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Is IBM on a Strategic Path to Control Java?
nightspd writes "David Berlind of Cnet has written a series of articles over at ZDNet about IBM's return to market dominance, including this one titled When Will IBM Buy Sun? It's a VERY interesting read and a very interesting predition, and poses a question. With the mega-merger of Compaq and Hewlett-Packard going forward, can we expect other possible mega-mergers down the line in the tech arena? Is a IBM buyout of Sun possible and/or viable?"
The three major players in the Unix server market are IBM, Sun and HP, with SGI and Compaq(former DEC) and a few others having minor shares. But IBM and Sun have the two largest shares by far. If the two were to combine, this would unbalance the competitive landscape of that industry.
It would be like Coke and Pepsi merging against the tremendous competition of 7-Up and RC Cola. It just ain't gonna happen, the SEC or EU would block it. It's a lot easier to create a natural monopoly by simply selling a better product(ala Microsoft) than to create a monopoly by buying up all of your competitors. Sun should focus their efforts on that instead of wooing IBM.