SUNW and UNIX....
techweb.com
Race
Jan Stafford
PALO ALTO, CALIF.-Sun Microsystems Inc. is king of the hill in Unix server shipments and is likely to reign as long as Unix survives, according to Giga Information Group, Cambridge, Mass. Thanks to lapses in their mid-'90s Unix strategy, Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp. lost Unix server market share. Although HP and IBM have pumped up their Unix server performance and marketing, they won't be stealing share from Sun, analysts say.
Sun captured 30 percent of overall Unix server units sold in 1998, up from 9.6 percent in 1996, according to market research firm Dataquest Inc., San Jose. Meanwhile, HP's share dropped from 18.3 percent to 17.5 percent between 1996 and 1998. IBM's share dropped from 13.4 percent in 1996 to 12.8 percent in 1998.
From this point on, Unix sales will remain flat at roughly 700,000 units through 2002, Dataquest projects. Expect the status quo in market share, too. "At this point, any Unix platform market share lost is gone for good," says Rob Enderle, a Giga analyst.
Sun cemented its place as Unix leader by "executing its road map very well," says Enderle. Sun has consistently pumped up performance of its Unix servers, its workstations and its Solaris operating system. It has also successfully marketed its Unix as an e-business solution, analysts say. As a result, Sun's stock has risen this year from the 50s to the 80s.
HP took its eye off Unix as it focused on an Intel IA-64 transition and Microsoft Windows NT-based server strategy. Bill Russell, HP Enterprise Computing executive vice president and COO, admits HP was late to market with its high-end V-Class Unix servers. The V-Class did help HP recover income lost in 1997 and beat Sun by 2.8 percent in Unix revenue in 1998.
While developing and promoting AS/400e and the Netfinity NT-based server line, "IBM let RS/6000 performance lag behind," says Richard Fichera, a Giga analyst. IBM RS/6000 general manager Rod Adkins admits RS/6000 "failed many times to deliver on its road map," but promises "no more product gaps."
The best bet for Sun foes is Linux, says Enderle. Dataquest sees Linux server sales rising from 67,000 in '98 to more than 389,000 in 2002.
techweb.com
. I decided I needed a better storage management system, like the one Tivoli Systems is expected to introduce this week.
STK holders want to sell the co.?
dailynews.yahoo.com
biz.yahoo.com
Dell and Sun Microsystems Tie for Top Spot in Technology Business Research, Inc. 2Q99 CBQ Ranking
#1 Dell (Nasdaq: DELL - news) #1 6.72 6.64
#1 Sun (Nasdaq: SUNW - news) #2 6.69 6.64
#3 Compaq (NYSE: CPQ - news) #3 6.36 6.25
#4 Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HWP - news) #5 5.72 5.72
#5 Unisys (NYSE: UIS - news) #10 4.64 5.67
#6 IBM (NYSE: IBM - news) #4 5.78 5.56
#7 Gateway (NYSE: GTW - news) #6 5.64 5.37
#7 Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL - news) #7 5.31 5.37
#9 SGI (NYSE: SGI - news) #12 4.58 5.27
#10 Data General (NYSE: DGN - news) #8 5.11 4.99
#11 Micron (Nasdaq: MUEI - news) #9 4.92 4.78
#12 Toshiba America #11 4.62 4.75
#13 Acer Group #13 4.41 4.64
#14 Packard Bell NEC |
