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From: timr@sco.COM (Tim Ruckle)
Subject: Re: SCO market share
Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Date: Thu, 09 Dec 1993 01:35:37 GMT
Message-ID: <1993Dec09.013537.14929@sco.com>
Keywords: some interesting stats
References: <CHpyE0.Arn@telly.on.ca> <1993Dec08.181253.9424@sco.COM>
Sender: news@sco.com (News admin)
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In article <1993Dec08.181253.9424@sco.COM> davidgu@sco.COM (Dave Gurr) writes:
} 
} 	In 1992, SCO shipped around 18% of all UNIX licenses, slightly
} 	behind the leading shipper (Sun) on 24% (source: IDC 1993)
} 
} Some other interesting stats:
} 
} 	In 1992 SCO was responsible for around 22% of the installed
} 	base of all UNIX systems worldwide - more than any other vendor,
} 	including Sun on around 19% (source: IDC 1993)
} 
} An impartial observer may wish to comment on the likely number of connected
} users for the installed/shipped systems above, and thus the likely user
} populations existing, and added to.

Hi Dave,

I heard that SCO Systems had an average of 7.7 users per system a few years 
back (as reported by Dataquest).  With the rise of SCO MPX and SCO Open
Server Systems (and the vast increase in performance of industry-standard
hardware) this may very well be higher by now.

In any case, though I can't claim to be a totally impartial observer, it
stands to reason that if Sun Systems have a greater workstation to server
ratio than SCO does, then their total number of user "seats" will be less
(and visa versa).

Is this what you were getting at?

} 	SCO only sells system software ... but if you take into account
} 	all the system hardware and peripherals that our systems are sold
} 	with, in 1992 we were responsible for around $2bn worth of downstream
} 	sales (more than $3bn if you include the application software sales)
} 	(Source: Aberdeen Group 1993)

Hmm, this is probably only interesting in as much as somebody tries to use
bogus statistics to try and paint SCO as a minor player in the Open Systems
market: if you go ahead and plot total sales dollars then SCO is hardly a
blip on the screen compared to Sun, HP, and IBM.

But SCO is a vendor-independent software company, so those billions in system
hardware sales "downstream" don't count.

There are lies, dang lies, and statistics.  I'm not sure what this thread has
to do with the price of XENIX in China (where SCO found itself with a huge
market share, BTW, before they even sold a single copy ;^).  And while I do
trust those IDC numbers, I don't see how the relative market share stats are
really at issue here.

If we can't all grow the total market then we're all in trouble.  And the
worst thing in the world would be to see one of our main "competitors" go
under and give up all their market share to one of us.

(the reason for this is left as an exercise for the reader--please show all
work...  |')

Regards,

Tim

--
unless statistics lie he was
more brave than me:more blond than you.
                                                           --e.e. cummings