HP Leads High-End UNIX System Server Market

Business Wire, Sept 10, 1998

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 10,1998--

Sells More than 1,000 HP 9000 V-Class Enterprise Servers in Only Nine Months, Twice as Many Servers as its Closest UNIX System Competitor in Half the Time

Hewlett-Packard Company today announced it once again was ranked the market leader in high-end UNIX(R) system server shipments and revenue, according to International Data Corporation's (IDC) first- and second-calendar-quarter 1998 data. (1)

"HP's solid performance in the high-end UNIX system server market is a testament to the quality and reliability the company consistently provides for its customers," said Jay Bretzmann, vice president of worldwide systems research for IDC, a Framingham, Mass.-based research firm. "Customers have renewed confidence in HP's current line of products and strong roadmap for the future."

HP SELLS HIGH-END V-CLASS SERVER IN RECORD TIME

HP recently sold its 1,000th Enterprise V-Class server, reaching a significant milestone in the number of high-end servers sold. HP has sold twice as many servers (V-Class) in the last nine months as its closest competitor has (comparable product) in the last 18 months. HP also has installed more than 5,000 T-Class servers in mission-critical environments, for a grand total of more than 6,000 HP 9000 mission-critical servers installed throughout the world today. Not only is HP the leader in the high-end server market, but HP also leads the technical server market, with 36.7 percent share (revenue) in 1997, according to IDC.

"These achievements underscore HP's leadership in the high-end UNIX system server market and position our high-end solutions as the premier mainframe alternative for customers," said Janice Chaffin, general manager of the High Performance Systems Division. "IDC's data clearly demonstrates that businesses trust HP's commitment to deliver reliable, scalable and highly available mission-critical systems."

DELIVERING BREADTH OF MISSION-CRITICAL SOLUTIONS

HP's innovative product strategy integrates best-in-class product and partner solutions to meet real-world business challenges. The HP 9000 Enterprise Server family provides the following: -0-

--   the most extensive portfolio of leading, enterprise-class
     applications on the market -- more than 15,000 independent
     software vendors currently develop innovative applications that
     provide a clear advantage for the 1.3 million HP-UX(2)
     installed-base and expand the market leadership of HP-UX;

--   performance leadership -- the HP V2250 consistently outpaces
     competitors' systems with the world's fastest TPC-C benchmark
     (more than 52,000 transactions per minute). HP intends to double
     the performance of its high-end UNIX system servers over the next
     year;

--   with its partners, the industry's first comprehensive set of
     high-availability and storage solutions for mission-critical
     environments today, each with a 99.95 percent uptime guarantee;
     and

--   a strategy and transition plan toward IA-64 and an upgrade path
     for its PA-RISC architecture.
-0-

ABOUT HP

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global provider of computing, Internet and intranet solutions, services, communications products and measurement solutions, all of which are recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 127,200 employees and had a revenue of $42.9 billion in its 1997 fiscal year.

(1) IDC defines high-end systems as those priced over $1 million.

(2) HP-UX Release 10.20 and later and HP-UX Release 11 and later (in both 32 and 64-bit configurations) on all HP 9000 computers are Open Group UNIX 95 branded products.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

    CONTACT: Cunningham Communication, Inc. for HP
              Laurie Goldman, 408/447-3629
              lgoldman@cup.hp.com