NeXT Announces FY 1994 Results: $50 Million Revenues; $1 Million Profit
NeXT Also Announces OpenStep for Windows NT and Windows 95
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.-February 21, 1995-NeXT Computer, Inc. today announced fiscal year 1994 revenues reached $49.6 million and its net income (profit) was $1.0 million. Revenues grew 247% over the prior year. The company also announced that it is developing OpenStep for Windows NT and Windows 95. OpenStep for Windows is a full implementation of NeXT's industry-standard open object layer which allows customers to rapidly develop distributed three-tier, client/server enterprise solutions.
According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the market for object-oriented tools continues to grow at approximately 50 per year. IDC estimates this market, which includes stand-alone C++ compilers, was $450 million in 1994. Based on NeXT's 1994 revenues, NeXT captured a 10% market share in 1994, up from a 3.5% market share one year ago. In addition, these statistics highlight NeXT as the third largest supplier of object development tools, following Microsoft and Borland, and the only company of the three focused exclusively on object technology.
"I am pleased to announce record growth and profitability for NeXT," said Steven P. Jobs, chairman and CEO of NeXT Computer, Inc. "Our leadership in objects is demonstrated by our strong financial performance, our growing customer base in the Fortune 500 market and our decision to take NeXT's industry-endorsed technology to mainstream desktop platforms."
OpenStep for Windows Brings OpenStep to the Mainstream
During 1994, NeXT gained support for OpenStep from industry partnerships with Sun Microsystems, Hewlett Packard Company and Digital Equipment Corporation, who adopted OpenStep as a primary object-oriented offering. NeXT is now expanding the OpenStep platform offerings to include Windows NT and Windows 95. OpenStep for Windows will be in beta testing during the second half of 1995, and is expected to ship in early 1996. Pricing will be determined at that time.
"We are pleased to be partnering with NeXT to integrate its proven object technology into our powerful Solaris software environment," said Scott McNealy, chairman and CEO of Sun Microsystems, Inc. "We applaud NeXT's efforts to bring OpenStep to the mainstream and encourage other partners to join the OpenStep initiative."
OpenStep for Windows will allow corporate customers to develop object-oriented, three-tier client server applications in a fraction of the time currently possible with available Windows development tools, and deploy these applications on Intel-based PCs running OpenStep for Windows NT or Windows 95. All applications developed in OpenStep are portable across all OpenStep implementations, including those announced from Sun, Hewlett Packard, Digital and NeXT.
OpenStep for Windows applications will seamlessly communicate with objects running on servers from Sun, Hewlett Packard and Digital, allowing customers to build truly distributed, scalable applications using Windows NT and Windows 95. OpenStep for Windows applications will also automatically communicate with OLE objects and services, enabling OpenStep applications to interoperate with native Windows applications such as Excel and Word.
"We're pleased that NeXT is supporting OLE, Windows NT and Win95," said Roger Heinen, senior vice president of Microsoft Corporation's Developer Division. "We think having a variety of development tools is good for our customers and NeXT's customers will now have access to hundreds of shipping OLE products as part of their development strategies."
OpenStep for Windows Technology Demonstrated
As part of the OpenStep for Windows announcement, NeXT today demonstrated two components of OpenStep technology that have already been ported to Windows - NeXT's PDO dynamic distributed object model and Display PostScript running under the Windows windowing system.
PDO allows NEXTSTEP objects to run on Windows and to seamlessly communicate over a network with PDO objects running on other operating systems, including HP's HP-UX, Sun's Solaris and Sun OS, Digital's Unix and NeXT's MachOS. In addition, NeXT demonstrated transparent interoperability between PDO and Microsoft's OLE/COM object model, such that PDO and OLE/COM objects can communicate with each other without any additional programming. This communication is possible because PDO automatically translates each object's interface into the other's native format, allowing OLE objects to appear as PDO objects, and PDO objects to appear as OLE objects. The integration of the PDO and OLE/COM object models will allow customers to develop applications in PDO which take full advantage of all available OLE services, including those in the Microsoft Office applications.
Display PostScript running under the Windows windowing system demonstrates the ability to display OpenStep applications inside Windows windows, alongside native Windows applications. This seamless window system integration is a key milestone in porting OpenStep to Windows and demonstrates that OpenStep for Windows will be a good Windows "citizen."
New Customers Deploy Object Technology Into The Enterprise
NeXT's success in 1994 was based on the expansion of its product family into application server and database computing, as well as relationships with Sun, HP and Digital. Most importantly, however, was the expansion of NeXT's customer base which can be attributed to strengthened direct sales in vertical markets that are most rapidly adopting object technology - communications, financial services and government. MCI, for example, selected NEXTSTEP for the development and delivery of custom applications for its New Friends & Family program and the U.S. Postal Service Consumer Affairs Division selected NEXTSTEP for its new Customer Care system.
NeXT Computer, Inc.
NEXT develops and markets OpenStep, the industry's first and most advanced object environment. OpenStep versions have been announced which will run on several operating systems, including NeXT's own MachOS, Sun's Solaris, Digital's OSF/1 and Microsoft's Windows NT and Windows 95. OpenStep's object-oriented technology allows corporate customers to rapidly create and deploy three-tier, client-server, mission critical custom applications. NeXT is headquartered in Redwood City, California, and has offices in North America, London, Paris, Munich and Tokyo.
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NeXT, the NeXT logo, OpenStep and NEXTSTEP are trademarks or registered trademarks of NeXT Computer, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned belong to their respective owners.