BN 8/28 JavaSoft Head Sees Detente With Microsoft: Bloomberg Forum
New York, Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- JavaSoft President Alan
Baratz said his unit of Sun Microsystems Inc. can work easily
with rival Microsoft Corp., even though both companies aim to
dominate the Internet.
With so many software companies licensing Java -- the
computer language designed to run on any operating system or
computer device -- it's unlikely that a rival language will
emerge, he said.
Java is the two-year-old Internet programming language
developed by Sun Microsystems that has become the world leader
for new Internet applications with connections to 70 million
computers, Baratz said.
``It's hard to imagine the risk of a Java killer,'' Baratz
told the Bloomberg Forum. ``All the major computer companies and
software companies are licensees of ours, including Microsoft.''
Since December 1995 -- about nine months after Sun started
shipping Java and establishing it as the centerpiece of Internet
applications -- Microsoft has tried to recast itself to exploit
Internet applications. Its effort to make Windows NT a standard
for networked computers hasn't achieved the same acceptance as
either Java or the Unix systems that operate on all Sun
computers, analysts said.
`Creating Value'
JavaSoft, based in Cupertino, California, is one of several
independently managed business units of Sun, which is based in
Mountain View, California.
``We are creating value for Sun Microsystems in a number of
ways,'' including a harmonious licensing and royalty arrangement
with Microsoft, Baratz said.
He declined to say how much of Sun's fiscal 1997 revenue of
$8.59 billion was attributable to his unit.
Analysts estimate that for the fiscal year ended June 30,
all Sun software revenue, including JavaSoft, rose 25 percent to
about $600 million. Daniel Kunstler of J.P. Morgan Securities
estimates that figure will rise 30 percent this year to as much
as $780 million, or about 7.5 percent of the parent's overall
revenue.
Baratz, 41, who holds Ph.D. degrees in both electrical
engineering and computer science, said JavaSoft should be valued
for the totality of its products.
That business is comprised of licensing Java to more than
150 companies, control of the software in Sun's below-$1,000
JavaStation computers and new Java semiconductors, which have
been licensed to Siemens AG and others for ``smart'' cards for
phones and consumer electronics.
Universal Platforms
JavaSoft, formally established in January 1996, about nine
months after Sun started shipping Java, is just starting to
deliver its potential, Baratz said.
New initiatives include an applications center with
International Business Machines Corp. and Netscape Communications
Corp. to ensure that all new software is Java-compatible, he
said. The goal is to design Java into all future IBM and Netscape
products, assuring a stream of licensing and royalty income.
Other licensees like Novell Inc. have selected Java as the
basis for all future networking software, he said.
Microsoft, like any licensee, will also get future upgrades
of Java, the president said. Because its software is based on a
``write-once, run anywhere'' foundation that means Java can
operate on every type of computer, it's hard to imagine Microsoft
trying to develop a rival.
``There's a very big difference'' between JavaSoft and
Microsoft, said Baratz, who ran News Corp.'s Delphi Internet
division before assuming his current position. ``Microsoft
Windows is a very closed, proprietary design and development
methodology whereas Sun is very open, a very independent,
participative philosophy.''
JavaSoft still relies upon Sun's resources for development,
sales and services, making a spinoff unlikely, Baratz said.
``I can't see any good reason for JavaSoft to operate
independently,'' he said.
--David Zielenziger in the New York newsroom (212) 318-2304/esk |
