Ex-Sun exec lambasts Sun's late layoffs

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Java revenue

Does anyone have any idea how much revenue Sun generates from licensing Java to the likes of IBM, Oracle, BEA, etc, as well as all of the Java compatibility test kit revenue, and certification revenue?

On the flip side, does anyone know, in actual dollars (rough estimate) Sun spends on developing Java?

I'm very curious. Java is completely free, except for other corporations who implement it in their products, who then have to license it from Sun, as well as purchase the compatibility test kit (supposedly very expensive), and get certified (which involves a fee as well).

I want to know if Sun is making money or losing money from Java, by itself, not as a lead in to other products (as they've strategized Java as helping drive sales of their big servers and Solaris).

If Java by itself is not a money maker for Sun, perhaps it's time for Sun to either sell it off to someone like IBM, or open source it and let the community worry about it, still posessing the Java brand name, thus still able to generate some compatibility profit/control.

As for Sun's other products - it seems their new servers kick some booty, as does Solaris 10. But perhaps the market is yawning at those things because of comoditized hardware and OS (Linux running on cheap servers in big server farms - perhaps more cost effective).

This post is not anti-Sun. On the contrary, I quite like a lot of what Sun does technologically. But it doesn't seem they have their business act together, and don't know how to, or are unwilling to make the hard choices to, turn things around.

After 5 years, they are still losing money. Sure, they have a lot of cash, and a lot great engineering talent. But at some point, they have to turn things around and finally start operating in the black, and very very soon. Otherwise, they are dead, with the other big boys circling like vultures to pick away the bits they want (Java, engineering talent, customer accounts) from the rotting corpse.

Posted by: boobasaurus   Posted on: 04/11/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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