Sun Microsystems in rapid downward spiral

[edesignuk]

Sun's market capitalisation sank below $3bn yesterday as Forbes reported via Reuters that Sun is under pressure to sell itself or some of its assets to get out of the sinking sands it seems inexorably drawn to.

In July the market cap went below $8bn as Sun became a mid-cap level company. The term means its market capitalisation is $10bn-$2bn ($10bn-$1bn according to a different mid-cap definition).

We can contemplate Sun's market cap falling further and sinking under $2bn. For example, if the share price falls to $2.70 then the company would then be worth less than $2bn.

What is to stop that happening?

It has just reported a quarterly loss of $1.7bn for its first fiscal 2009 quarter. A new line of open storage arrays was announced on Monday and the initial reaction of the stock market was a further share price fall to yesterday's Nasdaq close of $4.03.

The Register.

Look out for more severe staffing cuts.

 

[mkrishnan]

This is bad, obviously, for a lot of people whose jobs are in peril, but I think also this is really bad for the industry as a whole... I don't know what Sun's future is, but I think they're "needed" for the industry in much the same way that Apple was "needed" when Microsoft infused it with cash in the day.

 

[Cromulent]

Looks like Sun are going the same way as SGI. Shame, Sun have always been one of the stalwarts of the Unix workstation market.

Apple and Sun may not share a common market at the moment but if Apple did purchase them it would give them a much needed entrance to the large scale enterprise market that Sun have traditionally been strong in (although from the sounds of it that is not a great strategy at the moment ).

 

[ChrisA]

Looks like Sun are going the same way as SGI. Shame, Sun have always been one of the stalwarts of the Unix workstation market.

Apple and Sun may not share a common market at the moment but if Apple did purchase them it would give them a much needed entrance to the large scale enterprise market that Sun have traditionally been strong in (although from the sounds of it that is not a great strategy at the moment ).

My big wish is for a Solaris, rather than BSD based Mac OS X. That would truly be the best of both.

 

[gilkisson]

My big wish is for a Solaris, rather than BSD based Mac OS X. That would truly be the best of both.

And thereby removing the last cosmetic vestiges of any "open" architecture...

 

[iShater]

You guys remember the rumors back in the 90's that Sun was going to buy Apple?

I always liked Sun, and I hope this doesn't impact Java

 

[theBB]

My big wish is for a Solaris, rather than BSD based Mac OS X. That would truly be the best of both.

I agree. Solaris was incredibly stable, compared to all other OSes I have used since then. I guess if Solaris was open source back when OSX was being developed, it could have happened.

In any case, Sun has been trouble for a long time. The rise of Linux has been slowly killing this company and the management could not respond.

 

[IJ Reilly]

You guys remember the rumors back in the 90's that Sun was going to buy Apple?

Yup, this was pretty actively discussed during the 1996 timeframe, IIRC. If the rumors at the time were correct, Sun made an offer to Apple's board, which if it really happened, was (obviously) declined. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

 

[cube]

That is a terribly narrowminded view. The sales of their just announced storage appliances will explode.

 

[weckart]

Sun also puts resources into Openoffice.org and, it was hoped, Virtualbox. If Sun goes under, then development of those freebies may lose a little direction in the short term.

 

[elppa]

in much the same way that Apple was "needed" when Microsoft infused it with cash in the day.

This is a myth.

Apple still had over a billion US in the bank when Microsoft “infused” the company with 150 million.

The money was to resolve a patent dispute as Microsoft had directly infringed Apple's patents (for Quicktime) and Apple could prove it.

Neither company wanted a long court case at the time.

Read
and
Read.

 

[iShater]

This is a myth.

Apple still had over a billion US in the bank when Microsoft “infused” the company with 150 million.

The money was to resolve a patent dispute as Microsoft had directly infringed Apple's patents (for Quicktime) and Apple could prove it.

Neither company wanted a long court case at the time.

Read
and
Read.

You cannot under estimate the effect of that move on the market perception of Apple though.

 

[John Jacob]

And thereby removing the last cosmetic vestiges of any "open" architecture...

I'd say Solaris is as open as BSD is. And more open than Mach.

 

[gilkisson]

I'd say Solaris is as open as BSD is. And more open than Mach.

Your are correct. It is now. Didn't use to be. I forgot they went OpenSolaris a few years ago.

 

[edesignuk]

Sun downgraded to Goldman Sachs sell list

The stock and probably the collective psyche of server and operating system maker Sun Microsystems is taking some hits today as an IT watcher at Goldman Sachs put the company on its sell list.

The Register.

Poor old Sun.