STB Systems
3dfx Interactive | |
Number of employees | 895 (1996, peak) |
---|
STB Systems, Inc., was an American graphics adapter card manufacturer active from 1981 to 1999. Initially a manufacturer of various expansion cards for the
History
STB Systems, Inc., was founded in Richardson, Texas, in 1981 by Don Balthaser, Bill Ogle, and Mark Sims.[1] Ogle, its chief founder, served as chief executive officer and chairman since the company's foundation; he previously worked for Texas Instruments as an engineer.[2] The founders eschewed raising venture capital with the founding of STB, instead loaning $10,000 from Plano Bank & Trust as their startup capital.[3]
STB's first products were released in 1981 and comprised memory expansion boards and graphics enhancement cards for the
After steady growth in the 1980s, STB expanded their presence internationally in the next decade. In the early 1990s the company bought out an 80,000-square-foot factory in Juárez, Mexico, for the manufacture of their graphics cards. By the mid-1990s the factory was able to produce 200,000 cards in a single month. STB also used the factory to take contract work for other expansion card vendors needing their own PCBs. By January 1996, STB employed roughly 815 workers: 153 in the United States, 12 in the company's three European offices (in London, Frankfurt and Paris), and about 650 in Juárez.[1]
In 1994, STB entered the growing
In February 1997, the company opened up a software development house in Belfast, Ireland, focusing on the development of device drivers and performance-enhancing utilities for games designed for Windows. STB planned to hire 40 workers there by 2000.[9] In April 1997, the company acquired Symmetric Simulation Systems, a manufacturer of high-end 3D accelerator cards marketed to CAD/CAM users and multimedia CD-ROM authors based in Dallas, Texas, for $200,000.[11] In August 1997, the company announced the opening of a 150,000-square-foot office at Synergy Park North in the University of Texas at Dallas.[12]
Following the merger, conditions at 3dfx deteriorated rapidly, and the company's intellectual property was acquired by their largest competitor Nvidia in 2000, 3dfx properly dissolving in 2002. Industry analysts considered their acquisition of STB a major reason behind 3dfx's decline, as it resulted in third-party manufacturers transforming from investors in the development of 3dfx's products (a significant source of revenue) into competitors; these companies in turn began purchasing from Nvidia for their 3D accelerator chips.[15]
See also
- Voodoo3, the first product jointly manufactured by STB Systems and 3dfx
References
- ^ a b c d Rampey, Jennifer (January 19, 1996). "STB reaps profit with clear view of 'Net". Dallas Business Journal. 19 (21): 10 – via Gale.
- ^ Staff writers (September 2, 1994). "Who's Who in Computers". Dallas Business Journal. 18 (1): 25 et seq. – via Gale.
- ^ a b Maio, Patrick J. (March 8, 1995). "STB Systems' Graphics Cards Quickly Gain Loyal Following". Investor's Business Daily: A6 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Staff writer (November 14, 1983). "Multifunction cards for IBM PCs". InfoWorld. 5 (46). CW Communications: 76–82 – via Google Books.
- ^ Staff writer (November 28, 1983). "STB Systems Extends IBM-Compatible Line with Graphics Package". Computer Retail News (35). UBM LLC: 184 – via Gale.
- ^ Gardner, Fred (August 15, 1994). "STB develops high-performance 3-D graphics-accelerator boards". Computer Reseller News (591). CMP Publications: 114 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Schmitz, Barbara (April 1995). "3D graphics boards fulfill a need for speed". Computer-Aided Engineering. 14 (4). Penton Publishing: 46–48 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Staff writer (February 14, 1995). "New Securities Issues". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company: C2 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b Staff writer (February 4, 1997). "US computer company plans 40 high tech jobs for Belfast". Irish Times: 17 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Cable & Satellite Yearbook. 21st Century Publishing. 2000. p. 219 – via Google Books.
- ^ Staff writer (April 7, 1997). "STB Systems Acquires Symmetric Simulation". Electronic News: 28 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Garrison, Trey (August 29, 1997). "STB plans Synergy building". Dallas Business Journal. 21 (1): 4 – via Gale.
- ^ Morris, Chris (December 14, 1998). "3Dfx buys STB Systems". CNNMoney. AOL Time Warner. Archived from the original on November 20, 2001.
- ^ Green, Stephanie (May 31, 1999). "3dfx cuts its distributor ranks". Computer Reseller News (844). CMP Media: 119 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Turner, Daniel Drew (May 16, 2002). "The prince of polygons". Salon. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
External links
- Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived June 7, 1997)