sunflash-Distributed to mailing list sunflash@suntri sunflash-Send requests and problem reports to owner-sunflash@suntri.east.sun.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash HOT OFF THE PRESS SunFLASH Vol 53 #20 May 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is an internal Sun newsletter that I have been given permission to post to SunFlash. -johnj ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ************************************************************************* Recent News April, 1993 Published by SMCC Public Relations ************************************************************************** SUN'S MOMENTUM Sun Microsystems, Inc., Highlights ----------------------------------- * SMI reported record revenues of $1.141 billion, up 20% from the $952 million reported for the corresponding period of fiscal 1992. Net income for the third quarter was $51.7 million, or $0.47 per share, compared to $61.4 million, or $0.60 per share, for the same period a year ago. For more information, please see the "State of the Business" section. Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation Highlights ---------------------- * SMCC unveiled significant advancements to its highly regarded SPARCstation 10 line. This family of desktop workstations now includes the industry's fastest desktop, which will be shipped in volume this quarter, the high-end Model 512MP (formerly known as the Model 52). * Fingerhut Corporation, one of the nation's largest catalog marketing companies, plans to purchase Sun SPARC workstation and server systems for inbound telemarketing, customer service and credit authorization. It is the first major mail order operation to make this transition from a mainframe to a client-server environment. * SMCC introduced SunSpectrum, a support program designed to meet the complete system needs of customers throughout the enterprise. SunSpectrum support greatly simplifies pricing, so that a single fee covers support for an entire system, including the monitor, all disk drives, SBus cards, memory and other related hardware, as well as Solaris system software and other Sun software packages. This policy contrasts with the rest of the industry, where customers must pay a unique price for each configuration and an additional fee for each peripheral device. * New York Telephone's NYNEX Enterprise Services is using more than 100 SPARCserver systems from SMCC to deliver advanced communication capabilities, including multimedia services for the transmission of voice, data and video, to customers. By using technology based on open systems, like the Sun SPARC/Solaris platform, New York Telephone was able to build Enterprise Services on a system that is scalable, flexible and interoperable. Private line services will now be less expensive and the services available can be changed or modified without interrupting private line access. * SMCC introduced the SunLink ISDN-BRI (Basic Rate Interface) Enabling Kit 1.0 and the SunISDN-BRI/SBI (Speaker Box Interface) Expansion Kit 1.0, which enable users to share multimedia resources across the ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) public telephone networks. ISDN provides significantly more functionality and is a cost-effective alternative to modems and leased lines for businesses with remote locations. * SMCC and Ameritech plan to jointly market and sell their respective ISDN products and services to customers throughout Ameritech's five-state region in the U.S. Ameritech is one of the world's leading information companies, serving 12 million customers through 17 million access lines in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. * SMCC introduced two peripheral subsystems that lead the industry in terms of capacity at a low cost. Unveiled were the 4.2-gigabyte Multi-Disk Pack, the smallest, high-quality 4-plus-gigabyte desktop storage device on the market, and the 5-gigabyte 4mm Tape Desktop Backup Pack, the fastest, lowest-cost DAT (digital audio tape) package available from any major UNIX computer vendor. These new mass storage products will bring more power and performance to desktop SPARCstation and SPARCserver systems. * SMCC formed an alliance with Teknekron Software Systems, Inc., the market leader in distributed systems solutions for financial institutions, to bring open, distributed system solutions to the manufacturing market. The agreement will pair Teknekron's revolutionary integration platform, the Information Bus, with SPARCstation computers to give manufacturers a competitive advantage. * SMCC launched an innovative reseller training and certification program for authorized resellers in the United States. The new program, "Competency 2000," will improve and validate the capabilities of SMCC's resellers. It includes a suite of advanced sales, technical and customer service programs that provide resellers the training they need to sell and support SMCC's client-server technology. In addition to training, the program measures a reseller's ability to sell and support SMCC workstations and servers. Based on the reseller's business focus, the reseller can apply for one of three levels of certification: Expert Level 1000 - small workgroups; Expert Level 1500 - medium-sized groups of more than 10; Expert Level 2000 - enterprise-wide, for environments using the SPARCcenter 2000 server. Sun Microsystems Federal Highlights --------------------------------- * Sun Federal has been selected by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to supply a secure, RISC-based family of workstations and servers. The one-year (with four option years) SASS (System Acquisition and Support Strategy) multi-vendor acquisition contract anticipates purchasing 5,400 Sun workstations, the majority of which will be used in a secure network environment. The Sun systems will be used to enhance and leverage the investment of existing equipment as well as move the DIA from a mainframe environment to a secure client-server workgroup environment. SunPro Highlights ---------------------------------------------------- * SunPro introduced the MP Developer Early Access Kit, an extension to its SPARCworks Professional family of development tools and compilers. This is the first environment to enable software developers to get maximum application performance from the Solaris operating system's multithreading and multiprocessing technology. The MP Developer Early Access Kit provides a development environment for writing multiprocessing applications in FORTRAN, C, or C++. The