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

To: E_K_S who wrote (13126)	1/7/1999 11:34:00 AM
From: E_K_S	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

Dell Regains #1 Ranking from Sun Microsystems in Technology Business Research, Inc. 3Q98 CBQ Ranking; Compaq Regains 3rd Place After Dropping to 6th Last Quarter HAMPTON, N.H. (Jan. 7) BUSINESS WIRE -Jan. 7, 1999--For the past year, Dell Computer (Nasdaq:DELL) and Sun Microsystems (NYSE:SUNW) have competed closely for the #1 spot in TBR's (www.tbri.com) Computer Business Quarterly (CBQ) rankings. Sun had previously dominated the top spot before losing out to Dell for the first time in the fourth quarter of 1997, regaining the top spot in the second quarter of 1998. The drop in Sun's score this quarter is due to a seasonally weaker third calendar quarter, coupled with Sun's struggle to compete with the NT workstations on the low-end, allowing Dell to regain the top spot. CBQ Benchmark Index for Third Quarter 1998 3Q98 Rank 2Q98 Rank 2Q98 3Q98 --------- --------- ---- ---- #1 Dell 2 7.02 6.93 #2 Sun 1 7.17 6.77 #3 Compaq 6 5.27 6.19 #4 Gateway 3 5.71 5.77 #5 Hewlett-Packard 4 5.37 5.54 #6 Micron 5 5.28 5.29 #7 IBM 8 4.88 5.18 #8 Data General 7 4.97 5.05 #9 Apple 10 4.72 4.90 #10 Silicon Graphics 11 4.57 4.55 #11 Toshiba America 9 4.77 4.50 #12 Acer Group 14 4.38 4.49 #13 NCR 11 4.57 4.39 #14 Vobis 13 4.56 4.37 #15 Packard Bell NEC 15 4.37 4.26 #16 Unisys 16 4.27 3.89 Source: TBR After dropping to 6th place last quarter with its acquisition of Digital Equipment Corp. while still feeling the after-effects of stuffing the reseller channel, Compaq (NYSE:CPQ) vaulted back to 3rd place this quarter. However, TBR believes that Compaq will continue to be challenged by the task of integrating two disparate corporate cultures, with the next several quarters proving Compaq's success or failure in this endeavor. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HWP) dropped to the 5th spot this quarter from 4th last quarter, while Gateway (NYSE:GTW) dropped to the 4th spot this quarter from the 3rd last quarter due to Compaq's return to the top three. IBM (NYSE:IBM) moved up in rank as well, taking the 7th spot from Data General (NYSE:DGN), as a result of improved operational efficiencies, market share gains, and a business model strengthened by strong demand for the company's new mainframe products. Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) continued to improve its position as well, climbing to the #9 spot from #10 last quarter. With sales of the iMac driving market share gains, improved operational efficiency, and a business model boosted by strong margins, profits, and cash position, TBR believes that Apple is well positioned to begin generating year-to-year growth as it enters its fiscal year 1999. "The efficiency of the direct vendors and their ability to better understand and meet the needs of their customers is apparent this quarter with Dell, Gateway, and Micron (Nasdaq:MUEI) holding three of the top six spots," said TBR's Manager of Computer Business Quarterly, Lindy Lesperance. "Indirect vendors are continually looking for ways to capture the benefits of a direct customer relationship without sacrificing their relationships with their channel partners." TBR's highly quantitative, proprietary benchmarking methodology ranks the leading global computer vendors on a comparative basis every quarter, based on effective implementation of product strategy, marketing strategy, manufacturing strategy, and business model. TBR specializes in the competitive analysis of the major players in the global computing market through its industry standard Computer Business Quarterly (CBQ) benchmarking. Complete details are available to accredited journalists. For more information, please visit TBR's web site at www.tbri.com.