Linked by Amjith Ramanujam on Wed 27th Aug 2008 17:09 UTC, submitted by stonyandcher
SUN Microsystems Dropping profits and stock prices have analysts speculating that Sun could be a target for either acquisition or a restructuring in which the company would sell off parts of the business and focus on a smaller set of technologies. In a July 31 report, the 451 Group analyst firm raised the possibility of Sun being acquired: 'Sun's sunken stock price creates a relative bargain considering its roughly $4 billion cash on hand, sizeable intellectual property and patent portfolio, and of course, its respected technology and products'.
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Dell (ideal but not now), now HP/IBM
by cjcox on Wed 27th Aug 2008 18:08 UTC
cjcox
Member since:
2006-12-21

In the recent past (about 5 years ago), a Dell+Sun merger (or whatever) made great sense. Sun was trying once again to get into the x86 business (without any good track record for low margin/high volume scenarios) and Dell didn't have anything (and arguably still doesn't) on the high end.

But since that time Dell has tried (and apparently is still actively trying) to commit suicide. Doesn't make the Dell+Sun deal that attractive anymore... (which probably means it will be attempted... company's timing usually stinks). Sun's delay on delivering the Rock processor (arguably because of IBM's P6 and now P7 announcements) didn't help Sun out any. Sun's secret was the fact that Niagra 2 can be used in a multi-socket scenario... but the news of that didn't really impress ANYONE. Schwartz seemed like a good choice for CEO at first, now, it's difficult to see where Sun is going... they seem to be happy treading water (but the water level keeps getting higher).


I would think (if it were true that Sun were setting itself up for sale... which I don't believe is necessarily true at this point) that HP and IBM would be the new suitors. It fits better probably with HP...
just don't how many "strange" architectures one company needs ;)

Dell+Sun 5 years ago would have been the savior of both companies. And I'm not viewing this with 20/20 hindsight... you can search and find my proposals for this about 5 years ago or so (back in the McNealy days).