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HP/Compaq Merger Apparently Approved

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the gobble-gobble-gobble dept.

Spinality writes "Looks like HP's hotly contested merger with Compaq is going ahead. Various news headlines such as this one at Bloomberg.com report that stockholders voted to merge, against the wishes of the Hewlett and Packard families. " There isn't official word yet, but this looks like it's pretty much a done deal. Anyone else think the business world looks like a game of Pac Man?

5 of 297 comments (clear)

  1. Retail Computers.... by bje2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    quick question...who else is now big in the world of retail computers...meaning like, you walk into a Best Buy or a Sears, whose computers are you gonna see??? this doesn't matter to me, cause i would personally never buy a computer from a store like that....but i'm just curious, becuase it seems like Compaq and HP were always the majority of the retail desktops out there...who is left to compete? or are they gonna have a virtual monopoly in that field???

    --

    "Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
  2. Pac Man? No... by guttentag · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Anyone else think the business world looks like a game of Pac Man?
    Pac Man has to contend with ghosts who make a genuine effort to prevent him from gobbling up everything on the screen. Real-world companies can escape this danger by buying off the Justice Department through contributions to a presidential campaign.

    Have you ever seen a "what's good for Pac Man is good for the game" cheat?

  3. Why go to Best Buy? Support the little guys! by Akardam · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now, I have to admit, I'm biased, since I work for one of the little guys, but I wouldn't work for 'em if I didn't feel strongly about it.

    Say what you will about the mom and pop shops, but I've seen customer after customer come to us utterly frustrated by their experience with a name-brand pre-built. Seriously, the next computer you get, don't just waddle down to Best Buy or Sears, check out the small shops.

    In my opinion, you get better value, better support, and a better warranty from the smaller companies than you do from the big ones.

    Anyway, just my 2 bits.

  4. Re:Don't count your chickens... by sg3000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > The official tally may take as long as six
    > weeks to be completed

    I agree. I also think that Fiorina has nothing to lose by trumpeting a victory prematurely. If after 6 weeks, she's proven wrong, she has a lot more things to worry about than prematurely crowing about victory.

    In fact, from what I've heard, there's less than a 2 percent margin right now, which means investors are split on what to do here. That hurts the CEO's credibility in either case, which means the real winners in all of this may be Dell and IBM.

    --
    Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
  5. Re:Typical CEO business-school thinking... by acroyear · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Cringley wrote, back when the merger was first proposed, that this merger came about for one reason and one reason only : it bought Carly Fiorina another 18 months to two years at the top of HP, which she otherwise would have lost for having basically not produced a damn thing in the way of profit or improvement during her time there.

    Compaq was at a desperate dead end, and Carly Fiorina of HP wants to keep her job. Buying Compaq effectively resets the shot clock, buying her another 18 to 24 months before the HP board gives her the boot. This whole $25 billion deal is about executive ego. No other explanation comes even close to making sense.

    I'm inclined to agree...

    --
    "But remember, most lynch mobs aren't this nice." (H.Simpson)
    -- Joe