Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!uwm.edu!bionet!agate!ucbvax!pasteur!cory.Berkeley.EDU!jclee From: jclee@cory.Berkeley.EDU (James C. Lee) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: NeXT Press Release Message-ID: <12483@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> Date: 5 Apr 91 08:37:50 GMT Sender: news@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU Reply-To: jclee@cory.Berkeley.EDU (James C. Lee) Organization: University of California, Berkeley Lines: 170 The following is NeXT's press release on April 4. In the release it has 2 figures showing Q1'91 UNIX Workstation Shipments: SUN 44,000 HP 20,000 DEC 8,000 IBM 12,000 NeXT 8,000 On Professional Workstation Shipments: SUN 11,000 NeXT 8,000 HP 3,000 DEC 1,000 IBM 1,000 Here's the release: NeXT SHIPS 8,000 CPUs IN FIRST QUARTER Makes NeXT One of Leading Professional Workstation Vendors REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 4, 1991 P NeXT Computer, Inc. today announced that it shipped 8,000 NeXT CPUs during the first quarter of 1991, which ended March 31. It was NeXT's first full quarter shipping its new line of worksta- tions. All of NeXT's shipments were into the professional workstation category, making NeXT one of the leading vendors in this segment. Professional workstations, unlike tradi- tional scientific/technical workstations, are UNIX worksta- tions designed for non-technical users. "In our first full quarter shipping the new systems, we think NeXT has nearly matched market leader Sun in ship- ments to the professional workstation segment," said Steven P. Jobs, president and CEO of NeXT. "Customers are begin- ning to grasp the benefits of NeXT's concept of 'UNIX for mere mortals' and they like what they see." Comparing NeXT's first quarter 1991 with other ven- dors' most recently reported sales, NeXT tied with Digital Equipment Corporation in the overall workstation market. In the professional workstation category, NeXT ran a close second to market leader Sun Microsystems. Sixty percent of NeXT's sales were to customers in business and government and 40 percent were to universities. More than 30 percent of NeXT's 8,000 CPUs were sold interna- tionally to customers in Europe and Asia. NeXT coordinates its European activities through its three subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. In Asia, Canon, Inc. is the company's exclusive representative. Professional Workstations Professional workstations represent a rapidly emerg- ing new category of UNIX workstations. Professional works- tation users require the power, networking and multitasking capabilities of UNIX workstations, but also need a computer that runs personal computer-like productivity applications and is easy to use. These users work in areas such as pub- lishing, financial services, entertainment/advertising, med- ical and legal services, government and higher education. Customers in non-technical fields generally purchase workstations rather than personal computers for three rea- sons: to develop mission-critical custom applications; to run networking-intensive installations; and to run more powerful versions of productivity applications than are available for personal computers. In time, NeXT believes, they will also demand greater interpersonal computing capabilities to increase group productivity and collabora- tion. NeXT computers have the technology that commercial users are seeking as they migrate to workstation technology. NeXTstep, NeXT's graphical user interface and application development environment, offers the most powerful and easi- est to use environment for custom application development. NeXT's systems also provide extremely powerful built-in net- working capabilities P including TCP/IP and both twisted- pair and thin Ethernet P yet setting up and navigating around a network on NeXT is extremely simple. Unlike other workstation vendors, NeXT has a wide assortment of breakthrough productivity applications, such as Lotus Improv and WordPerfect (both shipping now). These applications are superior in functionality to, but compati- ble with, their versions on other platforms. They also have the ability to read files by other spreadsheet and word pro- cessing vendors, thus making them compatible with 80 percent of the installed base of software. Lastly, NeXT is the only computer company focusing on interpersonal computing, with built-in, easy-to-use electronic mail that allows everyone in an organization to use voice, text and graphics to keep each other informed. NeXT's family of professional workstations comprises the NeXTstation and NeXTcube, which began shipping in November 1990; NeXTstation Color, which began shipping on March 12; and NeXTdimension, due to be available to custo- mers in May. NeXT's first quarter shipment numbers do not include the two color products. All four systems are based on Motorola's 68040 microprocessor. Distribution One of NeXT's challenges in 1991 is to structure its distribution strategy to match the quality of its products. In the first stage of this program, NeXT is rapidly expand- ing its dealer base in the U.S., putting greater emphasis on campus resellers in the higher education community, forging partnerships with more value-added resellers (VARs) and increasing its direct sales force. "Along with building credibility for an entirely new category of computers P professional workstations P NeXT has also had to take a fresh look at the right distribution strategies to reach professional workstation customers," said Todd Rulon-Miller, NeXT's vice president, sales. " Our distribution goals are two-fold: to expand our total dis- tribution capabilities and to choose channels that give us greater leverage with customers. The changes we've ini- tiated in 1991 take us a long way toward accomplishing these goals." To reach individuals and small- and medium-sized businesses, NeXT is establishing a network of independent dealers that are aggressive, technically savvy, owner- operated retailers with strong regional reputations. Included in this group will be individually certified Busi- nessland centers, chosen on a case-by-case basis according to their track record selling NeXT's professional worksta- tion products. NeXT expects that these Businessland centers will make up about 10 percent of its total dealer base. NeXT's VAR strategy focuses on specific vertical markets that depend on proprietary custom software, and for which NeXT is particularly well suited, including publish- ing, financial services, entertainment/advertising, medical and legal services. Historically, more than half of all workstations have been sold through VARs. To increase its leverage among higher education cus- tomers P which account for 40 percent of NeXT's total sales worldwide P NeXT is concentrating more effort on campus resellers (i.e., bookstores and on-campus computer stores). The company is focusing on establishing key resellers at computer-intensive colleges and universities, which are responsible for about half of all higher education computer purchases. Many large corporate customers, as well as many government organizations and higher education institutions, prefer to purchase computers directly from vendors instead of through intermediate channels. NeXT has doubled its direct sales force in the last six months to better serve these customers. NeXT Computer, Inc. designs, manufactures and mark- ets professional workstations, which combine the power and networking of today's most advanced workstations with the ease of use and productivity applications of today's best personal computers. NeXT's professional workstation systems promise to enhance the way groups of people work together in the 1990s. NeXT is headquartered at 900 Chesapeake Drive, Redwood City, California, 94063.