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Prometheus Products, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryComputer
FoundedJanuary 1981; 45 years ago (1981-01)
FounderRobert D. Christiansen
DefunctJanuary 1996; 30 years ago (1996-01)
FateAcquired by Sierra Semiconductor in October 1994; divested and dissolved in 1996
Products
  • Modems
  • Sound cards

Prometheus Products, Inc. was an American computer peripheral manufacturer active from 1981 to 1996. The company primarily manufactured modems and sound cards for personal computers for the bulk of its existence.

History

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Prometheus Products was incorporated in Fremont, California, in January 1981.[1] It was principally founded by Robert D. Christiansen, who was named both president and head of marketing.[2][3][4] The company was founded to capitalize on Apple II home computers by providing peripherals and other add-on products. In 1984, the company began focusing on the production of modems, following a breakthrough in modem design developed within Prometheus that allowed the relatively inexpensive Intel 8031 to be used as a digital signal processor. This replaced the need for numerous analog devices for signal processing circuits customary in modem design at the time.[1][5]: 197 

In 1984, the company's board of directors hired Tom McShane as chairman of the company;[1][5]: 197  he shortly after expanded the company to occupy two buildings, including a production factory and a research and development company, within Fremont.[1] Prometheus was en route to generating $7 million in sales in 1987 and was one of the top 10 modem manufacturers ranked by global sales.[5]: 197  Between 1987 and 1989, the company relocated out of state to Tigard, Oregon.[5]: 198 [6]

In November 1987, the company was sued by Hayes Microcomputer Products over alleged infringement of the Heatherington '302 patent, which defined the Time Independent Escape Sequence modem protocol used Hayes's Smartmodems and which was adapted by Prometheus's modems.[7] The protracted lawsuit was settled out of court in January 1991, with Prometheus agreeing to license the technology from Hayes and pay licensing back-fees.[8]

In 1992, the company merged with Technology Concepts, Inc., a manufacturer of computer peripherals, mainly fax and enhanced voice modems but also computer keyboards, based in Belmont, California.[9][10] Prometheus relocated again to Tualatin, Oregon, by early 1994.[11]

In early 1994, the company introduced its first series of sound cards, the Aria 16 (comprising the flagship Aria 16 product and the Aria 16se featuring a SCSI-2 connector for connecting to optical drives). The Aria 16 was based on Sierra Semiconductor's Aria sound chipset featuring 32-polyphony wavetable synthesis and Sound Blaster–compatible FM synthesis. The Aria 16 was bargain priced but received decent reviews from the computer press of its day.[11] Prometheus' sound cards soon found use in prebuilt computer systems manufactured by IBM and DEC.[12] Creative Technology, the creators of Sound Blaster, sued Prometheus in 1994, alleging that Prometheus had falsely advertised the Aria 16 by claiming that it was "100% Sound Blaster compatible" on the retail box despite not reaching that standard of compatibility. In April that year, the two settled out of court, with Prometheus reprinting the boxes to instead claim "Sound Blaster emulation".[13]

Sales of Prometheus' modems cooled considerably in the early 1990s, the company trailing behind the growing pace of advancements in modem bit rates and hampered by quality control issues stemming for slow communication with their Taiwanese manufacturing contract.[14] In October 1994, Sierra Semiconductor purchased Prometheus Products in whole for an undisclosed sum of cash, making the company a subsidiary under Sierra while still operating out of Tualatin.[15] By the end of 1994, Christiansen stepped down as president.[13][16] He was replaced by Jack Murphy, who had recently left rival modem manufacturer Practical Peripherals earlier in the year. He assumed Christiansen's post in the first week of 1995.[16] Sierra tasked him with turning the company around; actions Murphy took included moving the company's manufacturing efforts stateside and shuffling the company's management to included his contacts from Practical Peripherals, Apple, and Tektronix.[14]

These actions were not enough to stem Prometheus' losses immediately, the subsidiary generating $4.6 million in losses on revenues of $19 million by late 1995. In January 1996, Sierra announced the divestiture and sale of Prometheus to the highest bidder.[17]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 "Prometheus relocates to Northport facility". Oakland Tribune: G-9. November 11, 1984 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ Staff writer (April 18, 1984). "Vendors". Computerworld. Vol. 18, no. 16A. IDG Publications. p. V-1–V-42 – via the Internet Archive.
  3. ↑ Microcomputer Market Place. Dekotek. 1985. p. 339. ISBN 9780911255010 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Robotics, CAD/CAM Market Place 1985. R.R. Bowker Company. 1985. p. 219. ISBN 9780835218207 – via Google Books.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Rosch, Winn L. (May 12, 1987). "Prometheus Products Inc". PC Magazine. 6 (9). Ziff-Davis: 197–200 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ "Modems/Multiplexers". Computerworld. XXIII (19). IDG Publications: 71. May 8, 1989 – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ Jones, Robert Snowdon (November 2, 1987). "Prometheus to Continue Hayes Patent Challenge". InfoWorld. Vol. 9, no. 44. IDG Publications. p. 15 – via Google Books.
  8. ↑ Staff writer (January 28, 1991). "Hayes, Prometheus Settle Patent Dispute". InfoWorld. Vol. 13, no. 4. IDG Publications. p. 52 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ "Technology Concepts, Prometheus merge". InfoWorld. 14 (15). IDG Publications: 43. April 13, 1992 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Welch, Nathalie (April 13, 1992). "Prometheus buys keyboard maker, fax manufacturer". MacWEEK. Vol. 6, no. 15. Ziff-Davis. p. 28. Gale A12059650 – via Gale.
  11. 1 2 Stone, M. David (August 1994). "Bargain-priced ARIA 16 sounds good enough to solo". Computer Shopper. 14 (8). SX2 Media Labs: 761 – via Gale.
  12. ↑ Erlanger, Leon (March 28, 1995). "Multimedia Components in Systems". PC Magazine. 14 (6). Ziff-Davis: 107 – via Google Books.
  13. 1 2 McKenna, Patrick (April 27, 1994). "Creative Labs settles with Prometheus/Computer Peripherals". Newsbytes. The Washington Post Company. p. NEW04270029. Gale A15337952.
  14. 1 2 Marks, Anita (June 30, 1995). "Is modem maker Prometheus now bound for glory?". Portland Business Journal: 1 – via Gale.
  15. ↑ "Sierra Semiconductor Buys Prometheus Products for Cash". Computer Business Review. New Statesman Media Group. October 10, 1994.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  16. 1 2 Searles, Jack (December 27, 1994). "Parent Company's Troubles Hit Practical Peripherals Hard". Los Angeles Times. Times Mirror Company. p. 12. ProQuest 292945874.
  17. ↑ "Parent company plans to place Prometheus Products on market". The Oregonian: B1. January 18, 1996. ProQuest 417043453.
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