Silicon Graphics Inc CEO Rick Belluzzo is expected to unveil his plan for resuscitating the wounded graphics and imaging leader in April or May; a plan that is expected to involve the company’s document content management technology. Brokerages, including Merrill Lynch & Co, are projecting a revenue decline of around 15% year-over-year for SGI’s third quarter to the end of March. With Far East sales way off the mark, a quarter in the region of $776m is expected. Merrill Lynch believes server growth is not re-accelerating, and workstation sales are down due to poor price-performance and anticipation of new products. Reportedly baffled by the lack of customer response to its well-regarded ccNUMA architecture, the brokerage thinks SGI customers are concerned about buying from SGI, the company’s positioning is unclear and it too late for SGI to be more than a niche company. Maybe that should also read ‘someone else’s’ company, but at least SGI is attempting to arrest a threatening spiral of decline and its Microsoft partnership might yet bear fruit in the long term.
