It makes sense for HP and Compaq management
and that seems to be all that matters these days. :-( It's hard to imagine the shareholders putting up enough of a fight to prevent the consumation.
What does Compaq have these days? They can't beat Dell on efficiency of production and distribution. They have server businesses based on processors that they've decided to kill (Alpha and MIPS). They've got a distribution channel based on resellers, so they can't build up their direct selling arm (though they tried several years ago). They can't make money selling a commodity product and don't have enough services business. Compaq's in big trouble.
HP has a name and a reputation for innovation. They're a powerhouse in printers. Their PC business is doing OK. They've got a strong relationship with Intel.
Compaq probably would be in a stronger position if it simply sold off its PC business to someone like Acer and concentrated on its enterprise business (especially services) and remained independent. HP seems desperate to grow larger to compete with IBM. This merger seems an awful lot like Compaq's purchase of DEC - HP's getting a weak player and it'll hurt them.
I think The Register writeup is compelling. It'll be interesting to see what happens. It's hard to imagine a bidding war developing for Compaq - that should tell HP something....
Cheers,
Scott.
