455:, filing for receivership in Australia; this was Osborne's second go-around after their widely publicized first bankruptcy in the United States in the early 1980s. In the first half of the year, Micronics posted a loss of US$ 13.7 million. In October 1995, the company experienced another shuffling of management, wherein former managers of Orchid took over respective positions in Micronics. Simultaneously, half of Micronics' board of directors resigned. In late 1995, Micronics bought the remaining 20 percent of Osborne; the other 80 percent was acquired by
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Through their work contacts and after advertising in newspaper classifieds, Micronics was able to find customers for their motherboards, and in early 1987, the company received a $ 250,000 from several private investors based in the United States and Taiwan. The company sold $ 4 million worth of
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processor clocked at 60 MHz. This was one of few times in IBM's history that the company installed a third-party company's motherboard in a personal computer of theirs. The motherboard also eschewed from the company's proprietary Micro Bus architecture developed in the years prior by making use
254:
affecting the reception of their television sets, he and Chang contacted Wong and Huang, and the four pooled together $ 150,000 to formally incorporate
Micronics in Mountain View. The company's first headquarters were a 400-square-foot office in the city. Their first products were motherboards based
493:
The establishment of their workstation division did not reverse
Micronics' misfortunes, the company posting $ 5.4 million in losses between February and September 1997. The company's then-current chairman Shanker Munshani resigned September that year, replaced by William E. Shelander. In July
442:
bus. Micronics sold the same motherboard used in the PC Server 300 to other vendors and as a standalone product. IBM commissioned
Micronics again in 1995 for the manufacture of their PC Server 320's motherboard, which came configured with either a Micro Channel bus or an EISA bus and dual Pentium
387:—a manufacturer of multimedia computer peripherals also based in Fremont—keeping Orchid around as a subsidiary and brand. Micronics' acquisition of Orchid allowed them entry into the growing market of graphics adapters and
395:
technology. Orchid was founded in 1982 by Le Bui and employed roughly 100 by the time they signed on to the acquisition. The acquisition was finalized in August 1994; no layoffs were immediately announced.
498:
for roughly $ 32 million. Diamond moved
Micronics remaining employees from Fremont to Diamond's headquarters in San Jose and kept the name Micronics around as a sub-brand for some time.
227:, in November 1986. Lin and Chang were the company's principal founders, the company originally based out of Lin's home garage in San Francisco. The two set out to found Micronics as an
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360:
Lin announced his retirement. Lin left
Micronics in late May 1992, replaced by Chuck C. Chan. Shortly afterward, Dado Banatao—founder of the influential graphics chipset companies
462:
Micronics posted combined losses of $ 26.1 million between 1995 and 1996. In late 1996, Micronics launched a subdivision dedicated to designing and marketing networked
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308:, where they employed 215 people. The company projected revenues of nearly $ 100 million for 1991. In January 1991, the company announced their first family of
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459:. In October 1996, a group of activist shareholders holding 10 percent of Micronics submit that the company find an interested buyer for a potential merger.
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Micronics
Computers was founded by Frank Lin, Dean Chang, Harvey Wong, and Minsiu Huang, four Taiwan-American electronics engineers and businessmen in
340:-esque clamshell design while lacking a battery, the Mport 325 featured an i386 processor clocked at 25 MHz and a 6.9-inch-diagonal monochrome
285:
motherboards within nine months of their founding, netting $ 170,000 in profit. In 1989, the company released their first motherboard based on the
411:
301:-based motherboards and received an additional $ 5 million in capital investments from companies in the United States, Hong Kong, and Japan.
286:
1069:
281:, it was the least-expensive i386 motherboard on the market at the time; they rated it a good value in terms of performance and expandability.
356:
in 1991. Co-founder Huang took a sabbatical from late 1991 to mid-1992, rejoining the board of directors around the same time president and
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for systems integrators to buy in bulk. While devoting their free time to developing
Micronics as a side venture, Lin worked at
228:
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to supply the latter with $ 4 million worth of computer system components. Simultaneously, Micronics released their first
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194:, Micronics was one of the largest domestic motherboard manufacturers in the United States in the 1990s. After acquiring
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391:; reciprocally, the fusion of talent between Micronics and Orchid allowed the latter to begin production cards based on
251:
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processor sockets. IBM manufactured the Micro
Channel version while using Micronics' board for the EISA version.
