Ref < Sun will probably evolve into a software company, rather than a hardware company >
I disagree. Sun may indeed drop its proprietary processor,but then it will become a hardware and software integrator par excellance. Its biggest strength is not the mediocre UltraSparc processor, but its ability to provide enterprise computing solutions.
In the 80's Sun was born using Motorola 68000 processor for its workstations, just like scores of other workstation companies. Sun's strength was its ability to seamlessly integrate the processor, the network and the software. When the 68000 family became to look shabby by early 90, Sun jumped on to the RISC bandwagon with its SPARC architecture. It claimed that the SPARC was an "open architecture" with several vendors, but in practice that was window dressing, and Sun monopolized the SPARC and made lots of money.
Now Sun is going to feel the heat from the Itanium and its follow ons. It has the volumes to pay for the development to further the SPARC, but it is not clear if the development efforts will yield a competitive product. It is much safer to jump to the Itanium, but will Sun's hubris allow that ?
IBM should have an even bigger ego, but has played it safe by riding both horses. The internal PowerPC architecture, and the Itanium. IBM's faceless beaucrats are not taking any chances, and are hedging their bets. Sun strategy is based more upon McNeely's colorful gunslinger personality. For the time he claims that will go down fighting, but I wont be surprised if he does an about face. |
