Convex Wants To Be A Full Fledged Heavyweight

For Convex Computer Corp., life has been one big blast since 1982, when it began building the first high-speed number-crunchers for engineering and science labs that couldn't afford $10 million supercomputers. Convex's minisupercomputers can do everything from design drugs to simulate car crashes, but they cost as little as $300,000. Their success has enabled Convex, based in Richardson, Tex., to outlive a raft of competitors, win some 400 customers, and grow to $209.3 million in sales last year.

Round Two. To keep revenues growing at 15% to 20% a year, Chief Executive Robert J. Paluck reckons he now must push into the larger, more demanding market for midrange supercomputers, which have up to five times the speed of minisupers. By now, companies such as Digital Equipment Corp. and IBM have responded to Convex' older machines by adding special hardware to their computers. But the move into full-fledged supercomputers puts Convex on a collision course with the industry's dominant force, Cray Research Inc. Cray, searching for growth, is also pushing into the midrange market--if only to keep Convex from winning customers who one day might want a full-size Cray. Late last year, Cray began shipping the Y-MP2E, a $3.3 million midrange super.