224:
73:
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316:. Called the 3X and 4X, Micronics' terminals respectively featured i386 and i486 processors and could double as
490:, that was aggressively struggling in the late 1990s. Talks between the two companies soon fizzled, however.
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was an
American computer company active from 1986 to 1998 that manufactured complete systems,
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372:. In April 1994, Chang left to found his own company, Premax Electronics—a manufacturer of
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429:, released in October 1994, made use of a Micronics motherboard configured with either an
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processors. Micronics' i386-based motherboard in particular was closely based on that of
247:
21:
16:
This article is about the computer company. For the
Japanese video game developer, see
1053:
456:
426:
407:
392:
324:
server software developed by the company. In August 1991, Micronics made a deal with
451:
Micronics struggled financially in 1995, due in part to their largest customer, the
1002:"Success, then struggle: Error after error leads to downfall of modem maker Hayes"
289:(EISA) bus, which was devised by the so-called "Gang of Nine" consortium (led by
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922:"Micronics Computers Inc.: Shareholders Group Urges Company's Sale or Merger"
470:. The company's first products were released in February 1997 and comprised
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17:
478:
processors. In June 1997, the company announced a potential acquisition of
471:
198:
in 1994, the company entered the market for multimedia products, such as
949:. Dow Jones & Company: B8. September 10, 1997 – via ProQuest.
630:. Times-Mirror Company: 254. August 1, 1991 – via Newspapers.com.
373:
277:
643:"Micronics 25-MHz Mport 325 is a big but dependable portable computer"
928:. Dow Jones & Company: B10. October 3, 1996 – via ProQuest.
337:
317:
313:
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986:. Dow Jones & Company: B7. June 16, 1997 – via ProQuest.
943:"Micronics Computers Says Munshani Resigns as President and Chief"
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398:
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980:"Micronics Computers Is in Talks to Acquire Hayes Microcomputer"
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264:
575:"The 'Gang of Nine' Rolls Out First EISA Products on Schedule"
422:
403:
1026:(800). CMP Media: 26. July 20, 1998 – via ProQuest.
482:, a manufacturer of computer networking products—namely
304:
Micronics by early 1991 had moved to a larger office in
553:"Micronics' 80386 Board Offers Both Price, Performance"
383:
In June 1994, Micronics announced their acquisition of
250:
hardware company. After Lin's neighbors complained of
904:"Micronics Loses Half of Its Board, 2 Key Executives"
754:(13). Ziff-Davis: A5. April 4, 1994 – via Gale.
653:(25). IDG Publications: 109 – via Google Books.
910:. Dow Jones & Company: B14 – via ProQuest.
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commissioned Micronics for the manufacture of their
612:(2). IDG Publications: 21 – via Google Books.
246:, while Chang worked at Silicon Compilers, another
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143:
132:
121:
103:
80:
57:
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41:
827:(17). Ziff-Davis: 37, 40 – via Google Books.
348:Executive churn and Orchid acquisition (1992–1995)
527:"Micronics takes place among 'no-rent' launches"
1095:Defunct computer companies of the United States
865:. Ziff-Davis: 177–182 – via Google Books.
846:. Ziff-Davis: 246–247 – via Google Books.
710:: B-2. May 26, 1992 – via Newspapers.com.
880:"Gateway 2000 to Add 80% of Australia Concern"
689:: 8E. May 10, 1992 – via Newspapers.com.
494:1998, Shelander agreed to sell the company to
810:
808:
732:(46): 16. February 28, 1994 – via Gale.
602:"Micronics Introduces Double-Duty X Terminal"
320:workstations. The terminals featured bespoke
20:. For the Japanese printer manufacturer, see
8:
968:. CMP Publications: 71 – via ProQuest.
874:
872:
27:
995:
993:
297:. In 1990, Micronics announced their first
937:
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886:: A37. July 29, 1995 – via ProQuest.
671:: D18. July 18, 1991 – via ProQuest.
293:) as an open-standard competitor to IBM's
33:
26:
1090:Computer companies disestablished in 1998
1080:American companies disestablished in 1998
795:"Read-Rite completes Sunward acquisition"
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1000:Kanell, Michael E. (October 25, 1998).
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895:
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857:Flanagan, William P. (March 26, 1996).
793:Berkowitz, David R. (August 24, 1994).
506:
287:Extended Industry Standard Architecture
1085:Computer companies established in 1986
1075:American companies established in 1986
563:(35). Ziff-Davis: 85 – via Gale.
