merger

Palm acquired by HP

PalmPalm has been saved, purchased by HP for $1.2 billion, which was a premium on the stock price. This is a good deal for both companies. Palm was in serious trouble, with its new Pre and Pixi smartphones not selling very well, and its stock price tanking. HP on the other hand did not have much of a mobile presence, as its last real mobile device, the iPaq has been floundering in the face of iPhones, Android phones, etc.

The other big opportunity for both companies will be the potential for Palm’s new mobile OS, called webOS, to appear on even more devices including ‘slates’ and netbooks.  Perhaps with HP’s much larger market reach and marketing budget, the webOS app market may stand a chance of taking off.

HP Press Release

The beginning of the end? AOL to go its own way Dec 9

Back in the mid-90s, I really thought that AOL (America Online) couldn’t keep competing against the tidalwave of new ISPs that were offering Internet connectivity for much less, not to mention without the horrible bandwidth-sucking AOL application in an age of dial-up modems. I was quite wrong. Relatively few knew about those ‘other’ ISPs and AOL thrived.

In what may retrospectively be seen as hubris, AOL merged with media giant Time Warner and the company was even know for a few years as AOL Time Warner.

The merger was a mess. The 2 companies never really merged and benefited from any potential symbiotic relationships. AOL later became a subsidiary, and now they’re being thrown off altogether.

Will AOL survive by itself? I don’t see it. I imagine they’ll need to get absorbed by another ISP or tech company in order to carry on.

Oracle to buy Sun Microsystems

oracle-logosun-logoIn what seems to be a rather bizarre marriage, Oracle will snap up Sun for approximately $7 billion after IBM declined to up their bid. Oracle is primarily a software company and this will be a huge foray into hardware for them, although they will get Sun’s operating systems, Java and other software assets.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a good feeling for this. If Oracle doesn’t turn around Sun’s slow performing areas, I can see them taking an axe to them quickly.

So long Sun – I have fond memories of your products and technology.

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