“Last April, at the time it adopted its shortened name, SGI
decided to concentrate on selling powerful Unix servers, which
comprise nearly half its business. The Wintel program was put on
the backburner, and in August the company put Cray up for sale.
Then, early this year, SGI got on the Linux craze, announcing new
Web servers sporting Intel Pentiums and the Linux operating
system.”
“By jettisoning Cray, SGI may have made itself a more attractive
candidate for a takeover. A suitor could look forward to getting
first-rate clustering technology, SGI’s vaunted graphics
capabilities, and its growing expertise in Linux.”
“The thinking at this point is that the most likely buyer
would be a company like VA Linux (nasdaq: LNUX), the maker of
Linux-based workstations. Acquiring SGI would give that young
company established engineering skills, plus entry into businesses
that already use SGI systems.”