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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Member since:2006-08-13
Member since:2005-07-08
The economy is tough for everyone right now, when it turns around Sun will bounce back, these slupms just happen. economics 101.
Mmmh, no, the economy is not tough for "everyone". In fact, companies competing with Sun in the server space seem to be improving their market share and their benefits faster than Sun. In Q2 2008, Sun revenue was 6.8% lower than the same quarter the past year. All the other server guys grown except them and Fujitsu. IBM revenue grown 11.5%, Dell 15%. Shipments grown 24% for Dell, HP 8.7%, IBM 4.7%, Sun 1.1%.
So yeah, the explanation must be the economy. But only for Sun.
It hasn't been very different in the latest years (with some exceptions). Sun is just selling less than their competitors. I recommend taking a look at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/22/gartner_server_q2_2008/ . Unless they fix this trend, I don't see why Sun couldn't be bought, just like any other company, if they accept the deal.
Edited 2008-08-27 18:47 UTC
Member since:2005-07-05
I think the economy does have something to do with it. In my own recent purchases, I have gone with Dell and Red Hat over Sun and Solaris (which I actually prefer) for no other reason than cost.
If the economy wasn't tight, I don't think cost would have been the deciding factor and I would have gone with Sun servers.
Member since:2005-11-10
Agreed, the article if anything shows that "Analyst" for the most part have no clue what they are talking about.
SUN is too large to be acquired, and they are positioning themselves and doing a lot of things right: Niagaras are bringing a lot of revenue. Hopefuly they can get their act together with Rock.
And I assume they are shifting to a services-oriented company based around solaris. Which is a good move IMHO.
Member since:2005-12-15
Member since:2005-07-06
The problem with economics 101 and the citing there of is that if you read rest of economics you'll realize that everything taught at econ 101 was at best a gross oversimplification and at worst completely wrong. Thus any argument made based solely on anything taught in econ 101 is at best a gross oversimplification and at worst completely wrong.
The economy is incredibly complex and anyone telling you that it can be completely explained using a simply supply/demand curve is probably lying.
Member since:
2005-07-13
"Dropping profits and stock prices have analysts speculating that Sun could be a target for either acquisition or a restructuring..."
stupid analysts maybe. aquisition no, restructuring, possibly. If you look at Sun's recent moves like buying up MySQL and VirtualBox and what they are doing with open sourcing a lot of their stuff that are just shifting in a newer direction. their old business modle wasn't working, same with IBM and others who were big server companies.
So will Sun be bought by someone else, no, to think so would be rediculous. But it has been clear now for over a year that they are changing direction a bit from their older business model and that takes time to get settled and pull in a true profit.
The economy is tough for everyone right now, when it turns around Sun will bounce back, these slupms just happen. economics 101.
Edited 2008-08-27 17:32 UTC