MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (December 1, 1997) -- Netscape Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: NSCP) today announced that it sees momentum accelerating for Netscape client and server software. Netscape has gained more than 25 million users of Netscape Communicator client software since the product shipped in June 1997, and enterprise customers have licensed more than four million seats of Netscape SuiteSpot server software in the last year. In addition, the most highly trafficked Web search companies report that Netscape client market share remains strong. The average share compiled from site traffic from major search companies including Excite, Infoseek, LookSmart and Yahoo! show Netscape commanding 67 percent share.
"Aggregated traffic data representing several leading Internet search companies more accurately depict the Netscape client continuing its leadership as the dominant browser of choice in the marketplace than the results of only one site," said Michael Tchong, editor of the ICONOCAST marketing newsletter. "The data provided by search companies like Excite, Infoseek, LookSmart and Yahoo! shows that Netscape continues to lead the browser market by a significant margin."
In the enterprise market segment, customers such as AIM Management Group, Bital, Britannia, Deutsche Postbank, DHL Worldwide Express, Fujitsu, Knight-Ridder, Renault, Telefonica and Xilinx, Inc. are in the process of deploying Netscape client/server solutions. Many of Netscape's new enterprise customers are rolling out Netscape messaging solutions or building Java/JavaScript applications for use on Intranets and Extranets. In the enterprise space, Netscape has licensed more than 4 million enterprise seats of SuiteSpot in the last year, in addition to more than 2.4 million Internet Service Provider messaging seats, for a total of more than 6.5 million seats.
In related news, Media Metrix confirmed in a special tabulation of its September report that individuals use Netscape Navigator more frequently and for longer periods of time than competitive products. Netscape client software leads Microsoft Internet Explorer by more than two times the usage, according to the study.
"The ongoing momentum for Netscape's client and server software and the wide customer adoption demonstrates that Netscape continues to offer the product solution of choice for both enterprise customers and individuals," said Lori Mirek, senior vice president of marketing at Netscape. "With an installed base of more than 68 million users and with new customers choosing our open standards-based products every day, Netscape continues to be the software of choice for Intranets, Extranets and the Internet."
Bell Canada, for example, is realizing high returns on investment by deploying 38,000 mailboxes using Netscape SuiteSpot and Netscape Communicator software. "Within the Information Systems/Information Technology department at Bell, our objective is to better serve our customers and increase Bell's competitiveness by simplifying our infrastructure and reducing costs," says John Lochow, Chief Information Officer at Bell Canada. "Our research and employee feedback told us that our internal email system needed revamping. We identified an opportunity to improve productivity and realize significant savings in the process. We have developed a strategic approach to the challenge using Netscape software and are pleased to be working with industry leaders such as Netscape to achieve the best solution for Bell Canada's employees and, ultimately, for our customers."
Netscape Communications Corporation is a leading provider of open software for linking people and information over enterprise networks and the Internet. The company offers a full line of clients, servers, development tools and commercial applications to create a complete platform for next-generation, live online applications. Traded on NASDAQ under the symbol "NSCP," Netscape Communications Corporation is based in Mountain View, California.
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Additional information on Netscape Communications Corporation is available on the Internet at http://home.netscape.com, or by sending email to moreinfo@netscape.com. Corporate customers can call 650/937-2555 while consumers can call 650/937-3777 for more information.