55 Laid Off at Calcomp; Slow Sales Blamed

Citing slower than anticipated sales of its computer graphics equipment, Calcomp announced Friday that it has laid off 55 of the 1,500 workers at its Anaheim manufacturing plant.

The layoffs, the first at Calcomp since the 1981 recession, offer yet another example of the woes that computer and high-tech manufacturers throughout the country are suffering as sales and profit margins decline.

Calcomp President William P. Conlin said that although the company’s sales have increased throughout the year, they are lower than originally forecast. As a result, the company said it had laid off 55 manufacturing workers who had been hired in anticipation of a higher sales volume. A spokesman explained that shipment of several large orders had been delayed at the customers’ request.

Information on sales and earnings for Calcomp, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sanders Associates Inc. in New Hampshire, are not separately reported.

Because Orange County has such a high concentration of high-tech companies, the computer industry’s problems have caused a fair number of layoffs locally.

Earlier this week, Apple Computer Inc. confirmed that 75 workers at its two Orange County facilities were being laid off. Last week Printronix Inc., an Irvine manufacturer of computer printers, released 50 workers, bringing the number of Printronix employees laid off this year to 250.