WSJ.com - Oracle Market Share Declines

WSJ.com - Oracle Market Share Declines "Oracle Oracle Corp.'s lead in the database market declined last year as rivals International Business Machines Corp. and Microsoft Corp. both gained a greater share of the market, according to a new study by industry research firm IDC. The new study, released Monday, offers new evidence that Oracle is seeing increasing pressure from competitors as the gap between the Redwood Shores, Calif., company and No. 2 IBM closes. Oracle's sales fell last year to $5.1 billion, or 39.4% of the market, from $5.4 billion, or 41.7%. IBM of Armonk, N.Y., saw its sales rise to $4.4 billion, or 33.6% of the market, from $3.99 billion, or 31%. Microsoft, which ranked third among database software vendors, saw its 2002 database sales increase to $1.4 billion, or 11% of the market, from $1.3 billion, or 9.7%, in 2001."