The third quarter figures from Sun Microsystems Inc (see page seven) show a modest slowing of growth – 12% in the quarter, 15% in the nine months, but the deceleration does not yet look serious, although the figures must include a contribution from the Interactive Systems Corp businesses Sun bought that is not in the previous year’s figures: the company says it shipped a record 52,000 units, including desktop computers and servers (exclusive of upgrades) during the quarter, and that SunSoft Inc distributed a record number of Unix licences, more than 70,000, to users of Sparc-based and iAPX-86-based kit, to manufacturers of Sparc-based machines and to other licensees; Sun notes that business in Japan and other Pacific Rim countries was robust, while the US and Europe turned in more modest growth rates; the company has a record cash and near-cash treasury of some $928m.