toolset exploits new user level threads in the Solaris 2 operating system to improve application performance. * SunPro introduced the Try and Buy Program for its leading software development environments on the SPARC and x86 platforms. The program allows prospective customers to evaluate any SunPro products for 30 days, free of charge, by obtaining a Try and Buy Evaluation Kit from their local authorized reseller. The kit is a ready-to-mail, CD-size unit incorporating all of SunPro's SPARCworks or ProWorks compilers and development tools on a single CD, complete with on-line AnswerBook documentation, product and installation information. SunSoft Highlights ---------------------------------------------------- * SunSoft introduced INTERACTIVE UNIX System 4.0, with new features that increase system functionality, application compatibility and peripheral support. SunSoft also signed distribution agreements with Arrow Electronics, Inc., Commercial Systems Group and GBC Technologies, adding to its network of over 3,000 INTERACTIVE UNIX resellers and distributors worldwide. SunSolutions Highlights ---------------------------- ------------------ * SunSolutions is co-sponsoring Groupware `93 Europe, the first executive conference in Europe for the fast-growing groupware market. The May conference is taking place in Stockholm, London and Frankfurt. Other conference co-sponsors include Lotus, Microsoft, Siemens Nixdorf and DEC. STATE OF THE BUSINESS ------------------------------------------------ * SMCC remained the workstation/server market leader in 1992, with 38.3% of worldwide workstation/server shipments, according to IDC reports. (HP: 17.1%; DEC: 12.1%; IBM: 7.3%; SGI: 5.1%) * SMCC also lead the industry in terms of system revenue in 1992, with 32.9% of worldwide workstation/server revenues, according to IDC reports. (HP: 18.1%; DEC: 9.9%; IBM: 9.9%) * Sun's Q3 FY93 revenues were a record $1.141 billion, a 20% increase over the $952 million reported in the same period a year ago. * Net income for the quarter was $51.7 million, or $.47 per share. * SMCC shipped more than 57,000 units in Q3. Cumulative installed base is more than 815,000 units. * Revenues per employee for the last 12 months were a record $300,500 - the highest revenues per employee of any computer company utilizing a direct sales business model. * Sun's FY92 revenues were $3.6 billion, up from the $3.2 billion reported in FY91. * Net income for FY92 was $173.3 million, or $1.71 per share. * Sun is ranked #139 on the 1992 Fortune 500 list, moving up from #146 last year. SPARC Facts ------------------------------------------------------------ * SPARC is the highest-volume platform in the RISC/UNIX market - the de facto standard RISC architecture: - More than 765,000 systems have been shipped by all SPARC vendors to date - IDC published workstation/server market report indicates that SPARC systems had 52.5% of the RISC workstation market in 1992, with MIPS systems having 16.8%, PA-RISC 15.6% and IBM Power 9.4% - More than 7,500 SPARC hardware and software solutions from more than 3,200 vendors * The SPARC microprocessor architecture is implemented by 7 semiconductor manufacturers into a number of different microprocessors representing a broad performance range - from 10 to 100+ MIPS. - More than 910,000 chips have been shipped to date * More than 34 vendors are currently shipping SPARC compatible products. * SPARC International, through the SPARC Compliance Definition (SCD), certifies SPARC hardware and software binary compatibility. - SPARC International now has more than 250 members SMCC MP Momentum ------------------------------------------------------ SMCC recently unveiled significant advancements to its SPARCstation 10 line of workstations, including the introduction of four new SPARCstation 10 models: The Model 30LC - a new entry-level desktop configuration that is the lowest-cost MP-capable system. It includes a 36 MHz CPU and an upgraded, 16-inch mid-range color monitor. The Model 40 - single 40 MHz CPU, 36 kilobytes of on-chip cache per CPU, 32 megabytes of main memory and 1 gigabyte of storage. The Model 402MP - the industry's least expensive MP system. It features dual 40 MHz CPUs, 36 kilobytes of on-chip cache per CPU, 32 megabytes of main memory and 1 gigabyte of storage. The Model 51 - single 50 MHz CPU, 36 kilobytes of on-chip cache, 1 megabyte external cache, 64 megabytes of main memory and 1 gigabyte of storage. Other Highlights * SMCC will ship the high-end Model 512MP (formerly known as the Model 52) in volume this quarter - the industry's fastest volume workstation on the market, based on SPECrate benchmarks. * SMCC cut prices on its SPARCstation 10 models by up to 21 percent. As a result, the price/performance of these workstations is among the best in the industry. * Full one-year warranty offered on all SPARCstation 10 models. * Excepts from an April, 1993, IDC analyst FAX Flash, "Multiprocessing on the Desktop Becomes Serious Threat From Sun" include: "...IDC believes that in the long run, Sun may have the competitive advantage with MP." "...today's announcements confirm the fact that Sun is genuinely serious about MP on the desktop and could pose a serious threat to the other top workstation vendors." "...we believe Sun's competitors are scrambling to answer the desktop multiprocessing question." The MP Advantage - users can benefit today. At the recent Boston introduction event, SMCC demonstrated the increased productivity possible on an MP desktop - even when running applications that are not specifically designed for MP. * Mentor Graphics' Design Architect program was run on both the SPARCstation 10 Model 51 and on the Model 512MP. Result: the MP system ran the application almost 50 percent faster than the uniprocessor machine. * Design Architect and the QsimII program from Mentor Graphics were run simultaneously on the systems. Result: the MP workstation completed its work more than twice as fast as the uniprocessor system. (c) 1993 Sun Microsystems ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For information send mail to info-sunflash@Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@Sun.COM. Archives are on solar.nova.edu, ftp.uu.net, sunsite.unc.edu, src.doc.ic.ac.uk and ftp.adelaide.edu.au 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. Send brief articles (e.g. third party announcements) and include contact information (non-800#, fax #, email, etc) to: John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@Sun.COM. +1 305 351 4909