Speaking at the Expo Comm International exhibition, Sapsan, the only Russian manufacturer of Unix workstations, says it has sold some 1,500 Unix systems in the former Soviet Union since 1989. That is many times more than any Western vendor. Sapsan says its main customers have been in the defence industry. Some 90% of sales have been for databases, electronic mail systems and Computer Aided Design. Sapsan sells only for roubles and uses its dealers to develop software solutions for individual customers. Gregory Ivanov, developer with Sapsan dealer Irbus, says no foreign company yet competes with Sapsan on price or customer support.
