Redwood City Ð NEXTSTEP 3.1 sales in the first three months of shipment exceeded $4 million, according to Warren Weiss, vice-president of sales and marketing, putting the product on target to meet NeXT's 1993 sales goals. While Weiss declined to cite unit sales, sources close to the company said that the new sales represented 9000 to 12,000 new NEXTSTEP seats.
Weiss said that the company expects sales of $10 million in 1993 and $50 million in 1994.
This would translate to 120,000 new seats, or a total installed base of about 170,000, by the end of next year. He did not provide a breakdown by developer, user, and eval-kit versions.
The company also disclosed that it has booked orders for 50,000 units for delivery over two years, up from the 40,000 it cited in May.
Developers appeared pleased with the level of sales. "It is certainly a step in the right direction," said one software developer, who noted that solid initial numbers help solve the viability question that is a potential sticking point for new customers. Other sources stress the importance of commencing shipments to new customers, as it is believed that most of the current shipments are going to expand existing sites.
NeXT has traditionally avoided comparing sales results to its internal plan and has recently revealed only orders, not shipments. The new sales-management team, however, is stressing manageable, achievable goals that are in keeping with NeXT's new size and scope.
In a related move, Ingram Micro, NeXT's master distributor in fulfilling demand from VARs and resellers, announced that NeXTSTEP sales were strong, though sources placed the figure in the range of hundreds of units.
"NEXTSTEP has been a very successful new product launch," said Amy Hoffman, senior director of Ingram's technical products division. "Momentum is building and we expect NEXTSTEP sales to continue to rise."