Multiflow Computers Inc, the Branford, Connecticut very long instruction word minisupercomputer builder has given up the struggle for survival after a large computer company pulled out of a deal to pump in new cash, and has decided to call it a day and liquidate the company. Multiflow’s ingenious architecture and its Trace Scheduling Compilers won plenty of plaudits – Intel Corp paid Multiflow $4m for rights to use the compiler technology only last month (CI No 1,364) – but none of the good opinions converted into substantial sales. The company, which had raised $50m in venture capital since its founding in 1984, sold only $15m of machines in its best year, despite an array of big-name resellers in Europe – Ing C Olivetti SpA for Italy, Metrologie International SA in France, GEI Rechnersysteme GmbH in West Germany and a $30m three-year exclusive deal for Japan with C Itoh & Co signed last summer (CI No 1,223). The company established a UK direct sales operation in Basingstoke last year, and ran its European affairs from Leuven, Belgium. It was working on a 64-bit ECL version of its Trace computer when the end came – but the quest for additional funding had been its most pressing priority for a couple of years. A year ago, it came close to agreement with Adage Inc, cash-rich but with few products, to reverse into Ad age, but that fell through as Adage holders jibbed at the extent of the risk they were being asked to take.
