Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp has blamed second-quarter loses on unexpectedly low growth in the workstation market, order slippage and delays in shipping new products. The Salt Lake City- based 3D graphics hardware and software company reported a net loss of $3.4m against losses of $18.3m for the same period last year. Earnings per share came in two cents below First Call estimates at $0.38.
E&S CEO James Oyler said that the losses were partly attributable to the slower than expected market for NT workstations. He said that the industry had been expecting the market to grow by around 50% this year when in reality, it is growing at around 20%. E&S also delivered its Lightning and Tornado graphics boards two months late, although Oyler said that the products were now performing well and a new board, the 4000, was due in the fourth quarter. Oyler said that the company was looking at a variety of options for the workstations business but did not go into specifics. The company expects a small loss on the workstation business in the third-quarter but is predicting recovery in the fourth-quarter.
The company is pinning its hopes in the short term on the software simulation side of its business. Its Pixel Products unit is releasing a new product on July 20, which Oyler was keen to flag up. He would not give full details but said that it was an application, which mixed database with image manipulation functions.
