'Competition' squeezes SCO's third quarter

The SCO Group saw its business ebb away during the third quarter, as both revenue and sales continued their steady migration southwards.

The Linux litigant recorded an increased net loss of $3.6m for the three months to July 31 compared to $2.2m, on total revenue that fell 20 per cent to $7.4m. SCO reported an increased loss per diluted share of $0.17, compared to $0.13 in the same period last year.

Revenue from SCO's Unix business dropped 22 per cent to $6.2m, while SCOsource revenue from licensing dipped 3.1 per cent to $31,000. Cough.

Chief executive Darl McBride blamed SCO's dwindling results on competition to its Unix products. He stressed SCO is "moving forward" on Unix solutions and mobile software.

The one bright spot for SCO? Legal costs associated with SCO's Charge of the Light Brigade style action against IBM are down. The lawyers cost SCO a mere $2.3m for the quarter, down from $3.08m in the third quarter of 2005 and $3.7m for the second quarter of 2006.®