---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash MATSUSHITA TO BUILD COMPUTERS BASED ON SPARC/UNIX/OPEN LOOK/ONC SunFLASH Vol 24 #4 December 1990 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Company Will Also Purchase SPARC Systems From Sun MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. --December 5, 1990-- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., (MEI) plans to develop high-performance computer systems based on SPARC(R), a RISC microprocessor architecture designed by Sun Microsystems. MEI has chosen SPARC as its RISC architecture and will use it in products for the UNIX(R) systems and embedded controller markets. MEI's new desktop and laptop SPARC systems will run Sun's UNIX operating system, its networking standard, ONC(TM), and the intuitive OPEN LOOK(R) graphical user interface. These computers will conform to SPARC Compliance Definition (SCD) 1.0 from SPARC International, assuring compatibility with SCD-compliant SPARC systems from other vendors. The Japanese firm's SPARC computers will utilize MEI's expertise in multi-media technology. Meanwhile, the company's SPARC embedded controllers will be incorporated in its consumer electronics products, an area in which MEI leads the industry. Besides SPARC, MEI plans to license from Sun its operating system, SunOS(TM), JLE (Japanese Language Environment), a localized version of SunOS, OpenWindows(TM) (made up of OPEN LOOK, the X11/NeWS(TM) Window System and XView(TM) toolkit for designing OPEN LOOK applications) and ONC. Other software to be licensed includes C and FORTRAN compilers and the SPARC Development Kit, which helps companies design SPARC systems quickly and easily through Sun's SPARCsim(TM) simulator and other tools. MEI To Buy $150 Million in SPARC Systems From Sun MEI has also agreed to enter into a reseller contract valued at approximately $150 million to purchase Sun SPARCstation(TM) products within 3 years. MEI will use the computers internally and will resell them through its distribution channels in Japan. According to an MEI spokesperson, "Matsushita considers SPARC/UNIX/OPEN LOOK/ONC a major part of our future direction in the computer marketplace. This platform will allow us to develop products quickly and be assured of a large and growing market with the largest installed base and application software offering of any RISC architecture." "MEI's choice of SPARC further reinforces the SPARC architecture as the world's leading RISC microprocessor," said Scott McNealy, president and CEO of Sun. "MEI's endorsement of SPARC/UNIX/OPEN LOOK/ONC will bring this technology to an even broader marketplace." Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., is one of the world's most comprehensive manufacturers of electric and electronic equipment and ranks as the leader in the consumer electronics market in Japan. It manufactures products under the brand names of National, Panasonic, Quasar and Technics. This international corporation now encompasses approximately 200,000 employees, marketing its products in more than 160 countries. Sun Microsystems, Inc., a multi-national corporation, is the leading worldwide supplier of network-based distributed computing systems, including professional workstations, servers and UNIX operating system and productivity software. ### SPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International, Inc. SPARCstation, SPARCware, SPARCserver and SPARCsim are trademarks of SPARC International, Inc., licensed exclusively to Sun Microsystems, Inc. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based on an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. SunOS, ONC, X11/NeWS and XView are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX and OPEN LOOK are registered trademarks of UNIX Systems Laboratories, Inc. All other products or services mentioned in this document are identified by the trademarks or service marks of their respective companies or organizations. PR contact: Karen Rohack (415) 336-7841 Matsushita Electric Industrial Eiji Ando 011 816 908 0447 - Japan ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For information send mail to info-sunflash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. All prices, availability, and other statements relating to Sun or third party products are valid in the U.S. only. Please contact your local Sales Representative for details of pricing and product availability in your region. Descriptions of, or references to products or publications within SunFlash does not imply an endorsement of that product or publication by Sun Microsystems. John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. (305) 776-7770.