Silicon Graphics, Inc., the 17-year-old high-tech company known for
breakthrough graphics in movies such as JURASSIC PARK, is changing its name
to SGI. The change is part of a major branding shift, which also includes a
new logo, national advertising and consolidation of hundreds of separate
product brands. SGI decided to change its name after a branding consultant
found that while the company's products were perceived as innovative and
visionary, the company was viewed as a niche-oriented, high-performance 3D
graphics workstation provider. In fact, company officials say their servers
and supercomputers for small, medium and large businesses generate about
half of their revenues, and their hope is that by changing their name they
will eventually be thought of as a company that makes more than just
workstations. The company has been struggling for several years, losing
money in nine of the past ten quarters as competitors have come on strong
and the supercomputer market has weakened.