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Evergreen Technologies

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Evergreen Technologies, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryComputer
Founded1989; 35 years ago (1989) in Corvallis, Oregon
Defunct2005; 19 years ago (2005)
FateDissolution
Number of employees
70 (1997)

Evergreen Technologies, Inc., was a privately owned computer company active from 1989 to 2005 that manufactured a wide variety CPU upgrade chips for x86-based personal computers.[1] Based in Corvallis, Oregon, the company enjoyed a heyday in the 1990s, becoming a market leader in the CPU upgrade segment.[2]: 80 

History

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Evergreen Technologies's 486 SuperChip from 1992

Evergreen Technologies was founded in 1989 by Kenneth "Mike" Magee in Corvallis, Oregon.[3][2]: 80  Before founding Evergreen, Magee previously worked as vice president of Software Support Services, a Corvallis-based software vendor; he had also previously founded M.S. Systems, Inc., a computer store in Corvallis.[4][5]: C1  The company's first product, a CPU upgrade module that allowed motherboards with Intel 80286 processors to be upgraded to i386 processors, first shipped in May 1990. In 1992, Evergreen introduced the 486 SuperChip, a CPU upgrade module featuring Cyrix's Cx486 processor that allowed 286-class machines to achieve close to i486-level performance.[6] Evergreen later signed a contract with IBM allowing the latter to capitalize on Evergreen's patents and circuit-board layouts for their 486 upgrade modules, in 1994.[7]

At their heyday in the 1990s, Evergreen's largest competitors included Intel themselves, with their i486 and Pentium OverDrive chips, and Kingston Technology, with their TurboChip.[2]: 76  Sales in Evergreen's upgrade modules grew 159-fold between 1993 and 1998;[3] the company sold roughly 40 percent of their products to international buyers.[4]: C1  By mid-1997, Evergreen had expanded to possess four buildings in Corvallis, a manufacturing plant in Portland, Oregon, a sales office in New York City and a regional office in Swindon, England.[4]: C1  Between all locations, the company employed roughly 70 workers in that year.[4]: C1–C2 

In early 1999, the company introduced the AcceleraPCI (codenamed the EclipsePCI), an upgrade expansion card allowing motherboards with the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus—with processors ranging from late-model DX4s to Pentiums to Pentium Pros—to be outfit with P6-based Celeron processors.[8][9] Development of the AcceleraPCI was Evergreen's most expensive undertaking to date and was highly publicized in the tech press.[3][8]

Evergreen went defunct in 2005.[10]

References

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  1. ^ Rosch, Winn L. (November 8, 1994). "Evergreen Technologies Inc.: Rev to 486; Rev to DX4". PC Magazine. 13 (19). Ziff-Davis: 146 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b c Jefferson, Steve; Andy Nelson (July 8, 1996). "Salvaging sunken chips". InfoWorld. 18 (28). IDG Publications: 72–88 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b c Williams, Elisa (December 28, 1998). "Evergreen: Vision spurs perennial success". The Oregonian: D2. Archived from the original on December 11, 1999.
  4. ^ a b c d Moeller, Katy (June 23, 1997). "Cashing In on Chips". Corvallis Gazette-Times: C1, C2 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Anderson, Ronald E.; David R. Sullivan (1988). World of Computing. Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 184. ISBN 9780395435540 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Fisher, Susan E. (May 11, 1992). "Evergreen module brings 486SX power to 286 users". PC Week. 9 (19). Ziff-Davis: 33 – via Gale.
  7. ^ "Tech Week". The Oregonian: E2. November 11, 1994 – via ProQuest.
  8. ^ a b Joyce, Edmund K. (December 30, 1998). "Big speed, tiny package". The Sacramento Bee: C3 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Ung, Gordon Mah (December 2000). "Upgrading for the Lazy". Maximum PC. 5 (12). Future Publishing: 83 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ "Evergreen Technologies, Inc". OpenCorporates. n.d. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023.
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