Dell Maintains #1 Ranking over Sun Microsystems by a Narrow Margin in Technology Business Research, Inc. 1Q99 CBQ Ranking; eBusiness Strategy Propels IBM to Fourth Place.

HAMPTON, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 22, 1999--

Dell Computer (Nasdaq:DELL) and Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq:SUNW) continued to compete closely for the #1 spot in TBR's (www.tbri.com) Computer Business Quarterly (CBQ) rankings. This quarter, Dell remained on top, albeit by a narrow margin, after regaining the spot from Sun in 3Q98. Both Sun and Dell's current strategies are focused on the diversification of their revenue streams. Dell is looking to increase sales to consumers and small- to medium-sized businesses as well as new geographies, while, at the same time, increasing higher-margin, higher-ASP portables and servers as a percentage of revenue. Similarly, Sun is attempting to become less dependent on server and workstation sales through its Java initiatives, service offerings, and dot.com strategy. Future rankings will be based on Dell and Sun's ability to execute on these strategies without losing sight of their core competencies.

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                            CBQ Benchmark Index for First Quarter 1999
        1Q99 Rank               4Q98 Rank      4Q98         1Q99
        ---------               ---------      ----         ----
  #1  Dell (Nasdaq:DELL)          #1           6.97         6.72
  #2  Sun (Nasdaq:SUNW)           #2           6.85         6.69
  #3  Compaq (NYSE:CPQ)           #3           6.62         6.36
  #4  IBM  (NYSE:IBM)             #6           5.51         5.78
  #5  Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HWP)  #5           5.59         5.72
  #6  Gateway  (NYSE:GTW)         #4           5.89         5.64
  #7  Apple  (Nasdaq:AAPL)        #7           5.43         5.31
  #8  Data General (NYSE:DGN)     #10          5.08         5.11
  #9  Micron Nasdaq (MUEI)        #8           5.25         4.92
  #10  Unisys  (NYSE:UIS)         #9           5.11         4.64
  #11  Toshiba America            #14          4.52         4.62
  #12  SGI (NYSE:SGI)             #12          5.00         4.58
  #13  Acer Group                 #14          4.52         4.41
  #14  Packard Bell NEC           #13          4.53         4.37
  #15  NCR (NYSE:NCR)             #11          5.07         3.85

   Source: TBR

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Compaq (NYSE:CPQ) maintained the #3 position despite a rocky quarter which ended with the resignations of CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer and CFO Earl Mason, followed by the resignations of the head of services John Rando, and the head of enterprise computing, John Rose. While acting CEO, Ben Rosen, has made it clear that Compaq's focus going forward will be on its NonStop eBusiness strategy, TBR believes that the company's shortage of senior management must be addressed before Wall Street, channel partners, and customers can feel comfortable with the company's future direction.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) moved up to the #4 position this quarter -- its highest TBR ranking ever -- from #6 last quarter as its e-business strategy has coalesced into a revenue and profit-generating machine based on software, services, and technology bolstered this quarter by blistering growth in PCs and continued demand for the G5 server.

HP (NYSE:HWP) maintained the #5 position, embarking on its new corporate e-services strategy which could be just what the company needs to kick-start revenue growth, to improve employee morale, and to regain a leadership role in the computer industry.

Gateway (NYSE:GTW) dropped to the #6 position this quarter from #4 last quarter despite reporting results which were on track with expectations. Gateway's overall score was impacted by its manufacturing strategy score which declined due to improved efficiencies by both Gateway's direct and indirect competitors.

Significant changes in rank include NCR (NYSE:NCR) which dropped from the #11 position last quarter to #15 this quarter as the company is in the midst of changing its image, as it adopts a solutions focus, develops a new advertising campaign, and announces new WorldMark systems. TBR is concerned that NCR does not have the energy, bandwidth, or the resources to successfully implement these changes. At the same time, Toshiba America (TAIS) moved up in rank from the #14 position last quarter to #11 this quarter. TBR believes that TAIS has finally turned the corner with its products being among the most attractive and innovative in the market, a marketing strategy based on building stronger relationships with resellers, investments in service and support which are showing results, more efficient manufacturing, and more accurate forecasting.

"The market consolidation trend is clearly apparent in this quarter's rankings with Dell, Sun, Compaq, IBM, and HP holding the top spots," said TBR's Manager of Computer Business Quarterly, Lindy Lesperance. "These companies have also realized the potential opportunity in providing e-business and e-services solutions both to their enterprise and SMB customers which will allow them continued growth and profitability amid declining average sales prices and margins in the PC and server markets."

TBR's highly quantitative, proprietary benchmarking methodology ranks the leading global computer vendors on a comparative basis every quarter, based on effective implementation of product strategy, marketing strategy, manufacturing strategy, and business model.

TBR specializes in the competitive analysis of the major players in the global computing market through its industry standard Computer Business Quarterly (CBQ) benchmarking.

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