447:Decline and Diamond merger (1995–1998)
772:"Micronics buys Orchid in stock deal"
770:Berkowitz, David R. (June 14, 1994).
600:Marshall, Martin (January 14, 1991).
551:Sagman, Stephen (September 1, 1987).
537:(5). Ziff-Davis: 59 – via Gale.
206:. In 1998, Micronics was acquired by
7:
1065:1998 disestablishments in California
902:Rigdon, Joan E. (October 19, 1995).
838:Boyle, Padriac R. (March 28, 1995).
585:(11). Reed Business Information: 19
1100:Defunct computer hardware companies
1105:Defunct computer systems companies
815:Jonikas, Mark (October 11, 1994).
641:Garza, Victor R. (June 24, 1991).
14:
1060:1986 establishments in California
817:"IBM Opens Up with the PC Server"
589:. November 1989 – via Gale.
525:Bajarin, Tim (February 4, 1991).
440:Peripheral Component Interconnect
219:Foundation and growth (1986–1992)
1046: (archived January 20, 1998)
1006:The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
960:Hayes, Mary (February 3, 1997).
801:: C1 – via Newspapers.com.
1:
1070:1998 mergers and acquisitions
704:"Micronics adds two to board"
624:"$ 4-Million Components Deal"
370:Digital Equipment Corporation
336:, the Mport 325. Featuring a
1020:"Diamond Swallows Micronics"
480:Hayes Microcomputer Products
252:electromagnetic interference
1110:Graphics hardware companies
782:– via Newspapers.com.
109:; 26 years ago
63:; 37 years ago
1131:
1008:: H1 – via ProQuest.
708:The San Francisco Examiner
665:"Micronics Computers, Inc"
15:
962:"Micronics Goes It Alone"
722:"Micronics Computers Inc"
474:featuring single or dual
225:Mountain View, California
180:Micronics Computers, Inc.
74:Mountain View, California
32:
28:Micronics Computers, Inc.
312:at the UniForum show in
984:The Wall Street Journal
947:The Wall Street Journal
926:The Wall Street Journal
908:The Wall Street Journal
1024:Computer Reseller News
687:Press and Sun-Bulletin
419:
410:'s motherboard in its
362:Chips and Technologies
192:San Francisco Bay Area
1115:Motherboard companies
402:
275:system. According to
726:The Business Journal
859:"IBM PC Server 320"
840:"IBM PC Server 300"
579:Systems Integration
306:Fremont, California
169:Number of employees
137:Fremont, California
29:
884:The New York Times
669:The New York Times
496:Diamond Multimedia
420:
326:Alpha Microsystems
208:Diamond Multimedia
127:Diamond Multimedia
61:November 1986
628:Los Angeles Times
488:Norcross, Georgia
385:Orchid Technology
334:portable computer
233:IBM PC compatible
200:graphics adapters
196:Orchid Technology
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1040:Official website
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151:Motherboards
133:Headquarters
125:Acquired by
96:Minsiu Huang
42:Company type
863:PC Magazine
844:PC Magazine
821:PC Magazine
476:Pentium Pro
389:sound cards
354:went public
310:X terminals
273:Deskpro 386
204:sound cards
188:peripherals
159:Peripherals
139:(1991–1998)
93:Harvey Wong
1054:Categories
683:"Techline"
502:References
486:—based in
416:(pictured)
352:Micronics
231:vendor of
173:215 (1991)
90:Dean Chang
647:InfoWorld
606:InfoWorld
472:midtowers
431:Intel DX2
378:Sunnyvale
330:Santa Ana
240:TeleVideo
87:Frank Lin
53:Computers
18:Micronics
374:PC Cards
244:San Jose
144:Products
81:Founders
50:Industry
1042:at the
748:PC Week
557:PC Week
531:PC Week
468:servers
438:of the
435:Pentium
278:PC Week
214:History
114:1998-07
112: (
104:Defunct
68:1986-11
66: (
58:Founded
778:: C1,
587:et seq
484:modems
338:laptop
318:MS-DOS
291:Compaq
269:Compaq
186:, and
45:Public
433:or a
261:80286
257:Intel
466:and
412:EISA
364:and
299:i486
265:i386
263:and
202:and
122:Fate
425:'s
423:IBM
404:IBM
358:CEO
342:LCD
328:of
271:'s
259:'s
255:on
242:in
229:OEM
72:in
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24:.
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