Lotus Notes Numbers On The Rise

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November 09, 1998 (3:38 PM EST)

By Amy K. Larsen,

Don't slap the underdog label on Notes just yet. New e-mail-license figures show Lotus is battling back against messaging rival Microsoft.

Monday, Electronic Mail & Messaging Systems, a market-research company, released third quarter shipment numbers that put Lotus Notes ahead of Microsoft Exchange. According to information released in the firm's newsletter and confirmed by both Microsoft and Lotus, last quarter Lotus added 3. 4 million new Notes clients vs. 3.2 million new Exchange seats.

Lotus was quick to point to the figures as evidence the company still holds a leadership position in a crucial business market. Notes, which has been on the market for nine years, has an installed base of 25 million users. The younger Exchange has 18 million seats licensed.

For the first six months of this year, Microsoft outsold Lotus by nearly a million seats. Electronic Mail & Messaging Systems reported Microsoft shipped 6.7 million Exchange seats, easily topping Lotus' 5.8 million sold.

In recent weeks, Lotus had become more aggressive -- slashing prices for users migrating from other e-mail systems and continuing to promise an on-schedule delivery of the next version of its Notes/Domino software.

Despite missing its original late-summer release date for the Notes/Domino R5 beta, Lotus insists it will ship the final release on time next month.