【Oki Electric Industry】 if386AX

In December 1988, Oki Electric announced the if386AX50 Series of 32-bit laptop personal computers employing the AX architecture.
The AX architecture came into being when the AX Discussion Group was formed in 1987, with the participation of Microsoft Corporation and more than 10 Japanese firms, and the AX standard was drafted -- adding Japanese language capabilities for machines compatible with IBM's PC/AT. The AX architecture conformed to this standard. The basic concepts of AX were: (1) Integrated operability, (2) Connectability between systems, (3) Compatibility of software and data, (4) System extendability, and (5) Compatibility with the IBM "PC/AT" personal computer.

The primary feature of the if386AX50 Series was that it achieved high-speed processing as Japan's first AX laptop by using the 80386 32-bit microprocessor (clock frequency 16MHz) as its CPU. It was also possible to install the 80387 high-speed arithmetic processor. With the standard MS-DOS operating system, this series supported MS-Windows 2.1 (a multi window interface), and thereby achieved multi window operation and multitasking. Later, Oki Electric marketed the if386AX Series together with the previous if800 Series.

Then, in May 1989, Oki announced the 30L-32L which enabled installation of a communication board. The communication board was equipped with an electronic phone book (capable of storing a maximum of 250 telephone numbers), a telephone automatic send/receive mechanism, and a 2,400bps modem.
In August 1990, the 51LC, a 32-bit AX laptop equipped with a color liquid crystal panel was introduced as a sister machine of the if386AX51L.