Expectations Remain High for High-Tech Sector

Some of the most compelling business stories of 1996 involved high-tech companies from Orange County.

In Newport Beach, Comparator Systems Corp. set trading records on the Nasdaq stock market last May, was accused of fraud by the government and taught hundreds of investors a costly lesson about getting stock tips on the Internet.

In Fountain Valley, Kingston Technology Corp. captured attention across the nation earlier this month when the company’s co-founders unveiled a $100-million bonus package for their 523 workers, promising some employees holiday checks for up to three times their salaries.

But in some ways, the more powerful story took place beneath the surface of these headline-grabbing events. It is the story of PairGain Technologies’ torrid stock market climb, Western Digital’s return to robust health, Ingram Micro’s giant public stock offering and the broad-based expansion of Orange County’s high-tech sector as a whole.

Industry leaders say that 1997 is likely to bring more of the same.

“Orange County should be very bullish about the technology industry,” said David Dukes, co-chairman of Ingram Micro Inc., a Santa Ana company that is the world’s largest computer products distributor.

One big reason the outlook is so bright is the Internet, the global computer network that has given consumers and businesses a compelling reason to buy a computer if they don’t already have one and buy a new one if they do.

That helps fuel sales of software, peripherals and other products across the computer industry and helps explain the seemingly endless expansion of companies such as Ingram Micro.

The company already has 8,847 employees worldwide, with 2,300 in Orange County. “But we expect to add several hundred employees again in 1997,” Dukes said.

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Greg Miller covers high technology for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7830 and at greg.miller@latimes.com.