Tokyo, January 29,2004 -- Miracle Linux Corporation today announced that it achieved 86% sales growth in the first half of fiscal year 2004 (June 2003 to November 2003) compared with last year, recording a profit for twelve straight months in a row since the latter half of fiscal year 2003 (December 2002 to November 2003).
The growth rate soared above the industry average as shipments of the Linux server operating system, MIRACLE LINUX Standard Edition V2.1, rose 51% in a year-on-year comparison during the first half of fiscal 2004. There is a growing demand particularly from industries such as manufacturing and distribution, as well as financial services and local governments. As a result, the company's professional service (Support Consulting) has recorded a 92% growth in sales over last year.
Takeshi Sato, the president of Miracle Linux says, "We were able to achieve better-than-expected results, reflecting the demand from users and our partners for our products and services. In the future, Miracle Linux intends to provide higher value-added products and services, expand the Enterprise Linux business in Asia as well as the security solutions and professional service businesses by utilizing the know-how we have acquired through our experience."
Miracle Linux plans to release the updated version, MIRACLE LINUX V3.0, this year, to ensure the stability of the existing enterprise systems, enhance the functionalities for Edge Servers, reinforce the functionalities for ISPs, strengthen the support for developer-oriented modules, and enhance the Japanese language environment. By doing so, Miracle Linux expects to see expanded use of Linux in the public sector and other industry sectors for a wider range of purposes.
Due to the accelerated diffusion of Linux in the Asian market, Miracle Linux predicts that a highly reliable and standardized Enterprise Linux OS will be in keen demand in Asia. To meet this demand, on January 7, 2004, Miracle Linux announced a strategic partnership with China's largest Linux distributor, Red Flag Software Co., Ltd. Miracle Linux will focus on not only the Japanese market but on the entire Asian market from now on to jointly develop a unified Linux (Asianux), which will be the foundation of the updated version, MIRACLE LINUX V3.0, as well as to promote the expansion of the market for Enterprise Linux.
Additionally, Miracle Linux started shipping MIRACLE HiZARD in October 2003 and has since provided enterprise security solutions that combine the know-how acquired through its experience in developing an operating system.
In June 2003, Miracle Linux developed a mid-term management plan entitled Miracle Linux Innovation Toward 2006, covering the three years up to fiscal year 2006. The management plan includes the target sales and profit figures for fiscal year 2004 through fiscal year 2006 and the business strategies to attain them. The plan positions the company's Linux distribution, security solutions, and professional services as its core businesses, establishes as its motto, "The Customer First", and sets targets of 50% average annual sales growth for the period up to the term ending May 2006 (the last fiscal year covered by the plan) and the achievement of a 15% operating profit for the same term.
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