Giving away Star - business wise does it make sense ?
What makes sense business-wise for SUNW is coaxing the world into becoming more and more dependent on "big iron" and the ubiquitous computing model it supports. These guys are looking 2-4 years out. As shareholders we are used to attaching a lot of weight to Wall Street's view, where what's important is the next quarter, or the next week, or the next tick. Fortunately McNealy and Zander don't look exclusively at that. They have a good balance between the technology visionary's big picture and the CFO's micro-picture. That's why Sun is a good company and a good investment.
There are two interesting questions left by this maneuver (and whether Sun should attach a price to Star Office isn't one of them). They are a) How well will Sun execute on StarPortal, and b) How will Microsoft respond. The official first response, which was "This doesn't impact our plans at all, we think people will continue to want to pay for Office" was as transparent a cry of panic as you'll ever see in the computer business. If Sun had StarPortal shipping today, every Microserf in Redmond would be working around the clock to re-orient the company right this instant, just as they did when it dawned on Bill G. in 96 that he needed to get into the internet business and Microsoft turned on a dime in 90 days. Now, however, he has some time to sit back and see how well Sun executes on Star Portal. If he gets any hint from his G2 organization (and I don't mean PC Week) that it looks real, we will hear some kind of earthshaking pre-emptive about-face from Microsoft the same day. I don't think it's a question of "if" any more; the warning shot has been fired. This model is the future and Bill G. knows it. If Sun blows this opportunity, Reggie or somebody else will pick it up. With "if" eliminated, it's now up to Sun to answer the "when" question. Shareholders should hope the answer is "real soon".
These are exciting times.
Regards,
--QS |
