----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        The Florida SunFlash

  Sun Launches Low-Cost Color Promotion And Aggressive Trade-In Program
   
SunFLASH Vol 31 #15					           July 1991 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. --July 22, 1991-- Sun Microsystems today unveiled
two aggressive promotions that will make powerful RISC/UNIX(R)
computing in color irresistably affordable to a whole new class of
user.  Until December 31, 1991, a special cost-reduced version of the
popular desktop color SPARCstation(TM) IPC will be available for
$6,995.  This is $3,000 less than a Compaq Deskpro 386/25e* and about
one-half the price of a Deskpro 486/33L*, if these systems -- neither
of which can match IPC performance -- were configured similarly.  The
new price is fully discountable.

In addition, Sun is offering a special trade-in program aimed at its
installed based of non-SPARC(R) system users and at users of a variety
of competitive systems.  For $5,995 (fully discountable), customers
will be able to trade in a Sun-3(TM) or Sun386i(TM) system, or specific
systems from other companies to receive the promotional version of the
color SPARCstation IPC.  Competitive systems include UNIX workstations
from IBM, Hewlett-Packard/Apollo and DEC, and high-end PCs from IBM,
Compaq, HP and Apple.  This offer also provides an easy and inexpensive
path for non-SPARC users to get to SPARC and to UNIX System V Release
4, which will become the standard operating system shipped on all Sun
systems next year.

This promotional model is identical in performance to the existing
color SPARCstation IPC.  It has a 16-inch monitor that uses technology
allowing low cost, yet it offers the same resolution (1152 x 900) as
all other SPARCstations.

Introduced in July 1990, the SPARCstation IPC has become the world's
best-selling RISC desktop.  Performance of 13.4 SPECmarks (15.7 MIPS,
1.7 MFLOPS) and the easy-to-use OPEN LOOK(R)  graphical user interface
have made the SPARCstation IPC particularly popular with former PC
users who want the advantages of RISC and UNIX in an affordable desktop
package.  The system is SCD 1.0 compliant, assuring binary
compatibility of hardware and software for SPARC systems. It includes a
207-megabyte hard drive, 8 megabytes of memory, a 3.5-inch floppy drive
and a 16-inch color monitor and comes pre-loaded with the UNIX
operating system and OPEN LOOK.  Customers in a variety of commercial
and technical markets use the IPC for application packages such as
OrCAD, dBASE IV, Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect.

"We're doing just what we did with the monochrome Sun-3/50 several
years ago," said Larry Hambly, vice president of marketing at Sun.  "As
the first $5,000 workstation, the Sun-3/50 greatly expanded the market
for monochrome systems.  We believe an opportunity exists for a
powerful, low-cost Sun workstation to do the same thing for the much
larger color market.

"For less than many popular high-end color PCs, users can now get all
the added capabilities of a UNIX workstation," he said.  "Our low-cost
IPC gives us a great tool for penetrating the price-sensitive
commercial sector.  And our trade-in offer is an upgrade incentive for
our older installed base and even for our competitors' installed bases
as users look to migrate to newer technology."

Until the end of the year, Sun is also cutting prices on monochrome
IPCs, with a system with 17-inch monitor selling for $5,995 and a
19-inch monochrome IPC priced at $6,995.

Sun Microsystems is the world's leading supplier of client-server
computing solutions, which feature networked workstations and servers
that store, process and distribute information.

				###


Sun386i and Sun-3 are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc.  UNIX and
OPEN LOOK are registered trademarks of UNIX System Laboratories, Inc.
SPARCstation is a trademark and SPARC is a registered trademark of
SPARC International, Inc.  Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based
on an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All other
products mentioned herein are identified by the trademarks as
designated by the companies who market those products.

* Compaq systems configured with 8MB of memory, 120MB disk, floppy,
  keyboard, mouse, SCO Open Desktop, Ethernet card, 16" color monitor and
  frame buffer.

Press contacts:
John Loiacono (415) 336-6424 
Kim Miller (415) 336-7583

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For information send mail to info-sunflash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM.
Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@sunvice.East.Sun.COM.
Archives are on solar.nova.edu and paris.cs.miami.edu.

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.