SWOT ANALYSIS ON Silicon Graphics, Inc

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Silicon Graphics, Inc. (commonly initialised to SGI, historically sometimes referred to as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark. Its initial market was 3D graphics display terminals, but its products, strategies and market positions evolved significantly over time.

Initial systems were based on the Geometry Engine that Clark and Marc Hannah had developed at Stanford University, and were derived from Clark's broader background in computer graphics. The Geometry Engine was the first very-large-scale integration (VLSI) implementation of a geometry pipeline: specialized hardware that accelerated the "inner-loop" geometric computations needed to display three-dimensional images.

SGI was headquartered in Sunnyvale, California; it was originally incorporated as a California corporation in November 1981, and reincorporated as a Delaware corporation in January 1990. In May 2006, SGI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from which it emerged a few months later, but on April 1, 2009 filed for Chapter 11 again and announced that it would sell substantially all of its assets to Rackable Systems, a deal finalized on May 11, 2009, with Rackable assuming the name "Silicon Graphics International".


Strengths
strong market position across all product categories of the company enhances it's brand image and increases the bargaining power of the company
distributes its products through dealers and distributors through australia, austria, brazil, canada, finland, france, germany, ireland, japan, the netherlands, new zealand, spain, sweden, united kingdom and the US (the company's
largest market, which accounted for 27.6% of the total revenues in 2009)
diversified business model
continuous focus on innovation
strong growth in profits from $14,781 million in 2006 to $19,721 million in FY2009 (increase of 10%
strong emphasis on research development
efforts are directed at developing new products and processes
improving capabilities of existing products
leverages it's collaboration with universities and research institutions in canada, the us, china and mexico
generates it's total revenues from as many as 17 geographical segments, reflecting it's global reach and well diversified revenue stream
increased operating profit from $357M to $1.4B (in 2009) - 58% growth
provides benifit packages to employees

Weaknesses
relatively low employee productivity compared to other major trans. companies .
the company’s revenue per employee stood at $294,783.2, significantly lower than that of its close
competitors such as Boeing, Textron and General Dynamics.
Employee benifit obligations overfunded by an estimated $1,180 million
cutting costs and as a result 550 white collar jobs will be eliminated (2010)
laid off 370 blue collar employees (2008)
continuous decline of key market revenue by 2.8%
Opportunities
current boating license regulations - do not apply to personal watercraft such as seadoo's
Environmental focus - seadoo's emit fewer toxins into the air and water, energy efficiency is considered in the design phase
recession - seadoo's are significantly cheaper than speed boats, yet provide similar towing capabilities, cost effective to buy and maintain.
safety - inboard motor is much safer than that of a speed boat
Ease of use for inexperienced riders
biology - marine biologists use to study marine life due to low shallow water distrubance levels
lifeguarding - use for rescue and patrol (ease of use)
Threats
competition could adversely affect the revenues and margins of the company competition could force the company to reduce prices depleting the overall profits

the global economy, which was 3.4% in 2008,
will lose considerable speed slowing to 0.5% in 2009 its lowest rate since World War II.
The tightening of credit in financial markets adversely affects the ability of the company’s customers to obtain financing for significant purchases and operations
tightening of credit in financial markets may adversely affect Bombardier’s supplier base
and increase the potential for one or more of its suppliers to experience financial distress or bankruptcy
 
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