????最近，甲骨文銷售戰(zhàn)略的轉(zhuǎn)變導(dǎo)致公司收入下降。但是公司總裁馬克?赫德表示，長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)看來(lái)，轉(zhuǎn)變銷售戰(zhàn)略有助于公司在日后獲得更多利潤(rùn)。

????馬克?赫德曾經(jīng)在老東家惠普公司（Hewlett-Packard）創(chuàng)造了驕人的硬件銷售業(yè)績(jī)。但在轉(zhuǎn)投甲骨文公司（Oracle Corporation）并擔(dān)任公司總裁后，他到目前還沒(méi)能復(fù)制昔日的輝煌。這家總部位于加利福尼亞州的紅木城的公司上周早些時(shí)候發(fā)布公告稱，本季度硬件銷售未達(dá)到預(yù)期。這一不利消息導(dǎo)致甲骨文公司的股票在上周四下午的交易中受挫。

????赫德表示，甲骨文公司主動(dòng)上調(diào)了部分系統(tǒng)的銷售價(jià)格，這是導(dǎo)致硬件銷售出現(xiàn)下滑的原因。

????上周四下午，赫德在電話會(huì)議中向投資者表示：“對(duì)于服務(wù)器銷售來(lái)說(shuō)，薄利多銷很容易做到。但我們希望通過(guò)提高產(chǎn)品價(jià)格，獲得更高的利潤(rùn)?！?/p>

????許多分析師一致認(rèn)為，甲骨文公司的硬件業(yè)務(wù)仍在不斷發(fā)展（總體來(lái)看，該公司本季度經(jīng)營(yíng)狀況良好），但是，一些分析師對(duì)甲骨文公司的整合能力頗感憂慮。去年，甲骨文公司以74億美元的價(jià)格，收購(gòu)了服務(wù)器制造商太陽(yáng)微系統(tǒng)公司（Sun Microsystems）。

????近期，調(diào)查機(jī)構(gòu)柯文公司（Cowen and Company）的高級(jí)研究分析師彼得?戈德馬徹在一份報(bào)告中寫(xiě)道，“事實(shí)上，盡管拉里（甲骨文公司CEO埃里森）聲稱，該公司在2012財(cái)年的銷量將增長(zhǎng)兩倍，但是，2011年第二季度硬件銷售未達(dá)到預(yù)期、缺少收入增長(zhǎng)點(diǎn)以及利潤(rùn)疲軟等問(wèn)題，這一切都動(dòng)搖了投資者對(duì)其管理層控制業(yè)務(wù)能力的信心?！?/p>

????摩根大通證券公司（JMP Securities）的分析師帕特里克?沃拉文斯認(rèn)為，因?yàn)槠渌布N售商推出產(chǎn)品的速度比甲骨文公司更快，所以甲骨文公司在低端服務(wù)器市場(chǎng)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)能力可能低于預(yù)期。沃拉文斯在周五上午發(fā)布的一份報(bào)告中指出，“我們還從業(yè)內(nèi)其他渠道了解到，甲骨文公司需要更好地‘培養(yǎng)’太陽(yáng)微系統(tǒng)公司的業(yè)務(wù)?！?/p>

????甲骨文公司在上周四公布了一些振奮人心的數(shù)據(jù)。雖然上季度硬件銷售額為12億美元，同比下降了6%，但是凈收入在財(cái)年第四季度增長(zhǎng)36%。與此同時(shí)，總收入增長(zhǎng)13%，為108億美元（分析師此前預(yù)測(cè)的這一數(shù)據(jù)為107.5億美元）?？陀^來(lái)看，情況還不算太差。

????當(dāng)然，對(duì)硬件銷售的前景以及赫德依靠太陽(yáng)微系統(tǒng)公司掘金的能力，甲骨文公司一直持樂(lè)觀態(tài)度。

????上周四，甲骨文公司的CFO薩弗瑞?凱茲向投資者表示：“我們有馬克在。他不是對(duì)硬件銷售不在行，恰恰相反，他甚至能在短短一下午的時(shí)間就賣出價(jià)值1億美元的硬件。如果不看實(shí)際利潤(rùn)，只看銷量，你們也許會(huì)很開(kāi)心；但是，我不認(rèn)為你們真的樂(lè)意這么干，因此我們希望改進(jìn)硬件的銷售方式?！?/p>

????A change in sales strategy is behind a drop-off in revenues, but Mark Hurd says it's all in service of more profit down the line.

????Mark Hurd may have an impressive track record selling hardware for his former employer, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). But that hasn't translated to immediate success at Oracle Corporation (ORCL), where Hurd now serves as president. The Redwood Shores, Calif.-based company's hardware business fell short of expectations in an otherwise strong quarter, announced earlier this week. The disappointing news sent Oracle shares down in late trading on Thursday.

????According to Hurd, the reason for the decline in hardware product revenues is that Oracle is deliberately selling fewer systems at a higher price.

????"Selling units that have no gross margin are easy to do," Hurd told investors on a conference call Thursday afternoon. Oracle's focus, Hurd added, is selling higher-margin machines.

????While many analysts agreed that Oracle's hardware business is still evolving (and that overall, the company had a solid quarter), some expressed concern over its ability to successfully integrate last year's $7.4 billion acquisition of server maker Sun Microsystems.

????"The fact is, despite Larry's [Ellison, the company's CEO] claim to triple the number of boxes Oracle will sell in FY12, the second hardware miss, a lack of revenue upside, and soft margins has shaken investor confidence in management's iron clad grip on the business," Peter Goldmacher, a senior research analyst with Cowen and Company, wrote in a recent note.

????Another analyst, JMP Securities' Patrick Walravens, suggested the company may not be competing as well as expected in the lower-end server business partly because other hardware vendors can ship their products faster than Oracle. "We have also had other industry sources suggest to us that Oracle needs to do a better job of 'nurturing' the Sun business," Walravens wrote in a report published Friday morning.

????To put things in perspective, Oracle did release some impressive numbers on Thursday. While hardware sales came in at $1.2 billion, down 6% compared with the same quarter a year earlier, overall net income rose 36% in the fourth quarter percent. Meanwhile, revenue climbed 13% to $10.8 billion (analysts had expected revenue of $10.75 billion). Not too shabby.

????Of course, Oracle remains as bullish as ever on its hardware prospects--and on Hurd's ability to spin gold from Sun.

????"We have Mark here," Safra Catz, Oracle's CFO, told investors on Thursday. "It's not like he doesn't know how to sell hardware. He'd probably sell $100 million of hardware in an afternoon here, and maybe folks would be happier, but we just would make less money. I just don't think that would really make anyone happy. We'd like to do it the better way."