New software license sales and renewals are both down year-over-year as a percentage of overall sales. It might just be a blip, but I read it as a weakness in their core business. I think the size of the enterprise segment is shrinking - as Andreesen pointed out recently, it was pretty common ten years ago for startups to sink tons of cash into Oracle licenses. Nowadays, it doesn't happen at all. Internet-scale is no longer equivalent to enterprise scale, and less companies are buying Oracle as a result. Elsewhere, government sales are slowing as a result of global fiscal restraint, which basically leaves Fortune 500 to carry the water for Oracle. So yeah, "struggling" might be a bit over-the-top, I certainly wouldn't be betting on Oracle as a breakout story. They are probably a business in decline, and most likely to end up in a similar spot as SGI, DEC and tons of other former enterprise powerhouses that saw their core business diminished by the relentless commoditization that comes with advances in technology.
Andreesen pointed out recently, it was pretty common ten years ago for startups to sink tons of cash into Oracle
And Andreessen should be listened in this field because.... ? Serious corporations go for IBM, Oracle, SAP and the likes. They want stability and someone to show up and fix when things go wrong. Most of the 'startups' Marc is talking about, will be not be here 5 years from now.
What was Marc's last good investment? Ning or Groupon?
Skype, Facebook, Zynga, Twitter, Jawbone and Box.net are all in the Andreeson Horowitz portfolio. He seems to be doing fine.
He bought FB way too late than most others. What valuation did he buy in Zynga, Twitter etc than we'll talk? Jut because they're 'hot' now doesn't mean that they'll make him money later.
Google, Apple, Facebook are all using Oracle albeit not for their main consumer-facing product but more for internal systems that performs e-Commerce functionality.
I don't know, but based on your statement, I'd guess that they each probably have a few licenses for enterprise-grade apps. I don't think that changes the analysis that the market is moving on from what Oracle is selling.
