Sun Microsystems Inc. (JAVA)

All Comments on JAVA

  • commenter
    BeachRider
    Jun 12 04:20 PM
    Sun Micro Lowest Since Tech Crash [view article]
    Another tough day for JAVA (Sun). The general trend is up, but Sun went down 2% today. Sun on Dec 31 was 18.13, today at 4PM EDT it was at 11.42. That gives a YTD loss of 37%. They really only had one BAD quarter-surprise, but their reputation is clearly at risk. Reply
  • commenter
    TheBarber
    Jun 11 08:35 PM
    Sun Micro Lowest Since Tech Crash [view article]
    And if morale at Sun remains high, that's far more a testament to the excellence of the rank-and-file than anything to do with any of their pitiful CXOs or VPs. And it's gotten to the point where people are a little shell-shocked with the once-or twice-a-year layoffs. Reply
  • commenter
    A Close
    Observer
    Jun 11 04:37 PM
    Sun Micro Lowest Since Tech Crash [view article]
    User 208482, put the crack pipe down. It doesn't matter that Sun is growing in some parts of the world. Only overall growth matters...and Sun isn't. Sun has not exceeded the market growth rate, or its competitors, for any single quarter since Schwartz took the CEO role - so Sun has actually shrunk in size every quarter for years.

    To make matters worse, Schwartz spent $3B in CASH for StorageTek (which was a nice little slow growth company) and is now managing it to YoY market and revenue share *declines*. Worse still, Schwartz recently spent *another* $1B in precious cash to buy mySQL, a company with free products, $60M in annual revenue, and generating losses. Do you know how much *free* you have to sell to earn a return on $1B in cash? The MySQL issue could be made better is Sun took an innovative market approach to tying its systems to MySQL use. But it hasn't. Anil Gadre couldn't market his way out of an undergraduate marketing class.

    KKR needs to step in to protect its investment Sun's shareholders. It needs to give Jonathon the bum's rush out of Sun and hire a strong business person from outside - someone that can look at the company with a fresh set of eyes. That worked for IBM, and is working for HP.

    Where is Henry Kravis or Carl Icahn when a shareholder needs them?     Reply
  • commenter
    BeachRider
    Jun 11 04:14 PM
    Sun Micro Lowest Since Tech Crash [view article]
    17.42 on January 2. 11.72 right this minute = 32.7% drop YTD. Nearly everyone is down today, though. Reply
  • commenter
    TheListener
    Jun 11 03:52 PM
    Sun Micro Lowest Since Tech Crash [view article]
    Math is incorrect. Tough to follow the argument after that. Back to the drawing board. Reply
  • commenter
    TheBarber
    Jun 11 02:02 PM
    Sun Micro Lowest Since Tech Crash [view article]
    I don't know what User 208482 is using, but it must be great shit. Or maybe he or she simply drank Jonathan's koolaid. Pounding the drum of hope for this formerly great company is a kind gesture, but no one has satisfactorily explained how Sun is going to make money with the Open Source strategy and relatively weak product line.

    And Ptickett, so Zander didn't hit a homer with Motorola. Big deal. That doesn't change the history of his time at Sun. The company was making money most of the time, bubble or not. And I think you're wrong about Pets.com. They never made a cent because their cost structure was a mess. It cost more to ship the bag of kitty litter than the bag itself cost.     Reply
  • commenter
    BeachRider
    Jun 11 01:53 PM
    Sun Micro Lowest Since Tech Crash [view article]
    Solaris has a solid following and is a preferred platform for much UNIX-based development. The new SMT servers are a departure from past server development. They are 1.5 GHz and slower, they have very limited processor cache (and therefore 'stall' a lot), so they seem optimal for a limited kind of workload (perhaps webservers, etc.). The StorageTek legacy hardware is getting short shrift in the new-Sun environment (STK layoffs have been heavy). They don't appear to appreciate the issue with development and support of disk-control/disk-mana... software. The Open-Source stuff looks good, but it won't contribute heavily to profits any time soon. With HP going the big-services route (just as IBM did, years ago), Sun finds itself limited in capability against aggressive competition. Perhaps it is time for Sun to sell. Reply
  • commenter
    Prickett
    Jun 11 11:57 AM
    Sun Micro Lowest Since Tech Crash [view article]
    Pets.com made money in the bubble, too. Let's see, where did Ed go afterwards... oh yeah, that notable blockbuster success MOT! Too many hangers on wanting another bubble when what it takes is the discipline and fortitude to reboot the company. Reply
  • commenter
    User 208482
    Jun 11 11:40 AM
    Sun Micro Lowest Since Tech Crash [view article]
    The math is wrong in this article. There was a 4 for 1 reverse split, so split adjusted the current price is sub $3, not sub $2. The lowest the stock went in 2002 was around $2.50, so the main jist of the article is correct: JAVA is on sale right now, nearly at the level it was during the dot-com bust.

