Groupe Bull’s Unix minicomputer partner Ridge Computers Inc is still not out of the woods, and at a time when most of the news on the Unix front has been super-bullish, the Santa Clara, California company has laid off 50 of its 110 employees in an effort to stem losses – according to Comp uter Systems News, it did about $10m in 1987 and was not profitable in any quarter. The top-end 14 MIPS 5100 CPU, promised for March, is behind schedule and will not now arrive before May or June. Hambr echt & Quist Inc has also removed Bob Evans, installed as chief exec utive about a year ago – he returns as a general partner at the San Francisco venture capitalist – and replaced him with another partner, Michael Preletz, noted as a turnar ound specialist. Ridge is also moving away from its scientific and university marketing direction and going after commercial customers.
