Sun Microsystems Reports Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2008 Results

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Sun Microsystems Reports Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2008 Results

SANTA CLARA, CA May 1, 2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) reported results today for its fiscal third quarter, which ended March 30, 2008.

Revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 were $3.266 billion, a decrease of 0.5 percent as compared with $3.283 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2007. Total gross margin as a percent of revenues was 44.9, an increase of 0.4 percentage points, as compared with the third quarter of fiscal 2007.

Net loss for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 on a GAAP basis was $34 million, or ($0.04) per share, as compared with net income of $67 million, or $0.07 per share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2007. In the third quarter of fiscal 2008, the company recorded a $52 million dollar tax provision, as compared to a tax benefit of $3 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2007. Net loss for the third quarter included charges related to the acquisition of MySQL, which reduced earnings per share by approximately $0.04.

Cash generated from operations for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 was $329 million, and the cash and marketable debt securities balance at the end of the quarter was $3.801 billion. During the third quarter, Sun continued to leverage its cash position, spending $300 million to repurchase 17.5 million shares of its common stock. There is currently $500 million remaining of the $3 billion share repurchase program announced in the company's fiscal fourth quarter of 2007.

"The U.S. economy presented Sun with significant challenges in the third quarter, masking our progress in developing nations and economies across the world," said Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems. "With double digit year-over-year growth in India and Brazil, and triple digit billings year-over-year growth in our energy efficient, Solaris-based Chip Multi-Threading (CMT) systems, Sun made considerable progress during the quarter. We continue to invest in the future created by open alternatives to proprietary technologies, best exemplified by the acquisition of MySQL. The world is moving to open source innovation, and Sun continues to lead that revolution"

Third Quarter Highlights

Sun reported year-over-year revenue growth in 12 out of its 16 sales geographies during the third quarter, with double-digit revenue growth in key international markets across EMEA, Asia Pacific and the International Americas.
From a product perspective, Solaris based Chip Multi-Threading (CMT) systems billings more than doubled year-over-year, with the Company's blade systems also delivering impressive billings growth fueled by Sun's comprehensive portfolio spanning AMD Opteron, Intel Xeon and Sun UltraSPARC offerings.
Furthering its presence in the open source software marketplace, Sun announced the close of two significant acquisitions: MySQL, the world's most popular open source database provider, and innotek, whose VirtualBox products provide free desktop virtualization.
Sun signed a landmark collaboration agreement with The People's Republic of China Ministry of Education to cultivate integrated circuit engineering talent and industry development based upon Sun's OpenSPARC open source silicon platform.
Sun was awarded significant contracts including funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for a five and a half year research project focused on microchip interconnectivity via on-chip optical networks enabled by silicon photonics and proximity communication.

Sun has scheduled a conference call today to discuss its financial results for the third quarter fiscal year 2008 at 1:30 p.m. (PT), which is being broadcast live at www.sun.com/investors.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Sun Microsystems develops the technologies that power the global marketplace. Guided by a singular vision -- "The Network is the Computer" -- Sun drives network participation through shared innovation, community development and open source leadership. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris, Sun Fire, Java, innotek, VirtualBox, MySQL and The Network is the Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

AMD and Opteron are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices.

Intel and Intel Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.

All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open Company, Ltd.

Billings represents amounts invoiced to customers in a period.

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the future results and performance of Sun Microsystems, Inc., including statements regarding future investments and industry trends. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from those predicted in any such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Sun's actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements include: risks associated with developing, designing, manufacturing and distributing new products; lack of success in technological advancements; pricing pressures; lack of customer acceptance and implementation of new products and technologies; the possibility of errors or defects in new products; a material acquisition, restructuring or other event that results in significant charges; competition; adverse business conditions; failure to retain key employees; the cancellation or delay of projects; Sun's reliance on single-source suppliers; risks associated with Sun's ability to purchase a sufficient amount of components to meet demand; inventory risks; risks associated with Sun's international customers and operations; delays in product development; Sun's dependence on significant customers and specific industries; and Sun's dependence on channel partners. Please also refer to Sun's periodic reports that are filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007 and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended September 30, 2007 and December 30, 2007. Sun assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update these forward-looking statements.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris, Java and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

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