Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!rice!sun-spots-request
From: scs@itivax.iti.org (Steve C. Simmons)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun
Subject: Re: what machines will Sun be announcing
Message-ID: <635@itivax.iti.org>
Date: 28 Feb 89 04:23:02 GMT
References: <8902031835.AA17629@ursa-major.SPDCC.COM>
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Organization: Industrial Technology Institute, Ann Arbor, MI.
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Original-Date: 15 Feb 89 16:31:07 GMT
X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 7, Issue 170, message 2 of 12

eli@ursa-major.spdcc.com (Steve Elias) writes:
>we've been stalling our impending purchases of more workstations... 
>heard about an April announcement...  it would be fabulous if they would
>announce swift new stuff in February, as well.

Chuckle.  Your note is a good reason why computer manufacturers try to
keep down the long-term announcements.  If Sun announced a $4000 68030
workstation today for delivery in June, what would happen to 3/50 and 3/60
sales?  Down the toilet, that's what.  Note that long preannouncements
were a major contributor to Kaypro's downfall.

Long pre-announcements are also very risky to ones credibility.  If you
announce a machine 6 months before scheduled delivery from development,
you have a high risk of being late.  If you announce one month, you're
pretty safe.  How would you feel putting off your Feb purchases for a July
machine that doesn't materialize until December?  More or less p-o'ed than
buying in Feb and seeing the announcement in November?  in June?  There's
no perfect answer, only hard choices.

Finally, long pre-announcements are a classic IBM technique to keep users
hanging onto one vendor.  By promising the moon next year, many buyers
hang onto their existing equipment rather than switch to a competitor.  Is
this good or bad?  IBM gets flamed and sometimes even sued by customers
and competitors over doing this.

Steve Simmons		          scs@vax3.iti.org
Industrial Technology Institute     Ann Arbor, MI.