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Quark (company)

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Quark Software, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryComputer software
Founded1981; 43 years ago (1981) in Denver, Colorado, United States
Founder
Headquarters
Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Martin Owen (CEO)
ProductsEnterprise content lifecycle management with Quark Publishing Platform NextGen, graphic design & desktop publishing with QuarkXPress, sales enablement & content intelligence with Quark Docurated
ServicesSaaS
OwnerParallax Capital Partners
Websitewww.quark.com

Quark Software Inc. (founded 1981 in Denver, Colorado) is a privately owned software company which specializes in enterprise publishing software for automating the production of customer communications. The company's original goal was to "create software that would be the platform for publishing", just as quarks are the basis for all matter.[1]

The company is best known for its desktop page layout and design software, QuarkXPress, although this has now become secondary to its other products and services.[1]

History

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Quark was founded with $2,000 in 1981 in Denver, Colorado, U.S. Between 1981 and 1985, their primary products were Word Juggler and Catalyst.[2] Word Juggler was the first word processor on the Apple III. Catalyst was a program that was distributed bundled with the Apple IIe, and allowed users to run floppy disk–based applications from their hard drive. They also attempted a product line called "Quark Peripherals", but the market for storage devices at the time resulted in a huge financial loss. The devices released, the "QC10" and "QC20", were 10 and 20MB hard disk drives, respectively, that could be used with the Apple IIe or IIc, the Apple /// or III+, or the Macintosh (notably, via the Macintosh's floppy disk drive port). The QC10 retailed for US$1,295.00 in October 1985.

Logo used c. 1987 to c. 2000
Logo used from c. 2000 to 2005

In March 1987, Quark released QuarkXPress 1.0, which due to its precision quickly gained market share from Aldus PageMaker. With the release of QuarkXPress 3.0 in 1990, Quark quickly achieved a dominant position in the desktop publishing market and became the standard for desktop publishing. By the end of the 1990s, it had gathered a market share of around 90%.

In the late 1990s, Quark faced intense criticism for slow innovation cycles, high prices, and a poor response to customer needs. Therefore, many customers welcomed the release of Adobe InDesign in 1999 as a viable alternative. The release of Adobe Creative Suite in 2003, essentially including InDesign with Photoshop and Illustrator, resulted in ongoing market share loss for QuarkXPress.

As a result, under the new leadership of Raymond Schiavone, Quark started to refocus its resources towards the enterprise dynamic publishing market (now Content Automation), announcing a new strategy in March 2008.[3][4]

Quark acquired A Lowly Apprentice Productions (ALAP), which provides extended technology for the publishing and graphic design industries, in 2005.[5][6]

In 2008, Quark Software acquired an XML editor vendor In.vision Research Corporation.[7] It also acquired Gluon in 2010, a New Jersey–based software company that develops tools for the corporate and publishing industries.[8][9]

On May 29, 2012, Quark acquired Mobile IQ, with digital publishing technology for tablet devices named PressRun, later renamed to App Studio.[10]

In 2017, Quark acquired Docurated, a New York–based creator of sales and marketing software. for an undisclosed amount. Docurated’s CEO and founder Alex Gorbansky joined Quark’s executive team.[11]

In 2022 the company opened new offices in Birmingham, UK, and Dublin, Ireland.

Quark was listed in 2023 UK’s Best Workplaces in Tech list[12] and won Bronze Stevie Award in the Content Management Solution category in the 21st Annual American Business Awards.[13]

Ownership and management

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Quark was founded under the name "Quark Engineering" in 1981 by Tim Gill and Mark Pope.[14] In 1986, Fred Ebrahimi joined Quark as CEO and co-owner. In 1990, Mark Pope sold his share of the company to the other partners. In 2000, Tim Gill left Quark and sold all his shares to Ebrahimi.[15]

Logo used from 2005[16] to 2006
Logo used from 2006[17] to 2017

In keeping with its India focus, Quark appointed Kamar Aulakh, a Quark veteran of Indian origin, as its CEO in February 2004. In June 2005, Quark informed its employees that Aulakh was no longer with the company.[18][19]

At the end of 2006, Fred Ebrahimi gave all his shares of Quark Inc. to his children, with his daughter Sasha Ebrahimi taking the position of chairman.[20][21]

On November 1, 2006, Quark appointed Raymond Schiavone, former CEO of Arbortext, as its new CEO.[22][23]

On August 9, 2011, the Ebrahimi family sold all their shares to Platinum Equity, a California-based private equity firm.[24]

Logo used from 2017 to 2021

Parallax Capital Partners subsequently acquired Quark Software Inc. from Platinum Equity on July 12, 2017, stating their intentions to invest in growing the company's new content automation business through organic growth and acquisitions.[25]

On June 1, 2021, Quark appointed Martin Owen, former SVP of Products at Erwin (now Quest Software), as its new CEO.[26]

Products

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Quark's first products were word processing software for the Apple II and Apple III.[1] In 1987, it released its best known product, QuarkXPress, for Apple Macintosh. In 1992, it also released the product for Microsoft Windows.

