SUNW Is Dead; Long Live JAVA

Boy, sometimes The VAR Guy is ahead of his time. During a conference in Colorado Springs earlier this week, The VAR Guy asked Sun officials when the company was going to dump its current ticker symbol (“SUNW”). Workstations (the “W”) haven’t been Sun’s primary focus for more than a decade. The VAR Guy figured a change was in order. How right he was. Sun today announced plans to change its stock symbol to “JAVA” on August 27. Smart move. Or was it?

The VAR Guy just chatted with a peer. The debate began: Yes, Sun should have changed its ticker. But why use JAVA as the replacement ticker? Why not SUNM (for Sun Microsystems)? Or why not pull a Dell or an Apple, which dropped the “computer” from their respective names. If Sun had dropped Microcomputer from its name, the resulting company moniker–Sun Inc.–would have presented the obvious SUNI stock ticker.

Or perhaps The VAR Guy has it all wrong. Java itself is a pretty strong brand. But strong enough to bet investor confidence on? Hmmm….