Netscape Communications made two major gambles last week to reverse its recent trend of dismal quarterly results. It will give away its Web browser software (as Microsoft already does) and also allow developers to license the source code for free. In the daring move it hopes to shore up its market share (Microsoft has made major inroads and by many estimates now has around a 40 per cent share of the browser market);
use the "nearly public-domain" model to emulate the successes of the Linux operating system and the hugely successful Apache Web server, which is freeware but enjoys a 44 per cent market share. By giving away the code, improvements to Netscape's software will be invented not just by its own programmers but also by a voluntary army of engineers and hobbyists across the Net;
increase traffic at its Web site - already one of the busiest in the world. This could offset the loss of some $17 million in revenue per quarter which Navigator was generating (although Netscape will continue to charge $29 for a business version of Communicator with extra features such as a calendar program).
MICROSOFT DEAL: Netscape's move was the second blow last week to Microsoft in the so-called "browser wars". Earlier the software giant was forced into a compromise with the US Justice Department: it will now give PC makers an easy way to disable its Explorer browser software. Microsoft is also to revise its contracts with many leading European Internet service providers (ISPs) including several Irish ones. It will drop clauses making the ISPs offer their customers Explorer as a condition for being listed in the Windows 95 operating system. Microsoft claims the action is an independent business decision, and has nothing to do with the European Commission's anti-monopoly inquiry.
IRISH CHARTS: IBM and Sharptext have once again toppped Irish Computer's annual Top 10 of IT vendors and indigenous companies in Ireland. The 1997 charts, to be published today, show rapid growth at Dell (even before last week's recordbreaking expansion plan was announced) and it looks set to become Ireland's biggest computer vendor in 1998. The top 10 vendors by revenue in 1997 were:
1. IBM £66.7m; 2. Digital £61.8m; 3. Dell £58.5m; 4. Bull £57m; 5. HewlettPackard £48.5m; 6. Compaq £43m; 7. Apple £29.7m; 8. SNI £25.5m; 9. Microsoft £23.5m; 10. ICL £23m;
The five largest indigenous companies were Sharptext (£200m), Horizon (£58m), CBT Group (£47.3m), Iona Technologies (£32.3m) and Micro Warehouse (£31m). Iona recorded phenomenal growth in sales of 140 per cent last year.
Regional companies such as CK Business Electronics, Datapac and Fitzpatricks featured prominently in the top 10 resellers list, which was led by Horizon and the Trinity Group.
ORACLE TESTS: Oracle Education Ireland has launched its Oracle Certified Professional programme. It "provides companies with a standard worldwide measure for establishing technical competence using Oracle technologies and eases the database administrator hiring process for managers".
Udaras na Gaeltachta's telecoms sunbsidiary GCom has developed a "virtual business school" on the Web
NEW YORK NODE: PostGEM's new transatlantic network node in New York expands its Virtual Private Network facilities. Firms with offices spread around Ireland or Britain can use PostGEM's network to connect them without having to lay leased lines themselves.
FASTER PCS: Gateway 2000 has begun putting Intel's high-speed Pentium II 333MHz processor into its PCs destined for the European market. The chip will go into its G6-333 and G6-333XL desktop PCs which cost £2,149 and £1,799 (ex VAT). Meanwhile at the lower end of the market IBM has cut prices by up to 11 per cent - entry-level prices for its 300 PL series of desktops now start at £740 ex VAT (with a 166 MHz processor, 16 MB RAM and 2.5-gigabyte hard drive).
LATEST RESULTS: Microsoft's net income of $1.13 billion for its latest quarter was up 49 per cent on the corresponding quarter a year ago. Revenues at $3.59 billion were up 34 per cent. Quarterly revenues at Sun Microsystems were $2.45 billion. IBM's quarterly revenues increased 3 per cent year on year to a record $23.7 billion, while Compaq's worldwide sales jumped 23 per cent to $7.3 billion.
Gateway 2000 shipped 850,000 PCs in its latest quarter - up 38 per cent on the same period in 1996, with revenue at $1.98 billion up 28 per cent on a year ago. Network Associates also reported record revenue and earnings for its latest quarter - $173.3 million, up 39 per cent on a year ago. This excluded the cost of its acquisition of Pretty Good Privacy Inc last month. Visio's revenues for its latest quarter were $37 million, bolstered by a doubling of its European revenues (which underscores the success of its Dublin operations).
IN BRIEF. . .America Online has said it should not have revealed subscriber information to US Navy officials investigating a sailor charged with violating rules governing gays in the military (see last week's Computimes). . . Priority Data Systems has released PD Secure v1.50 for Windows 95. The upgrade disables the start-up files bypass feature. . . Intel has introduced its new Quick Web Technology for Internet providers and digital distribution companies to speed up the delivery time of Web
graphics (see www.intel.com/quickweb). . . Israelis will be able to seek divorce via the Internet, the daily Yediot Ahranot reported on Friday. . .