It is quite hard to explain. I'll try to sum it up (partially, I guess) in a few bullet points: * Italian economy favors small and medium-sized enterprises ove

It is quite hard to explain. I'll try to sum it up (partially, I guess) in a few bullet points: * Italian economy favors small and medium-sized enterprises over big corporations. This has worked alright for some industries (e.g. automotive/machinery and several niche markets), less so for mass production of consumer electronics. * Italy has few natural and energetic resources, which made it difficult for Olivetti to compete with cheap PC clones from US/Taiwan/etc. Being far away from the ocean migh also have played a role in this. * Big Italian companies often become entangled with political/financial scandals. Olivetti had its share of that as well. [1] [1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/intrigue-italian-style-the-monsters-from-the-deep-that-have-ravaged-olivetti-1364386.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/intrigue-italian...