Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!mcsun!ukc!dcl-cs!aber-cs!pcg
From: pcg@aber-cs.UUCP (Piercarlo Grandi)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Sun != Open Archtecture
Summary: the 386/486 Sun boxes were killed by SUN because of embarassment
Keywords: 386 sun 486 sparc
Message-ID: <2199@aber-cs.UUCP>
Date: 9 Jan 91 19:15:54 GMT
Reply-To: pcg@cs.aber.ac.uk (Piercarlo Grandi)
Organization: Dept of CS, UCW Aberystwyth
	(Disclaimer: my statements are purely personal)
Lines: 24

In article <1991Jan5.135651.486@tscs.uucp> gerard@tscs.UUCP (Stephen M. Gerard) writes:

  Sun tried to continue the 680X0 product line with the 3/80 and tried to
  enter the 80X86 product line with the 386i.  They did their part, it was
  us consumers who failed to maintain Sun's multi-architecture support by
  not purchasing sufficient quantities ...

Actually (rumour mongering here) the 386/486 SUNs were killed off by SUN
because they were technically competitive with the SPARC machines, and this
was embarassing ("they would not fit with corporate strategy"). It helped
that they were the effort of the East Coast SUN operation.

Of course one must also consider that between paying $1000 for a 486 CPU or
probably something like $100 for a SPARC chipset, and sell a workstation at
the same price, SUN would rather keep the $900 "value added" that Intel
wants for themselves...

That $900 "value added" that Intel does not want to split with their OEMs is
probably a good reason behind CompuAdd and others starting to sell SPARC
based PCs. $900 out of $5000 seems a hefty premium for a CPU.
-- 
Piercarlo Grandi                   | ARPA: pcg%uk.ac.aber.cs@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk
Dept of CS, UCW Aberystwyth        | UUCP: ...!mcsun!ukc!aber-cs!pcg
Penglais, Aberystwyth SY23 3BZ, UK | INET: pcg@cs.aber.ac.uk