Sun continues to be one of the fastest growing server vendors in the industry,
according to the latest IDC research. The company achieved nearly 40 percent higher
revenue and shipments in Q3 CY98 than in the same period last year, and in the process
outpaced its nearest rivals in both the UNIX and total (UNIX, Microsoft Windows
NT and other platform) server markets. IDC identifies Sun as one of the fastest
growing vendors in several important segments of the total server market for Q3
CY98, posting leading revenue and units increases in the high-end category (systems
selling at $1 million and above), and fastest revenue increases in the midrange
category (systems priced from $100,000 to $1 million). In the red-hot entry-level
segment (systems under $100,000) of the total server market, Sun outpaced revenue
and shipment growth rates posted by competitors Compaq/Digital Equipment Corporation,
Hewlett-Packard and IBM.
After finishing 1997 as the year-end leader in UNIX shipments, Sun proceeded to
command top spots in a variety of server market categories in the first half of
1998, including first place in UNIX server revenue and shipments (Q2 CY98) and first
place in total-market midrange shipments (Q2 CY98) (2). Now in Q3, Sun's quarter-over-quarter
growth (Q3 CY98 versus Q3 CY97) has exceeded increases posted by nearest rivals
Compaq/DEC, H-P and IBM. For instance, IDC reports that Sun has shipped 54 percent
more UNIX servers than runner-up H-P in the year to date.
Sun's server momentum continues to accelerate in all key UNIX market categories,
due to its comprehensive family of servers that range in size from workgroup to
departmental to data center-level systems. Sun maintained its number one position
in the UNIX entry-level market this quarter, shoring up 26 percent share of revenue
and 25 percent share of units. On the other end of the spectrum, Sun also earned
first place in the UNIX high-end category this quarter, posting 54 percent quarter-over-quarter
growth in revenue and 120 percent growth in shipments. This growth has earned Sun
a leading 40 percent revenue share and 63 percent units share of the critical high-end
UNIX space.
"As the IDC numbers illustrate, Sun is continuing to enjoy great success providing
the most compatible, scalable and reliable line of business servers to the marketplace,"
said John Shoemaker, vice president and general manager of enterprise desktops and
servers for Sun. "In today's economy, where competitive advantage is often
a result of how well a company is able to leverage its IT infrastructure, it should
come as no surprise that companies are selecting the highly available Sun Enterprise
servers to provide continuous computing for their mission-critical business applications."
About the Sun Enterprise Server Family
The Sun Enterprise server family is a single, binary-compatible product line
featuring a range of servers that scale from one to 64 processors and are designed
for workgroup, departmental and data center computing environments. Sun Enterprise
servers provide an ideal platform for a variety of applications, including enterprise
resource planning, electronic commerce, data warehousing and customer management
systems.
In addition to the high-end Sun Enterprise 10000 (also known as StarfireTM) server
and the popular entry-level Sun Enterprise 450 workgroup server announced last year,
Sun this year launched a new line of midrange servers. The powerful Sun Enterprise
3500-6500 midrange servers are the first in their class to offer data center-level
RAS (reliability, availability, serviceability) capabilities with dynamic reconfiguration
and alternate pathing for online repair and configuration, which minimize both planned
and unplanned downtime.
The newest addition to the Sun Enterprise server family is the Sun Enterprise 250
workgroup server, announced in July of this year. The rack-ready Sun Enterprise
250 server delivers enterprise-class features in a cost-effective, dual-processor
configuration.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The ComputerTM"
has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW), to its position as a leading
provider of high quality hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide
intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $10 billion in
annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide
Web at http://www.sun.com.
(1) Source: "IDC Quarterly Server Tracker: Q3CY98," December 9, 1998,
International Data Corporation, Framingham, Mass.
(2) Source: "IDC Quarterly Server Tracker, September 1998," International
Data Corporation, Framingham, Mass. Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Sun Enterprise,
Starfire, Sun StorEdge, Solaris Operating Environment, "The Network Is The
Computer," and HotJava are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems,
Inc. in the United States and other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark in
the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open Company,
Ltd. @Macarlo, Inc. @Macarlo's Shareware & Web OS/2 Java Lobby Member
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