[geeks] Sun a possible takeover target - rumours

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

On Thu, May 08, 2003 at 10:24:49AM -0400, Michael A. Turner wrote:

> 	I think that right there is Suns real problem. Corporations don't
> have corporate purchasing power anymore. Sun is suffering from the same
[ trim ... ]
> at $35K, and then they look at a compaq, something like the 380 series
> running dual Xeon proccesors at $5K, and they go for the Xeons. Yes sun is
> more stable, yes there hardware is less prone to failure, but it does still
> happen. Managers are not willing to pay 7X the price of an intel server that
> can run the same apps for maybe a 2X performance boost and a drop by 3% in
> the chance that the machine will fail.

Good points.

Also, some Intel server hardware seems fine.  I've run some for years,
hammering it, without failures.  I've had failures on some of those
very expensive Sun systems.

Their stuff is generally reliable, but the fact is, if you stay away
from the cheap stuff there are some decent x86 board.

My biggest beef is they aren't headless.

> 	This places the people who can afford that in a very limited band of
> corporations. This band has reached saturation in purchasing, and since the
> stuff they bought was bought specifically to last for years and to not have
> to upgrade you are stuck with a diminishing customer base. 

Imagine if we were writing software as efficient as possible too... :)

> 	Personally I think that sun needs to head lower in what they offer.
> Create an entry level server that is actually an entry level server, not
> starting at the $20K that they currently do. Maybe they could also leverage
> a truly stable home machine, something like the Imac or G4s that had a nice
> GUI for dumb people. 

I think also, Sun needs to come down to Earth on parts.  I can remember
both DEC and Sun charging us 2 or more times the market value for things
like hard drives.  You can absorb a little bit of overhead for support,
but that only goes so far.  

As far as a home machine... I'm not sure Sun can pull that off, or that
it would help them.  Maybe sell a geek's machine to get more geeks
Solaris-minded.

I think they need to get realistic about parts, and the low end servers.

Some things though... I'm not sure what they can do about it.  Some
shops also have another avenue: reverse the trend and start cranking out
efficient code.  Things are tight right now, and sometimes a few
code changes can be like getting a new machine.

Also, IMHO, we run a ton of software in most business that we really
don't need, or at last, don't need as all of it.  I think some companies
are likely realizing this, and that might also be affecting demand.


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