vastness of Japan's business computer market during this time—second only to the United States in size. As it had done in the United States, AST offered the Dual SX/16 with more features and lower prices than domestic competitors. Unlike in the United States, AST developed bespoke brand names for its Japanese computers, in an attempt to fit in the market; the company was also negotiating with Sharp Corporation to market variants of the Dual SX/16 under the Sharp brand. AST began marketing computers in former Soviet bloc countries and in India. This push toward foreign markets was another attempt by AST to reclaim lost market share in the United States in the early 1990s. These developments and more led to a quick financial recovery for AST, and in 1990 the company's stock price had risen roughly 260 percent in concert with its sales and earnings growth. Firmly entrenched as the third-largest PC manufacturer, sales reached nearly $1 billion by the end of 1990. AST was sourced as original equipment manufacturer (OEM) by other computer companies such as Unisys, Tandem Computers, Digital Equipment Corporation, Texas Instruments. Success continued in 1991. Industry leader Compaq and several other competitors announced steep price cuts in direct response to AST early in the year. A few months later, when Intel released the low-cost 80486SX desktop processor, AST announced a i486SX-based computer system the next day. That year, AST beat Compaq for a contract to supply over 1,600 laptops to AT&T's sales