Sun Microsystems Inc’s low-end systems strategy is said to be undergoing a serious review. Competition from the likes of Hewlett-Packard Co at the top-end of the workstation market with the HP9000 Series 700 Snake series, and others, means that Sun is now being forced to look further down the field for revenue, where the grass is thinner on the ground. Indeed, after a 16 colour monitor – around $800 – system memory and disk are bought in, there is little more that can be chipped away to lower the end-user price of low-end machines whilst maintaining margins. Add to this the fact that Sun has been firmly opposed to the concept of network computing based around X-terminals, and has, as a result, completely missed the boat on some significant orders – such as the Barclays Bank, and Bristol Polytechnic contracts in the UK, plus several announced and unannounced others in the US – and the time seems ripe for some kind of re-positioning. One level of informed thinking has Sun phasing out the SLC altogether in favour of some kind of X-terminal strategy that may even embrace the Open Software Foundation’s Motif graphical user interface – the use of which Sun has always, despite market indications, vehemently opposed in preference for its Open Look offering. This would enable the firm to be able to bid on a number of large X-terminal contracts that are thought to be waiting in the wings. Meanwhile, signs that Sun’s multi-processing effort is still on track despite recent problems, come with news that sales of the 4/470 and 4/490 Sparcservers are in some cases now being accompanied by a guarantee of a multi-processing upgrade, indeed dealers are said to be already hawking around versions of the Mbus boards that will feature in the planned Galaxy multiprocessors.
