Re: Why SAP is doing well when Oracle is not

On Thu, 09 Jan 2003 18:28:25 +0000, Belinda wrote:

> I am just pondering at some of Larry's criticism on SAP as a living
> dinosaur with all obsolete technology and been unable to climb to
> internet technologies, Java et all.
>
> Despite Larry's bashing of SAP and undoubtedly many SAP clients being
> unable to implement a fraction of SAP even after years why are people
> spending money on SAP and why is SAP doing well with a technology that
> Larry says is obsolete and difficult to use and implement and they are
> still doing well.
>
> Can somebody explain this. I am lost I still can't get this is oracle
> builds open systems, highly scalable, java/XML and internet enabled
> and its arch competition is missing all of this what makes the
> competition tick than Oracle.
>
> Is it that Oracle is not good at selling and only good at engineering
> products that are not sold properly.
>
> Bel
>
> SAP on track for 2002 as license sales hold up
>
> By James Mackenzie
> January 9, 2003 6:57 am PT
>
>
> FRANKFURT (REUTERS) - Germany's SAP AG confirmed its ability to
> withstand a slump in global software spending, saying on Thursday it
> would hit its 2002 profit goal as fourth-quarter license sales held up
> better than the market had expected.
>
> SAP shares surged after the company, Europe's biggest software maker,
> said it expected slightly higher 2002 sales, with operating profit
> margins before acquisition expenses and stock-based compensation costs
> at least one percentage point over the 20 percent in 2001.
>
> Software license sales in the fourth quarter, traditionally SAP's
> strongest, came in at around 950 million euros ($985 million), some
> eight percent below the year-earlier figure of 1.03 billion euros.
>
> But license sales, a key indicator of underlying demand, were above
> the highest analyst estimate seen by Reuters of 925 million euros and
> well ahead of an average estimate of 826 million. SAP's expectations
> for full-year overall sales also exceeded analysts' forecasts for a
> slight decline.
>
> Like the rest of the industry SAP, which supplies business planning
> and Web-based e-business software to some 17,500 customers worldwide,
> has been hit by a sharp slowdown in spending on information
> technology.
>
> But it has also benefited from the slowdown by taking business away
> from rivals as tighter budgets have forced customers to choose
> suppliers more carefully.
>
> "This is a very strong performance, no doubt about it," said JP Morgan
> analyst David Reynolds, who rates the share "overweight."
>
> "It confirms that in difficult markets, enterprise software customers
> clearly feel a lot more comfortable dealing with the large companies
> that are going to be around for some time," Reynolds said.
>
> By 1120 GMT, SAP shares were 3.45 percent higher at 88.86 euros,
> outperforming a fall of 1.7 percent on the Eurostoxx tech index.
>
> SAP abandoned its specific 2002 revenue target in October after being
> forced to lower earlier targets in the face of slowing demand, but it
> has stuck to a forecast of 21 percent operating profit margins for
> 2002.
>
> SAP shares have lost more than half their value since hitting a peak
> of 177.40 euros last March, but the shares rallied strongly at the end
> of 2002 and have more than doubled in value since October.
>
> GAINING GROUND
>
> SAP has focused closely on cutting operating costs, trimming travel
> and marketing budgets and freezing hiring, although it has avoided the
> mass layoffs seen at U.S. rivals such as Oracle or Siebel Systems.
>
> But the results also suggested that the group has been building up its
> position in its key markets.
>
> SAP's arch-rival Oracle Corp. last month posted a 34 percent fall in
> quarterly new license sales in the applications segment in which the
> two companies directly compete, although it said the slump in
> information technology spending was bottoming out.
>
> According to a survey of 340 software customers by JP Morgan in
> November and December, SAP appeared to have been able to implement at
> least modest price increases in the second half of 2002 despite the
> generally poor investment climate.
>
> Lehman Brothers analyst Coleen Kaiser, who raised her rating on the
> whole European software sector to "neutral" from "negative," said
> conditions in Europe appeared to be stabilizing and margins should
> improve further this year.
>
> "The market environment is not great, but we've definitely hit the
> bottom," she said.
>
> SAP gave no regional or product breakdown for its sales, but the key
> U.S. market appears to have held up, even if Europe is likely to have
> remained the group's core market.
>
> Bill McDermott, the recently appointed head of SAP America, told the
> Financial Times Deutschland last month that costs in the United States
> had been brought under control and that the unit would meet its
> financial targets for the year.
>
> ($1=.9641 Euro)

Look at this and repeat that SAP is doing well.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ORCL&d=c&k=c1&c=sap&a=v&p=s&t=my&l=on&z=m&q=l

Cheers,

dmz17 Received on Fri Jan 10 2003 - 19:32:14 CET