Sun Microsystems declared a ‘Business Superbrand’ for 2008 by Superbrands India

Company Brief

New Delhi, May 23, 2008

Sun Microsystems India, one of the country’s most recognized technology infrastructure providers, today announced that that it has been declared one of India’s strongest business brands by Superbrands India, an independent brand arbiter. As a result, Sun India will now use the Business Superbrands logo and will be featured in the 2nd edition of Business Superbrands 2008, a book which identifies and pays tribute to the strongest corporate brands in the country.

Sun Microsystems has been conferred the Superbrands status after being evaluated through two rigorous processes. The first part of the study was scored by professional marketers and industry-relevant audiences; 27,334 people in all participated in the scoring process and in total registered 1.1 million scores; those brands which survived the first round were then evaluated by a panel of eminently qualified business leaders called the Superbrands Council.

According to Superbrands India, Sun Microsystems has been accorded the Business Superbrands status for its outstanding service and contribution to the global open-source platform, for its revolutionary technologies and for believing that collaboration among communities, interconnected by technology and driven by a common purpose is the way the world must go forward tomorrow.

Sun Microsystems India was one of 74 Indian business brands chosen from among 987 entries across 129 categories. This amounts to Sun being in the top 7.5% of the brands the list started off with finally received the Business Superbrands status. Sun Microsystems achieved a score of 6.84 out of 10 and even in this august company, was among the top 15% of all participating business brands. Extrapolated to the national level, Sun has achieved profound recognition: it is among 1% of the most powerful brands across all categories in India.

The Business Superbrands Council Members comprised Mr. O P Bhatt, Chairman, State Bank of India; Mr. V C Burman, Chairman, Dabur India; Mr. H F Khorakiwala, Chairman, Wockhardt; Mr. N Murali, Managing Director, The Hindu; Mr. Deepak Puri, Chairman & Managing Director, Moser Baer; and Mr. T S Vijayan, Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation of India, to name a few.

The definition of Superbrands that the judges bear in mind when scoring is as follows: "A Superbrand has established the finest reputation in its field. It offers customers significant emotional and/or tangible advantages over its competitors, which (consciously or sub-consciously) customers want, recognize and are willing to pay a premium for."

Only brands that qualify for the status are invited to participate in the project and those, which accept the invitation, are featured in the publication.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. K. P Unnikrishnan, Director – Marketing, Alliances and Teleweb Sales, Sun Microsystems India said, “This is a very proud moment for us at Sun India. This recognition as a Superbrand catapults Sun India into the list of India’s strongest corporate brands and reaffirms the power and the popularity of the Sun brand in the country.”

“Over the last 10 years since we began operations in India, Sun Microsystems has become a name to reckon with in the area of technology infrastructure. Whether it is the telecom market or the BFSI space or retail and healthcare or government and education, Sun Microsystems has been synonymous with robust and reliable back-end IT infrastructure to support the country's leading businesses. Sun's relentless drive for innovation with value, the quality of our products and services, and the way in which we run our company keeps Sun at the forefront of industry and corporate recognition,” he further added.

According to Mr. Anmol Dar, Managing Director, Superbrands India, “Business Superbrands aims to identify and acknowledge those companies which have established the finest reputation in their respective fields. Given the highly competitive technology industry in India, Sun Microsystems' presence on the Business Superbrands list is clearly indicative of the value it holds not just in the minds of its customers who have scored it so highly but also within the industry. This recognition also reiterates the exceptional brand performance of Sun Microsystems India and underlines how the company has pulled away from competitors.”

A key component of Sun’s core brand values is ‘Sharing’ which Sun terms as The Participation Age. Sun is taking center stage as the leader of The Participation Age. It's about more and more people across the world participating on the network and the opportunities that will ensue. In The Participation Age, the world's most important problems can only be addressed successfully by working together to address new opportunities.

Sun’s brand campaign and related advertising, which was unveiled on June 1, 2005, highlights “S” for Sun and “S” for Sharing. The campaign demonstrates the power of sharing and delivers the clear message known by Sun's employees, customers and partners for years -- sharing grows markets and market growth benefits everyone.

Considered to be the Oscars in branding, the Superbrand status, which explores the history, development, and achievements of the strongest brands, is highly sought after by the corporations in the 39 countries in which Superbrands operates.

For further information, please contact:

Vaishnavi Corporate Communications

Manpreet Singh

Mob: 9810286337

e-mail: manpreet.singh@vccpl.com