The Times 100 : The Best Performing Companies in California : THE FAST TRACK : Informix Rides Wave of Desktop Publishing
Desktop computer makers may have seen happier days than now, but with only rare exceptions, publishers of software for desktop computers are riding high. And none more so than publishers such as Informix Corp. in Menlo Park, whose products are designed for PCs and workstations using the Unix operating system.
Now nearly 20 years old, Unix was created by Bell Laboratories researchers to run the operations of the computer machinery of its day, the mammoth systems encased in refrigerated rooms and tended to by men in white coats.
But as the current crop of small desktop machines becomes as powerful as their huge progenitors, users have demanded more powerful operating software. Hence the turn to Unix, and the reason that Unix systems are among the fastest-growing segments of the current PC and workstation market.
According to analysts, Unix-based systems accounted for 9% of the $121 billion in computer sales generated in 1988 but are expected to represent 19% of a $185-million computer market in 1993.
The outlook wasn’t always this rosy. As one of the first companies to foresee the eventual popularity of Unix, 10-year-old Informix was forced into a holding pattern for several years when the market bloomed a bit more slowly than analysts had originally predicted.
But after years of waiting, Informix sales have finally taken off. In the past fiscal year, the company’s sales hit $145 million, enough to propel it into the No. 3 spot on the Times list of the 100 fastest-growing publicly traded companies in the state.
“Our fortunes are tied closely to Unix,” said Robert Macdonald, executive director of strategic planning at Informix. “And our strategy for continued growth is to remain focused on the Unix world.”
In particular, Informix aims its product line at database management and provides programs that allow users to track and cross-index information, including sound and pictures, from their desktop computers.
Two years ago, the company acquired a small software publisher with a spreadsheet program for the Apple Macintosh computer called Wingz. Wingz has proven to be a popular program, and later this year, Informix will unveil a version of it to be used with Steve Jobs’ Next computer.
THE GROWTH 100 Companies ranked by two-year average annual sales growth.
2-year avg. 1989 ’88 annual sales revenue Rank rank Company growth as % ($ millions) 1 1 Maxxam 736.5 2,423.3 2 2 L.A. Gear* 195.7 617.1 3 Informix 86.7 145.0 4 Lewis Galoob Toys 84.4 227.7 5 Silicon Valley Group* 82.6 131.1 6 Amgen* 82.6 147.6 7 3 Sun Microsystems* 81.2 1,765.4 8 Adobe Systems* 75.7 121.4 9 Silicon Graphics* 74.9 263.8 10 Teradata* 71.4 137.4 11 23 Applied Material* 69.6 501.8 12 Union Bank 67.8 1,650.2 13 9 Oracle Systems* 65.1 769.3 14 Chips & Technologies* 64.7 217.6 15 Software Publishing 63.8 103.5 16 69 Valid Logic Systems 61.6 173.9 17 15 Cypress Semiconductor 60.6 199.3 18 8 Jacobs Engineering Group* 57.4 793.6 19 Digital Microwave* 56.7 96.6 20 Everex Systems* 54.8 377.3 21 Centex Telemanagement 54.1 82.8 22 Quiksilver* 53.4 70.7 23 18 Nichols Institute 53.3 129.7 24 85 Varco International 52.2 85.2 25 29 Autodesk* 50.1 178.6 26 Robert Half International 49.0 234.5 27 24 AST Research* 48.9 456.5 28 34 Microsemi* 48.7 103.5 29 4 First Capital Holdings 47.9 972.9 30 17 Acuson 46.8 227.3 31 14 Western Digital* 46.5 992.1 32 20 Pacificare Health Sys.