AST Research, Inc. <company> A company, formed some time before 1980, that was a leading {personal computer} manufacturer. AST developed {desktop computers}, {mobile computers}, and {servers} that were sold in more than 100 countries worldwide. In January 1999 the name and intellectual property were acquired by a new company named {AST Computers, LLC}. As of 2000-03-02 it was trading as {ARI Service}. (2000-03-21)