    But to address some of the negative reader comments about Sun:

    Sun is growing strongly across more than half of the world. It was mainly in the US, which is 40% of Sun's business, where last quarter's growth and earnings hurt, with a 10% drop. The orders that did not happen were in the pipe-line but were deferred in March. It was not that customers did not want the products, but that they decided not to spend any money that month. Jonathon and his team have a great strategy, but it is not immune to the general economy.

    The open source strategy, strength of Java, Solaris 10, CMT SPARC processors, NetBeans IDE, Glassfish application server, MySQL, as well as server and storage systems - Sun's products - now are better than at any time in Sun's history. The technical and product corner has already been turned, but it just takes a few years for customers to realize it.

    Sun's strategy is long-term. Short-term investors (luckily) do not determine the technical and product strategy. I think there is a very good chance that these efforts will bear fruit for patient investors in the future.

    And though the current lay-off will of course hurt morale, there is a much different feeling within Sun this year than in 2002. Most employees I talk with remain positive, hopeful, and expect Sun's future to be bright. That's much different than what we employees were feeling during 2002.     Reply
  • commenter
    TheBarber
    Jun 11 12:55 AM
    Sun Micro Lowest Since Tech Crash [view article]
    There's plenty of blame to go around, but one is compelled to observe that at least Sun was making money, and Sun shares were making money for shareholders, during part of the incumbency of Shoemaker and Zander. The current crew of so-called executives, starting with Schwartz and extending throughout his ass-kissing executive team, have never made a dime for the company.

    The Barber, the man Schwartz fears most     Reply
  • commenter
    Prickett
    Jun 10 10:32 PM
    Sun Micro Lowest Since Tech Crash [view article]
    Courtesy Ed Zander, John Shoemaker and Frank Pinto. They torched the place with the worst decisions ever in the history of computing. Reply
  • commenter
    Former Sun
    employee
    Jun 10 08:23 PM
    Sun Micro Lowest Since Tech Crash [view article]
    Sun is setting...everyone can see it except the pony tail boy...and the BOD. The management lacks courage to make decisions. Managers look for positions in groups which they deem safe to escape the continuous rounds of layoffs. Nothing moves internally as if everyone has given up and is just waiting for the eventuality. Sad story of such a talented company. Reply
  • commenter
    TheBarber
    Jun 01 01:46 PM
    Google, IBM, Red Hat, Sun and the Digistan Connection [view article]
    As entertaining as this thread had been (and it has been), what I do not find to be entertaining is that the executive management clowns at JAVA have managed to wipe out about 50% of shareholder equity in just over a year.

    Dear Sun Board of Directors, how long can you continue to support Schwartz and his clique? It's time to clean house yet again.     Reply
  • commenter
    User 169377
    May 24 08:00 AM
    Dell: Low End of Server Market Accelerating - Morgan Stanley [view article]
    Dell may do slightly better in the low end server market due to the weak economy, however I find it interesting that nothing is mentioned regarding Dell's other products. Are its laptops and desktops also going to overcome the weak economy? Certainly not on the consumer end as those purchases can and will be delayed.

    Will the supposed increase in server sales more than outweigh the decrease in it's other sales? I haven't crunched the numbers, but I would highly doubt it. The weak economy will take nearly all companies down with it, to imply otherwise without facts is misleading.



    Reply
  • commenter
    JohnMurphy
    May 19 12:42 PM
    My Website
    Google, IBM, Red Hat, Sun and the Digistan Connection [view article]
    Dennis: have you thought about your next article? The blogosphere is aquiver with anticipation as to where you'll take this story next. Here is something I've been researching. Did you realize that "Digistan" is perhaps meant to sound like "Dagestan", a well-known islamic republic? I found that:

    "93% percent of Dagestan's population is Muslim..." and "There is a millennia-old presence of a Jewish community, the "Mountain Jews".

    Also that "Since 2000, Dagestan has been the venue of a low-level guerilla war, bleeding over from Chechnya; the fighting has claimed the lives of hundreds of federal servicemen and officials – mostly members of local police forces – as well as many Dagestani national rebels and civilians."

    Surely this is no coincidence...? I suspect we're only a step away from seeing the Dagestani government lobbying in Brussels to get MSFT hit with huge fines. I'd be careful about misunderestimating the Dagestanis, they look really mean.

    Please keep up the excellent work and don't make us wait too long for your next insightful commentary!

    Yours respectfully
    John H. Murphy
    (Boston)     Reply
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