* 46.4 646.2 33 Com Systems* 45.7 84.1 34 7 Qume* 44.9 223.8 35 Quantum* 44.6 394.2 36 46 LSI Logic 44.4 546.9 37 49 MGM/UA Communications* 43.2 876.5 38 96 Archive* 42.9 181.4 39 99 Leiner Nutritional Products* 42.2 145.9 40 78 Precision Aerotech* 41.7 77.7 41 5 CMS Enhancements* 41.4 200.4 42 42 Landmark Land 41.4 526.6 43 Network Equipment Tech.* 41.1 180.3 44 36 Apple Computer* 40.9 5,284.0 45 35 Businessland* 40.8 1,188.7 46 Imperial Bancorp 40.2 263.4 47 43 Westcorp 39.8 317.9 48 74 Mercury General 39.7 515.2 49 60 Pyramid Technology* 38.6 103.9 50 19 Furon* 38.0 332.2 51 48 FHP International* 37.9 699.1 52 53 Ask Computer Systems* 37.7 186.3 53 KLA Instruments* 37.0 165.5 54 Amplicon* 36.6 137.9 55 Linear Technology* 35.6 64.7 56 Adv. Marketing Services* 34.1 197.7 57 22 Applied Biosystems* 34.0 158.8 58 84 Boole & Babbage* 33.9 74.8 59 Komag 33.9 84.6 60 59 Kaufman & Broad Home* ** 33.9 1,210.2 61 Harper Group 33.7 398.3 62 La Jolla Bancorp 33.6 60.5 63 21 Genentech 32.4 383.2 64 83 Intl. Lease Finance* 32.2 302.5 65 Traditional Industries* 31.8 62.3 66 Fidelity National Financial* 30.3 163.0 67 31 Integrated Device Tech.* 30.1 204.9 68 45 VLSI Technology 29.5 288.5 69 Adaptec* 29.2 98.2 70 Sigma Designs* 28.8 76.2 71 47 Maxtor* 28.4 447.2 72 H.F. Ahmanson 28.4 4,371.5 73 12 3Com* 28.2 414.0 74 28 Intel 28.0 3,126.8 75 Consolidated Freightways 27.9 3,760.2 76 Diagnostic Products 27.8 60.3 77 80 Good Guys* 27.4 195.0 78 68 Anthem Electronics 27.3 319.0 79 73 Adac Laboratories* 27.0 98.1 80 Stanford Telecom.* 26.9 92.2 81 Harding Associates* 26.8 61.9 82 Freymiller Trucking 26.8 69.2 83 Riverbend International* 26.7 78.5 84 Fluor* 26.5 6,277.6 85 Walt Disney* 26.4 4,594.3 86 71 Williams-Sonoma* 26.3 218.2 87 Filenet 26.2 83.1 88 16 Erly Industries* 26.1 377.8 89 Firstfed Financial 26.0 253.1 90 Bay View Federal Savings 25.9 293.2 91 50 SPI Pharmaceuticals 25.6 124.0 92 77 Tandem Computers* 25.6 1,632.5 93 Rohr Industries* 25.5 1,044.7 94 Castle & Cooke 24.7 2,717.8 95 39 Adia Services 24.5 604.5 96 City National 24.2 475.8 97 First National 24.1 57.8 98 86 ICN Pharmaceuticals* 23.8 185.5 99 81 Earle M. Jorgensen* 23.6 521.7 100 Daisy Systems* ** 23.5 153.7
1989 income (loss) Rank ($ millions) 1 116.800 2 55.059 3 6.379 4 19.595 5 9.612 6 3.759 7 60.838 8 33.706 9 11.490 10 9.904 11 51.484 12 138.926 13 97.680 14 33.045 15 17.036 16 10.002 17 30.714 18 10.220 19 15.012 20 21.251 21 7.018 22 7.002 23 4.774 24 2.365 25 46.378 26 13.467 27 (7.469) 28 (8.885) 29 69.467 30 38.051 31 34.324 32 10.859 33 (14.168) 34 9.873 35 41.333 36 (24.892) 37 (74.673) 38 15.320 39 3.319 40 (3.986) 41 4.804 42 (34.889) 43 20.330 44 454.033 45 32.876 46 23.405 47 9.252 48 33.853 49 8.365 50 10.257 51 22.034 52 13.490 53 11.678 54 5.209 55 8.902 56 3.710 57 19.262 58 4.978 59 (6.061) 60 81.398 61 14.828 62 5.015 63 43.961 64 61.164 65 (4.324) 66 4.912 67 18.215 68 0.506 69 9.639 70 9.233 71 13.858 72 193.943 73 21.412 74 391.021 75 8.612 76 15.195 77 3.966 78 15.775 79 17.118 80 1.261 81 4.034 82 1.800 83 0.626 84 108.484 85 703.300 86 8.969 87 2.993 88 (4.503) 89 20.502 90 16.406 91 12.913 92 118.316 93 33.480 94 94.924 95 20.302 96 59.110 97 5.305 98 (86.697) 99 15.359 100 (140.076)
* See exceptions, page 46. ** See company notes, page 45.
Source: MZ Group. Certain historical data is from Standard & Poor’s Compustat Inc.
