Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Servers

    Java Goes to Wal-Mart

    By
    Peter Galli
    -
    December 8, 2003
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Sun Microsystems Inc. is embarking on a strategy that challenges Microsoft Corp. on a brand-new front: the consumer market.

      The Santa Clara, Calif., company is negotiating with major retailers Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Office Depot Inc. to include Suns Java Desktop System on planned offerings of low-priced consumer PCs and laptops.

      /zimages/3/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK Labs review of Suns Java Desktop System.

      “You will see our focus trend toward us not visiting the CEO of, say, Goldman Sachs [Group Inc.] and trying to convince him that we can effectively replace the Microsoft desktop on his bankers workstation,” said Jonathan Schwartz, Suns executive vice president of software, in an interview.

      Instead, Schwartz said, the company plans to attract a different segment of the market, including companies such as Wal-Mart, “to leverage our desktop as a more effective home and retail solution.”

      “We have engaged [Wal-Mart] in a variety of discussions from auto-identification and [radio-frequency ID] tags on suppliers all the way to potentially providing them with a desktop solution,” Schwartz said.

      Asked whether Sun and Wal-Mart are close to an agreement, Schwartz said, “You should expect to see this sometime next year.”

      Wal-Mart, of Bentonville, Ark., is expected to launch its own brand of PCs next year, starting with notebooks. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Karen Burk declined to comment on negotiations with Sun and would say only that the company “has no plans for a private-label PC at this time.”

      If Sun and Wal-Mart reach an agreement, it would represent a substantial departure from Suns traditional enterprise focus and channel—and a challenging departure at that.

      Wal-Mart could consider Java Desktop System for its offerings, said Sam Bhavnani, an analyst at ARS Inc., in San Diego, but “in terms of how well it can do, I believe 100 percent that a Windows-powered device would do far better than a Java-powered device.

      “A Windows notebook will be far more appealing to most consumers than a Linux/Java one, no matter what the price,” Bhavnani said.

      Next page: Trading one proprietary desktop for another.

      Page Two

      At the same time, some users are painting Sun with the same proprietary brush they say applies to Microsoft and its products. An IT manager, who asked not to be named, said he could not understand why a user would trade one proprietary desktop for another.

      “I personally keep Java off my computer because it crashes the system,” he said. “If Sun had the interests of the customer in mind, then the Sun desktop would be written in C and donated to Linux. Sun is no better than Microsoft.”

      Nevertheless, Sun is moving forward, according to Schwartz, and is in talks with Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Intel Corp. about running Java on the companies respective architectures. Sun has “been having that discussion with Intel and AMD because we would need to cooperate with both of them to hit price points that were really compelling,” he said.

      A recent report from NPD Group Inc., of Port Washington, N.Y., said unit sales of notebooks jumped 31 percent in the United States during the first nine months of this year compared with the same period a year ago. Desktop PC sales fell by 1 percent over the same period.

      Schwartz is upbeat about the potential for Suns product in the mass consumer market. The long-run evolution of the Internet is most likely to be driven by consumers, many of them young, and that gives Sun another “bite of the apple” in the next wave of PC client adoptions, Schwartz said.

      But ARS Bhavnani disagreed, saying price is just one of many criteria for consumers and that the youth market is very particular about the products it buys.

      “I think that Wal-Mart will test the waters with a known brand, like Windows, rather than an unknown Java or Lindows operating system,” Bhavnani said.

      “Even if Sun does score a deal with Wal-Mart, it would be big for Sun, but ultimately I dont think it would have any real effect on Microsoft and its dominance in the desktop market,” he said.

      Discuss This in the eWEEK Forum

      Peter Galli
      Peter Galli has been a financial/technology reporter for 12 years at leading publications in South Africa, the UK and the US. He has been Investment Editor of South Africa's Business Day Newspaper, the sister publication of the Financial Times of London.He was also Group Financial Communications Manager for First National Bank, the second largest banking group in South Africa before moving on to become Executive News Editor of Business Report, the largest daily financial newspaper in South Africa, owned by the global Independent Newspapers group.He was responsible for a national reporting team of 20 based in four bureaus. He also edited and contributed to its weekly technology page, and launched a financial and technology radio service supplying daily news bulletins to the national broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which were then distributed to some 50 radio stations across the country.He was then transferred to San Francisco as Business Report's U.S. Correspondent to cover Silicon Valley, trade and finance between the US, Europe and emerging markets like South Africa. After serving that role for more than two years, he joined eWeek as a Senior Editor, covering software platforms in August 2000.He has comprehensively covered Microsoft and its Windows and .Net platforms, as well as the many legal challenges it has faced. He has also focused on Sun Microsystems and its Solaris operating environment, Java and Unix offerings. He covers developments in the open source community, particularly around the Linux kernel and the effects it will have on the enterprise.He has written extensively about new products for the Linux and Unix platforms, the development of open standards and critically looked at the potential Linux has to offer an alternative operating system and platform to Windows, .Net and Unix-based solutions like Solaris.His interviews with senior industry executives include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Linus Torvalds, the original developer of the Linux operating system, Sun CEO Scot McNealy, and Bill Zeitler, a senior vice president at IBM.For numerous examples of his writing you can search under his name at the eWEEK Website at www.eweek.com.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×