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

To: THE WATSONYOUTH who wrote (31978)	5/16/2000 5:37:00 PM
From: Michael L. Voorhees	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 64865

<Itanium Win2000 threat> I really don't see this threat yet. We've been hearing about this for so long it sounds more like someone crying "wolf". Same old verbage just different messenger. Comparatively, WinTel is now in more of a corner than SUNW is or has been. Competitively, WinTel will always be somewhat of a threat but relatively they are probably at the lowest threat to SUNW that we have seen. Anitrust suit, major AMD penetration into INTC, behind the curve technology in InterNet services, lack of support for the programming language of the InterNET; Java, and yes Windows absolute pitifull product quality that continues to propogate into Win2000. SUNW's future outlook seems better than ever. And benchmarks, well if we go with benchmarks, Dec Alpha's would have been the market leader not INTC/M$FT. It will take IBM major market cycles to even have any real recognition whatsoever after the apparent abandonment (might I add at an extremely inopportune time) of the RS6000 systems. A possible client would have to ask "Well when are you going to abandom me the next time around?" IBM is oscillating (as well as MSFT) at MHZ levels around the market they want to pursue (ala testing the waters). SUNW is ahead of the curve and has market focus baby and that is what has paid off; i.e. no wasted clock cycles.

To: THE WATSONYOUTH who wrote (31978)	5/16/2000 5:57:00 PM
From: cheryl williamson	Respond to of 64865

Re: continuous downplay on the significance of processor performance on the ultimate commercial success of these systems is to me just plain ludicrous. Processor performance is indeed an important criteria for the ultimate success of any enterprise system, but so are service, support, reliability, availability, O/S quality, applications platforms, future company direction, etc. etc. etc. Example: If DELL came out with enterprise class servers that were whiz-bang on the performance stats would YOU risk your entire e-commerce enterprise on them???? What good is a speedy cpu & cache if you can't get anyone on the line to fix the O/S bugs, or show up on-site with QUALITY SE's to fix your network problems??? I could go on and on with this, but you get the point. You must realize that PC's have always been sold on the basis of hot-rod stats because they have always been boxes for hobbyists and gamers. Business and enterprise computing is a different market altogether, so the rules of entry and engagement are qualitatively different. Does Sun have competition? Yes. Who? Primarily IBM and somewhat HP. Now CPQ is throwing its hat into the ring (they're no threat to Sun just yet). Will Sun lose some sales to IBM? Sure. Will it be only because of CPU price/performance stats. I doubt it. Will Sun win some sales from IBM? Sure. Will it be only because of superior RAS?? I doubt it. Sun can't sit around and charge big bucks for systems that run too slow to meet the capacity demands of high-end customers any more than anyone else. You see, the key to success is brand recognition. Right now Sun's is golden. It's golden because they have worked extra hard for years to get there. This means that existing and prospective customers believe that, no matter what IBM,HWP, or CPQ come up with, Sun will have an adequate answer for. Right now the server market is Sun's to lose. If they execute as they have in the past, the stock price will reflect the steady 25-35% increase in year-over-year profits and not get any more expensive than it is now. One more thing. Please don't debase your otherwise good posts by mentioning W2K in the same sentence with Solaris. cheers, cherylw