---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash Sun & Fujitsu Strengthen Strategic Relationship SunFLASH Vol 64 #91 April 1994 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 64.91 Sun & Fujitsu Strengthen Strategic Relationship Sun Microsystems, Inc., and Fujitsu Limited, the second-largest computer company in the world, announced an expanded relationship that includes a memorandum of understanding outlining an investment in a coordinated SPARC(R) roadmap. In addition, the two companies announced that they have entered into three separate agreements: to extend Fujitsu's commitment to resell, distribute and service Sun products in Japan; to offer a common architecture comprised of interoperable, binary-compatible SPARC and UNIX(R) products based on open systems; and to exchange certain patent rights in the areas of computer technology. (180 lines) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUN AND FUJITSU STRENGTHEN STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP Significant Investment in Coordinated SPARC Development; Largest Reseller Contract in Sun's History; Strongest Commitment to Date to Open Interfaces MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- April 26,1994 -- Sun Microsystems, Inc., the global leader in providing rightsizing solutions for enterprise computing, and Fujitsu Limited, the second-largest computer company in the world, today announced an expanded relationship that includes a memorandum of understanding outlining an investment in a coordinated SPARC(R) roadmap. In addition, the two companies announced that they have entered into three separate agreements: to extend Fujitsu's commitment to resell, distribute and service Sun products in Japan; to offer a common architecture comprised of interoperable, binary-compatible SPARC and UNIX(R) products based on open systems; and to exchange certain patent rights in the areas of computer technology. According to the Commercial Minister of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, "The long-standing partnership between Sun Microsystems and Fujitsu is an outstanding example of a U.S./Japan business partnership. Fujitsu has helped this major U.S. computer manufacturer to become the only foreign supplier to attain a No.1 share of a major segment of the Japanese computer market. We applaud this and other such examples of a positive business partnership between our two countries." Significant Investment in Coordinated SPARC CPU Design The two companies have agreed to provide extensive research and development for a unified SPARC microprocessor roadmap. Sun and Fujitsu believe that the worldwide investment in SPARC currently exceeds $500 million per year. For the roadmap chip designs alone, Sun and Fujitsu have committed to spending more than $500 million over the next five years. This combined commitment by Sun and Fujitsu will maintain SPARC's leadership position in the RISC marketplace. This unified roadmap will provide for enhanced 32-bit (SPARC Version 8) and advanced 64-bit (SPARC Version 9) processors. These SPARC processors will be designed with performance levels targeted at two to four times the performance of Intel's processors. The unified SPARC roadmap will also provide for accelerated performance of Microsoft(R) Windows applications used in conjunction with Sun's Wabi(TM) software technology. In addition, several SPARC processors are expected to provide enhanced floating point performance critical to the technical markets. "This announcement is a huge milestone for SPARC," said Scott McNealy, President, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Sun Microsystems, Inc. "It's also going to be significant for Fujitsu in the worldwide marketplace, where the rightsizing effort to an open, networked platform is an emerging trend." Expanded Reseller Agreement Sun and Fujitsu also announced today that Fujitsu has extended its existing reseller agreement with Sun -- the largest contract in Sun's history. This five-year extension to the Sun/Fujitsu contract covers the sale, distribution and service of Sun products. Sun continues to purchase semiconductors and peripherals from Fujitsu which are incorporated into Sun's workstations and servers. Said Fujitsu Limited President and Representative Director Tadashi Sekizawa, "We have had a strategic relationship with Sun since Sun's founding. We both believe users will continue to make SPARC and UNIX the platform of choice for commercial and technical markets." Commitment to Open Interfaces The companies also affirmed their commitment to open interfaces by signing an interface cross-license agreement. Under this agreement, Sun and Fujitsu will use standard, open interfaces and they will cooperate on emerging standards wherever possible. The core of this agreement provides for the cross-license of a wide range of interfaces, although implementations remain proprietary. Sun and Fujitsu believe that this is the strongest binding commitment in the industry to open systems by two technology companies. Additionally, Sun and Fujitsu have agreed to a broad, royalty-free exchange of patent rights in the fields of computer hardware, software and related technologies filed worldwide by either company before February 28, 1999. Relationship Between Sun and Fujitsu The two companies also noted a number of ongoing discussions for future cooperation concerning UNIX, the Solaris(R) operating system, middleware, networking products, nomadic, desktop and server products as well as various aspects of manufacturing. Fujitsu was one of Sun's earliest partners, signing a supplier agreement with Sun in 1983. In 1985, Sun and Fujitsu agreed to build the first SPARC chip. In 1988, Fujitsu signed an agreement to resell and service Sun products; in 1993, Fujitsu signed an agreement with SunSoft, a Sun operating company, to use the Solaris operating environment. Fujitsu Limited, founded in 1935, heads the world's second-largest computer group and is an international leader in telecommunications, semiconductors and other electronic devices. The company offers a broad line-up of information processing systems from the world's fastest supercomputers to the world's smallest palmtop computers. The Fujitsu group of technology, software and service companies posted global revenue of approximately $30 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 1993. Sun Microsystems revenues for fiscal 1993 were $4.3 billion, with approximately 13,000 employees. Sun currently controls 37.8 percent of the worldwide market and 27.2 percent of the Japanese market for workstations and servers, according to a March 1994 report by market research firm International Data Corp. Sun Microsystems, Inc., is an integrated portfolio of businesses that supply distributed computing technologies, products and services. Its innovative, open client-server computing solutions include networked workstations and multiprocessing servers, operating system software, silicon designs and other value-added technologies. The company, founded in 1982 and headquartered in Mountain View, California., is a Fortune 120 company doing business worldwide. # # # Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation and Solaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. All SPARC trademarks, including SuperSPARC and the SCD Compliant logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. UltraSPARC and microSPARC are licensed exclusively to Sun Microsystems, Inc. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark of UNIX System Laboratories, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Novell, Inc. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. 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