Mock Deal: Dell Buys Sun

On sports shows, people often discuss mock baseball trades and debate whether they make sense. I propose a mock deal where Dell buys Sun.

If nothing else, the combination would be a little unusual. However, it's no more unusual than when Compaq bought DEC, is it? And Dell would get quite a bit out of the deal in terms of server market share. Currently, IBM and HP each own about 30% of the server market, while Dell and Sun combined own 22%. Alone, both of these companies are insignificant in the server market; together they become a true player.

The deal would certainly bolster Dell's server and storage hardware offerings. Add Sun's unique designs, such as Thumper and StorageTek hardware, along with its other 8-core Sparc-based (http://www.sun.com/processors/UltraSPARC-T1/), energy efficient, servers, and you infuse quite a bit of flavor to Dell's currently plain server line-up.

It also gives Dell the Solaris OS and the StarOffice software suite to gain leverage versus a Microsoft OS and Office-only software strategy. For Sun, it opens up sales channels that they haven't been able to crack; those that Dell has mastered over the years.

And most of all, it Dell would get Java, which can help them get back into a market they haven't been that successful at in the past - devices. New markets, such as cell phones, MP3 players, smart appliances, and automotive, for example, would be opened up to Dell with Java - its new secret sauce.

But this is only a mock deal, no more real than when callers discuss pretend baseball trades on a sports-talk radio show. Who knows if this would ever happen?

-EJB

Posted by Eric Bruno at 08:28 AM  Permalink