Prime Computer Inc’s number two, Bob Fischer, has been talking to 01 Informatique about the sighs of relief going around the company after months of tension over MAI Basic Four’s controversial bid for Prime in a battle MAI finally lost to J H Whitney Co. Despite being a investement organisation, Whitney is the principal shareholder in numerous computer companies, and Fischer believes that Whitney will take an active interest in Prime’s three areas of business – CAD/CAM, technical support and minicomputers – whose present total turnover is running at around $1,800m. Whilst the market for CAD/CAM products has grown by 18% to 20% in the last year, and the technical support has had an annual growth rate of about 5%, the market for its 50 Series minis has stagnated. Nevertheless, Prime is aiming to maintain its present turnover in the minicomputer market for the next few years and Bob Fischer insists that the minicomputer is still an important product for the company. To achieve its objectives, Prime is going through the business with Whitney, and some 2,000 people working on projects Prime intends to abandon will be laid off. Prime will reorganise into three principle business units, and the Computervision name will be attached to the whole of the CAD/CAM business, regardless of origin. In addition, Prime is working on a new generation of CAD/CAM software for workstations and its minis, and plans to bring together as a single system the two versions of Medusa, one developed by Prime, the other by Computervision, for late 1990.
