Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stormweaver who wrote (18022)	7/21/1999 9:36:00 PM
From: Byron Xiao	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 64865

James, with all the ISP-subscription-based-free-PC coming out, I bet that in couple years, the percentage will be 95-98%. But the important fact is that the profit margin on that market is shrinking. You make money on the server side, you make money with the services. There aren't much money to be made on the client side hardware. MSFT is a good investment because they get charge any boxmaker who puts its windows OS on its hardware. Now, with all these free PC coming out, don't you think these box-makers will try to avoid paying cost for the OS and starting to put the FREE Linux OS on those boxes??? Isn't that a threat to MSFT? If 20-30% of the new boxes shipped with Linux, wouldn't MSFT feel the pressure and have to lower its OS price and profit margin? I am working for a triving Internet company in the same building as Amazon.com here in downtown Seattle. My company is going IPO next week. I have heard too many Amazon folks reminded me my large chunk of stock options are worth nothing now. I can't wait to shut them up. But what they say are true, 100% of nothing is still nothing. Let's do the math James: If each client box costs $1000, and your profit margin is $50, and 98% of the market are client boxes; if each server box costs $20000, and the profit margin is 50%, but you only have 2% of the market, then out of each 50 boxes in the world, client box makers make 49x50=$2450, server box makers make $10000. Pretty obvious to me that SUNW is staying on the right business.