Sun Q1 Results Shine

Sun Microsystems Reports Eps Up 88% In Record First Quarter

First Quarter Net Income grew 85% on Revenue Growth of 60%

PALO ALTO, California -- October 18, 2000 -- Sun Microsystems, Inc., (NASDAQ: SUNW) today reported results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2001, which ended October 1, 2000. Revenues for the first quarter were $5.045 billion, up 60 percent compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2000. Orders for the first quarter were $5.049 billion, representing a year over year increase of 54 percent. Net income for the first quarter was $510 million, up 85 percent compared with last year's net income of $276 million (excluding acquisition-related charges for fiscal year 2000). First quarter earnings per share was $0.30, an increase of 88 percent over the corresponding period a year ago (excluding acquisition-related charges for fiscal year 2000).

"This is a great beginning to our fiscal year 2001; we're picking up right where we left off last year. We continue to post the kind of numbers that reflect our ongoing share gains in the market place. Our newest storage array, the Sun StorEdge(TM) T3, is generating a lot of momentum in our customer base and is one of the principal drivers behind the 50 percent year over year revenue growth in our storage products. During the quarter we also announced the availability of our new UltraSPARC III based systems, the Sun Blade 1000 workstation and the Sun Fire 280R workgroup server. These are the first in a series of new systems that will both be utilising the UltraSPARC III microprocessor, our second generation 64 bit architecture, and offer unprecedented levels of uptime, reliability and quality," said Scott McNealy, Chief Executive Officer of Sun Microsystems.

McNealy concluded , "We continue to invest in our core technologies SPARC, Solaris, Sun StorEdge, Java, Jini, Jiro, iPlanet, and Forte in order to maintain our position as a leading innovator for the Internet. The continued strong demand for our products, technologies and services is proof that we are meeting our customer's needs."

Michael E. Lehman, Sun's Executive Vice President of Corporate Resources and Chief Financial Officer, commented, " This was a record setting first quarter, in every respect, including orders, revenue, net income, and EPS." Lehman added "All geographies posted outstanding results."

Lehman concluded, "We are continuously monitoring and replanning our business, to ensure appropriate levels of investment into the opportunities that our market momentum provides."

All references to earnings per share set forth in this press release are diluted earnings per share as defined within Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 128.

#####

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer(TM)" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to dot-com their businesses. With $15.7 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Sun StorEdge, Solaris, Java, Jini, Jiro, iPlanet, Forte, Sun Blade, Sun Fire and The Network is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. 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.

Amanda McVitty Marketing Communications Manager SolNet Ltd. PO Box 397 Wellington New Zealand

Phone: 64-4-462-0700 Fax: 64-4-462-0775 DDI: 64-4-462-0724 Mobile: 021-898-798 Email: amandam@newzealand.sun.com

© Scoop Media