News release

Compaq Announces Three New Supercomputer Wins in Japan and Australia

Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ) today announced three new supercomputer wins—one in Japan and two in Australia—which add to the rapidly expanding global portfolio of significant supercomputer wins that has vaulted Compaq into a leadership position in the competitive high performance technical computing marketplace.

In Japan, Compaq announced the awarding of a contract to build a 1.5 TeraOPS system with 908 AlphaServer SC processors for the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute at the Kansai Research Establishment's Advanced Photon Research Center (JAERI-KANSAI) to be used for core research activities such as X-ray microscopy, ultra-precision machining, and medical diagnosis and treatment. It will be the largest supercomputer in Japan.

In Australia, Compaq was selected by the Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing (APAC) based in Canberra at the Australian National University (ANU) to build a system of more than 450 AlphaServer SC processors—the largest system in Australia—for use by researchers to conduct innovative large-scale scientific and engineering research, including chemistry, physics, environmental science and biotechnology.

In a similar agreement, the Victorian Partnership for Advanced Computing (VPAC) in Australia also selected Compaq to build an AlphaServer SC 128-processor system for use by researchers in areas such as molecular modeling for new drugs and pattern discovery for fraud detection.

Bill Blake, vice president of Compaq's High Performance Technical Computing Group, said, "These newest wins continue to validate Compaq's global leadership position in providing superior high performance systems to clients who need the power and reliability of our Alpha processors and our Tru64 UNIX or Linux operating systems. This technology allows them to achieve the enormous number-crunching capabilities they demand to meet their computing and scientific requirements."

Continued Proof of Leadership

In a recent International Data Corporation (IDC) High Performance Technical Computer QView Report, Compaq was ranked ahead of all competitors as the global leader in the overall market revenue position in the technical systems and servers market with a 22 percent market revenue share and $1.3 billion in sales revenue.

Debra Goldfarb, group vice president, Worldwide Enterprise Systems for IDC, said, "Over the last three years, Compaq has made a determined effort to extend and solidify its position in the technical server market and has been rewarded with a leadership position. We believe that Compaq is positioning itself as a technical leader in the industry—that is, the company is actively working to advance the field and gain the support and confidence of the overall technical computing market."

These three newest wins, coupled with others noted below, further highlights Compaq's emergence as the leader in the high performance technical computing market:

• A 100 TeraOPS system Compaq is building through an agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Sandia National Laboratories, and Celera Genomics, which will be the world's largest supercomputer when completed in 2004, to be used for a range of life sciences applications - announced in Washington, D.C. on January 19, 2001.
  
  
• A 30+ TeraOPS system Compaq is building for the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to simulate nuclear testing - announced on August 22, 2000.
  
  
• A 6 TeraOPS system Compaq and the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center are building and managing for the National Science Foundation for non-military scientific applications - announced on August 3, 2000.
  
  
• A Compaq system built for Celera Genomics to complete the initial mapping and sequencing of the human genome - announced in a ceremony at the White House on June 26, 2000.
  
  
• A 5 TeraOPS system Compaq is building for the French Atomic Energy Commission as the largest supercomputer in Europe - announced in February 2000.