IBM-Sun Talk Opens Door for Dell: Report
The
swirling around
IBM
(IBM) - Get Report
and
Sun Microsystems
(JAVA)
spells good news for fellow tech heavyweight
Dell
(DELL) - Get Report
, according to the company's CEO Michael Dell.
The executive, speaking at a briefing in Japan, said that acquisition rumors have already opened the door for his firm.
"Just the rumor of IBM potentially purchasing Sun creates an enormous opportunity because all of the Sun accounts are very concerned what will happen to the Solaris platform and Sparc microprocessor," he explained, according to
Reuters
.
Dell cites his firm's x86 server business, in particular, as benefiting from any upheaval.
The Round Rock, Texas, company has not had the easiest time of it during the economic slowdown, and recently announced plans to
an unspecified number of workers.
The firm reported an
fourth quarter in February, and its stock closed at $10.44 Tuesday, well below its 52-week high of $26.04.
Dell, which competes with IBM and
Hewlett-Packard
(HPQ) - Get Report
in the server market, also faces a new challenger in the shape of
Cisco Systems
(CSCO) - Get Report
, which recently announced its own
entry into this space
.
Michael Dell also said that the firm's consumer business outpaced the industry's growth during the first quarter, according to
Reuters
. The CEO also confirmed that his firm is looking into smaller-screen devices, a clear reference to Dell's
.