It seems Sun is all geared to give a complete image makeover to Java and in order to make this possible the company has moved from its ticker symbol SUNW which had a long association with NASDAQ to Java. The company stated that it had taken this move in order to capitalize on the brand awareness of its Java software and reflect the current strategy of the company but for many it holds a nostalgic value. A number of people may not be aware that SUNW stands for Stanford University Network Workstation and relates back to the days of academia and is also one of the largest trading stocks of the world.

Sun Microsystems was born in 1982 whereas Java brand was introduced during the early days of web commercialization in 1995 which represents a gap of almost a decade but why Sun has changed its ticker symbol which reflects its identity at the NASDAQ? The company says that it wants to build brand image of Java which has witnessed battering in a past few years and the company is trying to revive it with its open source initiative.

The company is trying to enhance the image of its brand and if I am not mistaken Sun is a company and not a brand therefore the company should have opted for other means for building the brand image of Java rather than just changing the ticker symbol. It seems that Sun as of now just wants to concentrate on its Java brand and I think it is completely a wrong strategy on the part of the company. If this is the formula for success then Apple should change its symbol to iPhone and Microsoft should change its symbol to Windows, what do you say?