8x8 Gears Up for Initial Offering

8x8 Inc., a company created by Micron Technology Inc. founder Joe Parkinson, will sell stock to the public for the first time as it gears up to develop a new TV-linked phone system. The Santa Clara-based company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to register the stock for sale, saying it expects to raise nearly $20 million from the offering, after expenses. While the company said the funds would be used generally for product development, manufacturing and marketing, it’s likely that 8x8 will invest a sizable amount in its new VideoCommunicators product line. The company is touting its VC100 as one of the first products to offer video display of a caller on a TV screen. 8x8 reported a net loss of $5.9 million, or 50 cents a share, for the first six months ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of $3.7 million, or 32 cents a share, for the 1995 six-month period.