Fast 50 Updates

Affymetrix:
The life-sciences company had a rough financial year as the market for genome and RNA analyzers has waned. Rival Illumina, meanwhile, did well by selling gene sequencers.

Read the 2008 Fast 50 Profile

AirAsia:
The no-frills Malaysian airline has continued to buck industry trends, adding routes and keeping prices low, low, low -- but it also slipped to its first loss since going public in 2004.

Read the 2008 Fast 50 Profile

AKQA:
The digital-marketing wizards continued to rack up industry accolades. Among the cooler new projects is eco:Drive, a computer app with Italian carmaker Fiat that analyzes driving habits and trains people to become more fuel efficient.

Read the 2008 Fast 50 Profile

Alibaba:
The year 2008 was an active one for the Chinese e-commerce site: It beefed up security with a quality-supplier program and expanded operations in India, Japan, Taiwan, and beyond.

Read the 2008 Fast 50 Profile

Anomaly:
The ad agency–cum–product incubator had flat revenues and scaled back ambitions for its offspring, Another Anomaly. However, the model did find some success: A women's shaving-cream venture called Eos landed in more than 100 Target stores.

Read the 2008 Fast 50 Profile

Arup:
Continues to be involved with high-profile contracts, such as the new handball arena for the London 2012 Olympics and green projects like an energy-independent island off Shanghai.

Read the 2008 Fast 50 Profile

Ausra:
In October, with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on hand, the company opened its first solar-thermal plant in California -- a pilot project capable of powering about 3,500 homes (for half the cost of a traditional photo-voltaic solar plant). Ausra plans to open a full-scale plant in 2010.

Read the 2008 Fast 50 Profile

Autodesk:
The design-software giant may be cutting costs -- who isn't? -- but last November, Autodesk opened a major R&D center in Singapore's Fusionopolis tech complex. The company's Asia-Pacific business brings in almost a quarter of its total revenue.

Read the 2008 Fast 50 Profile

Baidu:
Last summer, Baidu became the world's third-largest search engine, behind Google and Yahoo. Then in November, a scandal hit: A Chinese state TV report accused the company of promoting paid advertisements -- from unlicensed medical-product suppliers, no less -- as legitimate search results. This on the heels of accusations that the company had censored information on tainted milk.

Read the 2008 Fast 50 Profile

BMW:
Not even Bimmer could escape a sales slump last year; the company is slashing production by 65,000 vehicles. But it's also showing a way forward with next-gen diesel engines and a suite of Efficient-Dynamics features, including regenerative brake power and an automatic stop-start function.

Read the 2008 Fast 50 Profile

Boeing:
The 787 Dreamliner is a hell of a step forward ... but it's also getting to be a hell of a delayed step, with delivery of the first plane now slated for 2010 -- nearly two years late.

Read the 2008 Fast 50 Profile