In this week's edition of Jonathan\'s Blog the subject has to do with the virtues of volume distribution and how it differs from and adds to the revenue from conventional foot traffic.

The focus at Sun, Jonathan Schwartz notes, is consumer software which, he says, defines the company's market opportunity. The very popularity of Sun's software offerings feeds the enthusiasm among developers for developing applications and content with that software. Volume begets volume, one might say.

Schwartz observes that many of the users of Java runtime (60,000,000 runtimes distributed in October) are not even aware of it because it has become invisible, and the volume of its downloads and uses further promotes the use of the Java platform itself. He describes this phenomenon as a "virtuous cycle." Schwartz puts the number of Java runtimes installed on PCs around the world at around one billion, and each of these generates revenue for Sun.

Sun distributes its products with a two-fold purpose, Schwartz continues, both to acquire customers and to generate revenue. In that respect Sun and Google are quite alike. Recognition of this common approach led Google to adopt the Java update mechanism for distribution of their search technologies under an agreement with Sun, an agreement that has been renewed.

A similar congruence of interests led to the decision Microsoft made to endorse and help promote MySQL, Schwartz writes, calling this agreement "one of the most valuable distribution deals ever struck in the industry," making Microsoft one of Sun's largest customers. And that's only in U.S. markets. Work is underway to establish agreements on international rights as well.

Yet another solution that is attracting much attention and gaining popularity is OpenOffice 3, which recorded more than three million copies distributed in the first week of November, Schwartz reports. He estimates that the number of users worldwide is between 150,000,000 and 200,000,000. That number is expected to grow as the economy tightens, making open source ever more popular. Sun is seeking partners who wish to integrate their businesses and brands into Sun's binary product distribution, Schwartz notes.

The experience of Verizon, which is also running an auction to integrate a search vendor into their wireless devices, indicates that the logic of volume distribution is persuading ever greater numbers of decision makers, Schwartz concludes.

Read Jonathan\'s Blog in its entirety here. [...read more...]

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