Hasn't Oracle been pretty much the market leader in high-end databases until SQL Server 7 came along? If they have recently cut prices dramatically to compete with SQL Server, this leads me to believe they were using their market dominance to keep prices artifical high. IMO, they have been enjoying a degree of monopoly power becuase their product was precieved superior to anthing else which has allowed them to keep the price above market. Its interesting to see how things change.

Charlie