Sun's revenues grew by 60 per cent in the first quarter causing CEO Scott McNealy to say it was only the global economy and interest rates that worried him - not IBM and HP.

Net income jumped 85 per cent to $510 million for the quarter ending 30 September, compared with $276 million a year earlier. Sales stood at $5.05 billion, 60 per cent up on last years $3.15 billion.

The company enjoyed 50 per cent sales growth in its storage business, from a year earlier. Sun put this down to its new storage array the Sun StorEdgeT3.

Revenues in Europe rose 57 per cent, with strong performances in the UK and Germany.

Gross margin was lower than expected due to the price of memory components. The company expects the trouble to continue into Q2 with shortages driving up prices.

To handle and sustain growth Sun has recruited 600 engineers and 800 sales reps. ®