Re: Price Increases !!!!! Abandonment rate -- MIDRANGE-L

Naturally, IBM would not be so kind as to be forthcoming with any information.
(more rats would desert the ship? competitors would know how well they were
doing?) As recently as this year, the AS/400 division was proclaiming that 25% 
of
shipments were going to new accounts versus an historical average of only 10%
(which division execs admitted was a slow death spiral). I suppose that might be
true but how many of those accounts are buying large (high profit) 7XX systems 
to
replace Unix or NT installations (not many I'd bet versus the other way around)
and how many of those are buying $8000 Domino servers on which it is doubtful
there is a dime in profit? I have heard AS/400 division execs claim that the
division gains two customers for each one it loses. Following that logic and
assuming, let's say, 60,000 systems shipped (which may be way high since 
upgrades
get counted as shipments), that 25% are to "new accounts" (15,000) and using the
2 for 1 ratio is it possible that 5,000 installed accounts defect each year to
other platforms? I'd say it's higher. I lost two customers this past year to 
Unix
and NT (one to each) and am aware of several other local companies that moved to
either Unix or NT. (Not to mention the third client that went belly up with14
installed machines.) Nearly every local company I'm aware of that has installed 
a
major ERP system in the last 5 years has moved off the AS/400 to Unix.

Randy Mangham
Pacific Crest Consulting
San Diego, CA

boothm@earth.goddard.edu wrote:

> I'm curious.   Is there an "abandonment rate"?   Is the AS/400 losing
> installations faster or slower than it is gaining them?
> _______________________
> Booth Martin
> boothm@earth.goddard.edu
> http://www.spy.net/~booth
> _______________________
>
> nina jones <ddi@datadesigninc.com>
> Sent by: owner-midrange-l@midrange.com
> 12/07/1999 08:13 PM
> Please respond to MIDRANGE-L
>
>
>         To:     MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
>         cc:
>         Subject:        Re: Price Increases !!!!!
>
>
> > In our case, this will delay our upgrade schedule, and mean less revenue
> > for IBM in the short term.  It may even force us to look to the used
> > market.
>
> ibm doesn't learn, do they?  they seem to think their client base is
> cast in stone,  and they can do what they please with them.
>
> like when the as/400 came out, they somehow thought that customers that
> paid $40,000 for a 36 would gladly cough up $100,000 for an as/400.  and
> they couldn't understand why so many formerly loyal 36 users jumped ship
> and went to platforms like unibol.
>
> many of our companies (not mine) are hanging onto the as/400 by the skin
> of it's teeth.  bosses want windows, and the mis folks are begging and
> pleading with them to keep the as/400 for reliability.
>
> ibm would make our jobs a lot easier if they would tell the world about
> the as/400, and not stick it to the loyal users!
>
> nj
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