Prices for Sun Microsystem's Enterprise 3500, 6500, and 10000 UltraSPARC II servers will be cut up to 16 percent, according to the company; CEO recommits to SPs.

by ISP-Planet Staff [April 18, 2001]

Prices for Sun Microsystem's Enterprise 3500, 6500, and 10000 UltraSPARC II servers will be cut up to 16 percent, according to an announcement made by the company Tuesday.

The price cuts are being made in conjunction with the release of Sun's new lineup of UltraSPARC III systems, company officials said.

In an interview with Reuters, Sun's Vice President of Product Marketing and Strategic Planning Shahin Khan emphasized that this price cut was not a direct response to market conditions.

Regardless of the motivation, prices on mid-level Enterprise 3500-6500 servers, are expected to be cut from 8 to 16 percent. Enterprise 10000 servers will see price drops up to 16 percent.

Sun has seen sales falloffs over recent weeks. Analysts point to the weakening tech market, coupled to the usual "wait for the new product" effect that typically plagues corporations with short development life-cycles for their products.

Sun will release its first quarter earnings report this week. The company has remained silent on expected earnings since it issued an early warning about shortfalls at the end of February.

Committed to SPs
Sun also reaffirmed its commitment to service providers, the companies that it believes will capitalize on the opportunities brought about by the Net Effect.

Ed Zander, Sun president and chief executive officer, said the server market is devoted to helping service providers get to market quickly and deliver high-quality services with dialtone-like reliability.

"Sun has always been a strong believer in the service provider model and we are continuing to invest in its success by doing our part to encourage adoption of the highest-quality outsourced services," Zander said.

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