Viking Goes Generic in Ireland; Access360 Names New Director
Newport Beach brothers Chad and Ryan Steelberg last year launched free high-speed Internet provider Winfire Inc. and closed it down a little more than a year later. Now the defunct company’s customers are still holding the bag. Even though Winfire recently released the rights to the digital subscriber lines,which the company held on to a month after shutting down,many customers can’t get any other DSL service.
California’s Public Utilities Commission said it has received numerous complaints about the now defunct Winfire, which initially sought to provide free DSL and offset the cost with advertising revenue.
“I’ve called everyone I can think of and no one can do anything because they own the lines,” said one former Winfire customer before the belated release of the lines. He said he heard of at least one case being built against Winfire, but had scant details.
Though it might seem like a “Twilight Zone” episode, it’s the same old story of a failed Internet venture. Winfire,formerly called FreeDSL,sent a buzz through the market when it said it could offer free DSL service. Six months later, the company had only opened up service to a few markets as it ran into the same problems that pay DSL services run into: line provisioning, customer problems, overwhelming costs. Recently, Winfire’s parent company,Steel Enterprise Holdings,announced it would be selling off its assets and would focus on using the company’s software
The last month has been anything but normal for the Steelbergs. The media-friendly OC duo simply dropped off the map, shutting down access to the Winfire and Steelberg Enterprise Holdings Web sites, cutting off phone systems and not releasing customers’ lines, leaving customers fuming.
But the Steelbergs’ once high-profile image lives on. In the current issue of Orange Coast magazine, the Sports Club/Irvine re-ran an ad featuring the buff brothers. In the spot, the two list their next goals as “redefining the way the world accesses information through the Internet” and “to develop new technology to change the world.”
Viking Shipments Climb
Selling to big business is a good way to make big bucks,at least that’s how Viking Components Inc. sees it. In the past year, the Rancho Santa Margarita-based maker of computer memory products started selling to the business market and recently reported a 250% increase in generic memory shipments.
“The generic memory market is a billion-dollar opportunity for us and we are committed to capitalizing on our growth last year and gaining even more market share this year,” said Mike Nubel, vice president of marketing at Viking.
The fact that Viking’s most commoditized product segment is growing is no doubt good news as other memory makers say the market is softening. So pleased is Viking’s management, the company decided to shift an entire factory in Ireland to exclusive production of the generic memory.
“We refer to this shift in manufacturing as a focus factory approach, meaning Viking’s Ireland facility is now solely responsible for pumping out the high-volume generic memory that we see increased demand for,” said Tom McKinley, Viking’s vice president of manufacturing. “Not only is this focused factory approach a more cost-effective and efficient way to manufacture generics, but it also frees up our U.S. manufacturing.”
Even though Viking has seen an increase in shipments, the company is receiving less money for the memory products it makes. Viking and others have been dealing with a glut of memory since last summer, which has made prices drop by as much as 40%. Still, the company has said its goal is to gain market share.
New Execs
A former executive with the Samueli foundation has joined Irvine-based Broadband Interactive Group as chief executive. Andrew R. Coulson recently had been with the Broadband Interactive as a consultant.
Prior to that, Coulson spent six years as vice president of systems and operations at Monitor Labs, a technology manufacturing and software company. He also spent 11 years at TRW Electronic Systems Group, in tech engineering management, operations and quality assurance. Coulson, who lives in Laguna Hills with his wife and two sons, holds a bachelor’s and master’s in physics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
In other executive news, software maker Access360 recently appointed Drew Hoffman to its board of directors. Hoffman co-founded productivity software maker AristaSoft Corp., where he serves as president, chief executive officer and chairman.
“In addition to having a strong management team with a clear vision and strategy, I believe that Access360’s innovative solution will allow it to continue to be a pace-setter in its market,” Hoffman said in a statement. “I am honored to be a member of its board.”
