Oracle Japan and Nihon Sun hold top market shares

Nearly 57% of the UNIX servers, but less than 5% of the UNIX workstations, shipped with RDBMS installed. Fujitsu held top share in number of RDBMS-installed UNIX servers shipped in the Japanese market, with Nihon Sun Microsystems having top share amon g RDBMS workstation shipments.

Among RDBMS software products, Oracle Japan held top share at 60%, followed by Informix (21%) and Sybase (11%). According to MIC Research Institute, Oracle Japan owed its success to effective marketing. Informix suffered from an unfortunate delay in p orting its new version onto the products of Japanese makers, and Sybase had only a limited number of platforms on which its RDBMS could be installed.

For Oracle Japan's products, the largest share shipped on Fujitsu servers and Nihon Sun Microsystems workstations. For Informix products, the largest share shipped on Hewlett Packard Japan servers and NEC workstations. For Sybase products, the largest share was on HP Japan servers and Nihon Sun Microsystems workstations.

For further details of the RDBMS UNIX server/workstation report, contact MIC Research Institute at phone 03-5443-2991, fax 03-5443-2994.

Japan's high-performance parallel computer market set to grow
IDC Japan releases SBA market research report

The high-performance parallel computer market in Japan has not yet matured, but it is expected to grow at a rate faster than the world average over the near future, due to corporations gearing toward the data warehouse market. According to IDC Japan, a Tokyo-based research company, which has announced the results of its research on the market status of what it calls Strategic Business Application (SBA) systems -- high-performance parallel computers, including some massively parallel supercomputers and high-end models of symmetrical multiprocessors -- 1995 sales of the SBA market in Japan were about ¥15.8 billion on total shipments of 110 units. NCR held top share (47% of shipments and 49% for sales) followed by IBM (28% and 34%, respectively) and Tandem Computers (9% and 11% ).

In 1995, the main SBA product of NCR was the AT&T3600. The IBM Japan flagship products were the 9673 Database Server and RS/6000SP (formally SP2); both of these started shipping around April 1994. Tandem's top products were the Himalaya K10000 and K20000.

IDC anticipates an average of more-than-20% growth for the SBA market in Japan through the end of the century. Sales should be particularly good in such fields as the retail, financing, communications, and transportation sectors.

Top management shuffle planned in Japan's telecom giants

As we went to press, Japan's two top telecommunications carriers, NTT and KDD, were both reportedly set to announce changes in their top management. They were expected to select from within their own ranks for the position of president, with each advancing their No. 2 men (former Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications officials) to the position of chairman. The personnel issue, particularly that at NTT, has been drawing close attention since any management change could affect discussions with MP T regarding the proposed NTT breakup.

Masashi Kodama, current NTT president and a tough negotiator with MPT regarding NTT's status, looks likely to become an advisor to the new president, who presumably will not have as much decision-making clout at NTT as did Kodama. Observers expect NTT to select Jun-ichiro Miyazu, currently senior executive vice president, as its new president, while appointing another senior executive vice president, Shigeo Sawada (formerly an MPT vice minister) as company chairman. It is suggested by some that the MP T originally sent Sawada to NTT with the intent of placing him as president some day, thereby increasing the ministry's influence on NTT management.

With the current organizational structure, there is speculation that the MPT will not be able to exercise complete power over NTT management, with NTT remaining as Japan's predominant domestic carrier in spite of the proposed breakup scenario. It has been reported in the Japanese press that some politicians of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) -- which is and long has been the most influential party in the Japanese government -- have intervened to discourage the MPT's long-time zeal for realization o f NTT divestiture.

Meanwhile, KDD is expected to nominate KDD-veteran Tadashi Nishimoto as its new president, while also placing an ex-MPT vice minister as chairman. Current KDD president Hiroshi Ichihara will become an executive advisor.

PSINet begins full-scale service in Japan

Well-known American internet service provider PSINet has started its full-scale services in Japan, featuring more stable and secured Internet access through the use of ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) and frame-relay technologies. PSINet is also se t to increase its POPs (Points of Presence) inside Japan to nine within this year. The range of services include the InterRamp dial-up service for individuals, LAN on Demand for corporate customers, InterFrame for high-speed digital connections utilizing Permanent Virtual Circuit technology, PSIMail (e-mail services), and PSIWeb homepage service.

For its Japan business, PSINet has established a partner system called PSIVar to tie up with companies that have already established their sales channels and technical know-how for system integration of the Internet services. As of June, PSINet had su ch tie-ups with three Japanese companies: Kanematsu, Komatsu Soft, and Step. PSINet also has ties with Mitsubishi Corporation for joint feasibility studies of Internet-related businesses in Japan.

Corporate IT spending expected to rise by 13%

IDC Japan releases IT market survey results

Stable spending by businesses on PCs and increasing spending on networking hardware are expected in 1996, according to a research report compiled by high-tech researcher IDC Japan. The report predi cts that overall corporate spending on information systems this year will increase by 13%. Spending on mainframes will shrink slightly (by 0.6%), but PC purchases, which accounted for 21.5% of total IT spending in 1995, will increase by 22.7%.

The PC installation ratio at the sites surveyed was 52%. However, about 65% of large companies replied that they have or will install PCs by the end of 1996; among these, 54% will introduce DOS/Windows computers, 46% will use NEC PC9800 series machine s, and less than 10% will use Apple Macintosh computers. The current ratio of local area network (LAN) installations was just 7.6% overall, although it reached 60% in large companies. Only 12% of companies have been using e-mail, although 49% of large com panies said that they plan to introduce e-mail systems by the end of 1996, and another 5% will do so by the end of 1997.

The IDC Japan research was conducted as part of the IDC Global IT Survey, an annual survey worldwide to be conducted by the IDC group. IDC Japan contacted a total of 3,537 business sites throughout Japan during the period from mid-December in 1995 to mid-March 1996, and received valid responses from over one-third (1,288) of those companies.

Japan's shopkeepers like NEC, Microsoft Survey, an annual survey worldwide to be conducted by the IDC group. IDC Japan contacted a total of 3,537 business sites throughout Japan during the period from mid-December in 1995 to mid-March 1996, and recei ved valid responses from over one-third (1,288) of those companies.

Japan's shopkeepers like NEC, Microsoft
What do Japan's PC retail stores think about Japan's hardware and software companies? Business Computer News questioned ten major Japanese PC discount shops regarding their evaluation of PC har dware, software, and peripherals suppliers to find out.

Among the top six hardware makers selected for the research, NEC was evaluated the highest, mainly because of its quick product supply to the shops; IBM Japan and Fujitsu ranked 2nd and 3rd. Among the top three software makers, Microsoft Japan got the nod due to the strong impact of Windows 95 on the market and its high sales performance in business-use software (such as Office 95). In printers, Epson topped Canon because of its swift product supply response, and memory board make IO Data beat MELCO o n the strength of its product performance and support.

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