Axil Computer Inc has lost the backing of its 100% owner, Hyundai Electronics America, and has been forced to lay off 80% of its workforce while it looks for a new funding deal. The Concord, Massachusetts-based company is carrying on support and shipments, but has been reduced to about 15 staff. Axil’s management team, under president and CEO Jerry Talbot, the architect of the company’s eight-way Crossbar symmetrical multiprocessing technology, are talking to potential industry partners in order to support a buyout plan. We’ve not gone out of business said vice president of marketing Bob Nielson, also part of the remaining management team but we’ve had a dramatic restructuring and cut back. Unless we work something out within the next few weeks we won’t continue shipping other than through our OEMs. Both Hewlett Packard Co and Data General Corp take Axil’s Crossbar technology, and are members of the Crossbar Coalition Axil formed back in March (CI No 3,369). Neither are said to be involved in the negotiations however, and HP has already made it clear that it favors Intel’s rival Profusion technology over Axil for its forthcoming Xeon servers (CI No 3,371). Axil, which is working on a 16-way version of Crossbar, has hinted at three other systems vendors supporting its technology, but hasn’t named them (CI No 3,394). Following the Asian financial crisis, Hyundai’s Computer Systems Group has been folded into its Information Technology Division, and PC production is being phased out both in its home markets and in the US.
