SGI still not for sale, shock

Another day has dawned, and SGI is still intact, and despite rumours to the contrary, we stand by our original story. The only thing that has happened is that Keith Watson, the sales and marketing vp departed. Kenneth Coleman was made svp of Global sales, service and marketing on Tuesday, and Jan Silverman's appointment as vp marketing for the computer business unit was announced yesterday. Silverman previously led HP's Internet, OS, microprocessor and platform marketing efforts, and Coleman -- ten years ago -- was also at HP. With CEO Rick Belluzzo having come from HP as well, it's beginning to look like HP cronyism at SGI. Rumours of some outfit sniffing at SGI occur every six months or so (HP and IBM are the perennial favourites), but it is pretty unusual to have senior appointments like this made if some deal is in the offing. A source close to the company told us today that SGI's development of NT workstations could be of interest to other companies, but that sounded a bit like a plug to us. The rumours of senior execs walking out seem to be just that -- the exec rank at the ranch in Mountain View appears to be holding fast. There's still nothing solid behind the rumours, other than a normal oscillation in the SGI share price. If you've know any better, please get in touch with Graham Lea. ®