Cray facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Founded | 1972 as Cray Research, Inc. (current corporate entity founded in 1987 as Tera Computer Company) |
| Founder | Seymour Cray |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
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Key people
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Peter Ungaro (CEO) |
| Products | Supercomputers |
| Revenue |  $455.9 million (2018) |
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Operating income
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 -$74.2 million (2018) |
| -$71.6 million (2018) |
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| Total assets | $517.1 million (2018) |
| Total equity | $343.3 million (2018) |
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Number of employees
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1,282 (Dec 2015) |
| Parent | Hewlett Packard Enterprise |
Cray Inc. is an American company that makes supercomputers. It is now part of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Cray also builds systems for storing and analyzing huge amounts of data. As of June 2025, Cray supercomputers held the top three spots on the TOP500 list. This list ranks the most powerful supercomputers in the world.
The company was started in 1972 by a computer designer named Seymour Cray. It was first called Cray Research, Inc. Cray still makes some parts in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. This is where Seymour Cray was born and grew up. In 1996, another company called Silicon Graphics bought Cray Research. Then, in 2000, Tera Computer Company bought Cray and changed its name to Cray Inc. In 2019, Hewlett Packard Enterprise bought Cray Inc. for $1.3 billion.
Contents
How Cray Started and Grew
Early Days (1950–1972)
Seymour Cray began working with computers in 1950. He joined a company called Engineering Research Associates (ERA). There, he helped create an early computer called the ERA 1103. ERA later became part of another company, UNIVAC.
In 1960, Seymour Cray left ERA. He joined some former ERA employees who had started Control Data Corporation (CDC). He first worked at CDC's main office. But he found it hard to focus with many interruptions. So, he set up his own lab in his hometown of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Cray had great success at CDC. He designed powerful computers like the CDC 6600 and CDC 7600.
Cray Research and Cray Computer Corporation (1972–1996)
In the late 1960s, CDC faced money problems. This meant less funding for Cray's new computer project. In 1972, he was told his project would stop. So, Cray left to start his own company, Cray Research, Inc. He kept his research lab in Chippewa Falls. The business office was in Minneapolis.
The company's first product was the Cray-1 supercomputer. It was a huge success. It was much faster than any other computer at that time. The first Cray-1 was sold in just one month for $8.8 million. Seymour Cray then worked on the Cray-2. However, another team at the company developed the Cray X-MP. The Cray X-MP ended up being almost as fast as the Cray-2.
Seymour Cray later stepped down as CEO. He became an independent designer. In 1989, he started a new company called Cray Computer Corporation (CCC). He worked on the Cray-3 project there. This computer was special because it used a new material called gallium arsenide. But the world was changing, and the Cold War was ending. This meant fewer sales for very expensive supercomputers. Only one Cray-3 was ever sold. The company went out of business in 1995.
Cray Research kept developing other computers. They created the Cray X-MP, Cray Y-MP, Cray C90, and Cray T90. These computers were based on the original Cray-1 design. But they were much faster with more processors.
In the 1980s, new types of supercomputers appeared. These were called "massively parallel" computers. At first, Cray Research thought these were too hard to program. But Cray soon realized this was the future. The company then started a big project. This led to the Cray T3D and Cray T3E series. By 2000, Cray was one of the few supercomputer makers left.
Having a Cray computer was seen as very special. Crays were very expensive machines. Only a few were sold compared to regular computers. This made owning a Cray a sign of prestige. Cray Research even made special neckties. They had tiny flags of countries that owned Cray computers.
New, smaller supercomputers also came out. These were called "minisupercomputers." They were cheaper and competed with Cray's smaller machines. Cray bought one of these companies, Supertek, in 1990. They sold Supertek's S-1 machine as the Cray XMS. This line of computers later became the Cray J90 and Cray SV1. These were popular with smaller companies, like those in the oil exploration business.
In February 1996, Silicon Graphics (SGI) bought Cray Research for $740 million. SGI used some of Cray's technology. Their goal was to combine their own servers with Cray's supercomputers. But this goal was never fully reached. In October 1996, Seymour Cray passed away after a traffic accident. In 1998, under SGI, a new Cray model called the Cray SV1 was launched. On March 2, 2000, Cray was sold to Tera Computer Company. Tera Computer Company then changed its name to Cray Inc.
Cray Inc. After Tera Merger (2000–2019)
After the merger, the Tera MTA system was renamed the Cray MTA-2. It was not very successful. In 2002, Cray Inc. announced a new model, the Cray X1. This was a powerful supercomputer combining different technologies. In May 2004, Cray became a partner in a project. This project aimed to build one of the world's fastest computers. It was for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
In October 2004, Cray announced the Cray XD1. These were smaller, entry-level supercomputers. They used Advanced Micro Devices Opteron processors and ran Linux. The XD1 also used special chips called FPGAs. These chips could be programmed to help the main processors.
In 2004, Cray finished the Red Storm system. This was for Sandia National Laboratories. Red Storm became the basis for many successful Cray products. It had a new network design called SeaStar. This design became key for future Cray innovations. The Cray XT3 supercomputer was a commercial version of Red Storm.
On August 8, 2005, Peter Ungaro became Cray's CEO. In 2006, Cray introduced the Cray XT4. This system had better memory and newer processors. It also used an improved SeaStar2 communication chip.
In 2006, Cray also announced the Cray XMT. This system combined special multi-threaded processors with the SeaStar2 network. By using parts from the XT4, Cray could make this specialized system more affordably.
By 2009, Cray's largest computer system was the Cray XT5. It was at the Oak Ridge National Laboratories. This system, called Jaguar, had over 224,000 processing cores. It was the fastest computer in the world at the time. It was the first system to continuously perform over 1 petaflops. (A petaflop means one quadrillion calculations per second!)
In May 2010, the Cray XE6 supercomputer was announced. This system had a new network called Gemini. It was a successful follow-up to earlier XT products. In 2011, Cray announced the Cray XK6 hybrid supercomputer. This system could combine Cray's Gemini network with AMD processors and Nvidia graphics processors. In October 2012, Cray announced the Cray XK7. The ORNL Jaguar system was upgraded to an XK7. It was renamed Titan. Titan was the world's fastest supercomputer until 2013.
In 2011, Cray also won a big contract. It was to build the Blue Waters system for the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. This system was delivered in 2012. It was the largest system Cray had built so far. In November 2011, Cray also started selling the Cray Sonexion 1300 Data Storage System. This marked Cray's entry into high-performance data storage.
In April 2012, Cray sold its network hardware development program to Intel for $140 million. On November 9, 2012, Cray bought Appro International, Inc.. Appro was a company that built advanced supercomputing systems. In 2012, Cray also opened a branch in China.
Part of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (2019–Present)
On September 25, 2019, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) bought Cray for $1.3 billion. This purchase helped HPE become stronger in high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.
In October 2020, HPE won a contract to build a huge computer called LUMI. It is located in Kajaani, Finland. LUMI is an HPE Cray EX system. It can perform up to 550 petaflops. Once it is fully working, LUMI will be one of the fastest supercomputers in the world.
On June 28, 2022, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) started using new weather and climate supercomputers. These were two HPE Cray supercomputers. Each one can perform 12.1 petaflops.
On November 18, 2024, the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) showed off a new HPE Cray supercomputer. It is used for nuclear weapons analysis and fusion design. This supercomputer is at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). It was ranked #1 on the TOP500 supercomputer list in November 2024. HPE Cray supercomputers held 7 of the top 10 spots on that list, including #1, #2, and #3.