In the 1990s, QuarkXPress 3.x gained around 90% market share of page layout applications. Its editorial workflow system, called Quark Publishing System, sold almost a thousand times to magazines and newspapers.

The company announced a picture editing application, QuarkXPosure, which was never released, and a multimedia authoring add-on XTension for QuarkXPress, QuarkImmedia. Neither is part of Quark's portfolio anymore. The company briefly purchased and marketed a standalone multimedia authoring program, mTropolis, before discontinuing it in the late 1990s.

Quark acquired two companies creating add-ons for QuarkXPress and InDesign, ALAP in 2005[27] and Gluon in 2010.[9]

Reflecting a shift towards Web-based word-processing tools such as Office 365 and Google Docs, in November 2014, Quark announced the release of a new authoring tool, Quark Author.[28]

Current software products
Name Icon Type
Quark Publishing Platform NextGen Enterprise content lifecycle management and content automation platform
Quark Docurated Sales enablement and content intelligence platform
Quark XML Author XML-based structured content authoring editor for Microsoft Word
Quark Author XML-based structured content authoring editor for Web browsers
QuarkXPress Graphic design and desktop publishing tool
QuarkXPress CopyDesk Collaborative editorial and publishing workflows for streamlining and automating copy and design processes
Quark App Publishing Studio Convert print publications into web and native IOS and Android Apps

References

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  1. ^ a b c "About Quark Software Inc. – Company History". Quark. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  2. ^ Lineback, Nathan. "Quark Catalyst 3.0 Screen Shots".
  3. ^ "Quark Announces Dynamic Publishing Solution: Fills Much Needed Gaps in End-to-End Publishing Void". The Content Wrangler. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
  4. ^ "The Content Wrangler » Blog Archive » Quark Announces Dynamic Publishing Solution: Fills Much Needed Gaps in End-to-End Publishing Void". 2009-11-06. Archived from the original on 2009-11-06. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  5. ^ "Quark Buys ALAP". The Mac Observer. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  6. ^ "Quark Acquires a Lowly Apprentice Productions". adage.com. 2005. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  7. ^ "MacNN | Quark acquires In.vision for XML document handling". 2008-08-05. Archived from the original on 2008-08-05. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  8. ^ "Quark acquires hyperpublishing technology". Bizcommunity. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  9. ^ a b Spence, Nick. "Quark acquires Gluon assets". Macworld. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  10. ^ "Quark Acquires Mobile IQ for Enterprise Digital Publishing".
  11. ^ Post, Tamara Chuang | The Denver (2017-12-06). "Quark Software buys New York software firm that makes it easier to find documents in the cloud". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  12. ^ "Working at Quark Software, Inc UK | Great Place To Work® UK". www.greatplacetowork.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  13. ^ "Product Management & New Product Awards | Stevie Awards". stevieawards.com. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  14. ^ "social sciences - Gill, Tim". glbtq. 1953-10-18. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  15. ^ "Quark, CEO part ways". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  16. ^ Vit, Armin (September 11, 2005). "Quark Reloaded". Speak Up. UnderConsideration.
  17. ^ Staff writers (March 16, 2006). "A New, New Logo for Quark". CreativePro.
  18. ^ "Quark CEO abruptly leaves post - CNET News". News.cnet.com. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  19. ^ "Quark CEO abruptly leaves post - CNET News". 2012-11-05. Archived from the original on 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  20. ^ Avery, Greg (2009-03-08). "Software firm Quark rebounds, tries for innovator status again - Denver Business Journal". Denver.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  21. ^ "Software firm Quark rebounds, tries for innovator status again - Denver Business Journal". 2012-09-28. Archived from the original on 2012-09-28. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  22. ^ "Quark names new CEO". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  23. ^ "Schiavone to Lead Quark Inc. | ClarkNet, the Clark School of Engineering Administrative Web Portal". clarknet.eng.umd.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  24. ^ Dove, Jackie. "Quark sold to merger and acquisition company". Macworld. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  25. ^ Chuang, Tamara. "Denver-based Quark Software's move to artificial intelligence attracts new owner". Denver Post. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
  26. ^ Owen, Martin. "Council Post: How Leadership Councils Fuel Long-Lasting Relationships". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  27. ^ "Quark Buys ALAP | News". The Mac Observer. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  28. ^ "Quark Software Launches Quark Author – The Smart Content Tool". PRWeb. 2014-11-18. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
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