Sun reports final results for Q1 FY2009

Posted by Bill Bradford on Oct 30, 2008

Today Sun announced its final results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, ending September 28, 2008.

Revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 were $2.990 billion, a decrease of 7.1 percent as compared with $3.219 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2008. Total gross margin as a percent of revenues was 40.2, a decrease of 8.3 percentage points, as compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2008.

Net loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 on a GAAP basis was $1.677 billion, or $(2.24) per share on a diluted basis, as compared with a net income of $89 million, or $0.10 per share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2008. GAAP net loss per share includes a $1.445 billion non-cash charge for goodwill impairment. It also includes a restructuring charge of approximately $63 million pursuant to the restructuring that commenced in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008.

On a non-GAAP basis, net loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 was $65 million, or $(0.09) per share on a diluted basis, as compared with a non-GAAP net income of $285 million, or $0.32 per share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2008. Non-GAAP net loss per share excludes amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, stock-based compensation, restructuring and related impairment of long-lived assets, the goodwill impairment charge, net gain on equity investments and the tax effect of these non-GAAP adjustments.

Sun ended the quarter with a cash and marketable debt securities balance of $3.121 billion and generated cash flow from operations for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 of $148 million.

Jonathan Schwartz has a weblog entry explaining the results.

Software emulates Sun-2, Sun-3, and SPARCstation

Posted by Bill Bradford on Oct 27, 2008

Matt Fredette’s TME (The Machine Emulator) can emulate a Sun-2, Sun-3, or SPARCstation 2 system and run NetBSD or old versions of SunOS.

Andy Bechtolsheim leaving Sun (again)

Posted by Mike on Oct 23, 2008

Andy Bechtolsheim is leaving Sun for start-up Arista. Arista is funded by Andy Bechtolsheim and competes directly with Cisco for networking equipments. More details are located here. An article on CNET indicated Andy Bechtolsheim will remain with Sun, on a part-time basis, more information located at CNET’s site.

Sun reports preliminary results for Q1 FY2009

Posted by Bill Bradford on Oct 20, 2008

Sun today reported preliminary results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, ending September 29, 2008.

Sun expects to report revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 in the range of $2.950 to $3.050 billion, as compared with $3.219 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2008. Total gross margin as a percent of revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 is expected to be in the range of 39 to 41 percent.

Sun anticipates reporting GAAP net loss per share, before the impact of the potential goodwill impairment charge discussed below, for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 in the range of $(0.25) to $(0.35). GAAP net loss per share includes a restructuring charge of approximately $60 million pursuant to the restructuring announced on August 1, 2008. On a non-GAAP basis, Sun expects to report net loss per share in the range of $(0.02) to $(0.12). Non-GAAP net loss per share excludes amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, stock-based compensation, restructuring and related impairment of long-lived assets (including the potential goodwill impairment charge discussed below), net gain or loss on equity investments and the tax effect of these non-GAAP adjustments.

Based on a combination of factors, including the current economic environment, Sun’s operating results, and a sustained decline in Sun’s market valuation, the Company has concluded that it is likely that the fair value of one or more of its reporting units has been reduced below its carrying value. As a result, Sun is currently conducting an interim goodwill impairment analysis to determine the required amount of the non-cash impairment charge, if any. As of September 28, 2008, prior to the impact of this potential non-cash impairment charge, Sun’s total goodwill balance was $3.2 billion of which $1.8 billion relates to reporting units that may be impaired.

“Sun and its customers are seeing the impact of a slowing economy. We believe we are positioned to offer the kinds of products that can radically help customers reduce expenditures for their infrastructure from Open Storage to Solaris-based Chip Multi-Threading (CMT) systems to offering the most eco-efficient systems in the market,” said Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems.

OpenSolaris now available for IBM Mainframes

Posted by Bill Bradford on Oct 17, 2008

Sine Nomine Associates has completed their port of OpenSolaris to IBM System Z mainframe computers.

System requirements:

* A z9-or-later System z processor
* z/VM 5.3 or later
* A Layer 2 VSWITCH on your z/VM system
* Approximately 4000 cylinders of 3390 DASD (plus another 3390-3 used during installation as temporary storage)
* APAR 64666 and corresponding PTF UM32414 to enable Diag 2A8 support for the virtual OSA

The project’s source code is freely available as well.

Sun Ray Gets Video Upgrade

Posted by Mike on Oct 16, 2008

According to this article from internetnews.com, Sun has distributed new firmware for the Sun Ray clients. With the new firmware update, the video processing will take place on the client device instead of the server.

Sun vs. NetApp: One NetApp Patent Invalidated

Posted by Bill Bradford on Oct 7, 2008

According to this Register article, the USPTO has declared one of NetApp’s patents invalid.

However, the invalidated patent does not directly relate to the ongoing legal battle between Sun and NetApp and the competing ZFS and WAFL technologies.

Sun’s General Counsel Mike Dillon has some opinions up on the recent happenings.