I was wondering a few months ago how Sun’s MySQL acquisition would impact their relationship with Oracle:
How has the MySQL acquisition by Sun impacted the relationship with Sun’s biggest historical partner, Oracle? I may be misjudging Oracle’s leadership, history and culture, but my guess is they view databases as their birthright and treat any real or proposed encroachment, even from a company with as poor an acquisitions record as Sun, as a serious matter.
The answer is becoming clearer:
- Oracle has entered the hardware appliance business, partnering with HP
- Sun’s stock is trading near a 13-year low
- Sun’s CEO got a 44% pay raise
(Ok, the last one isn’t so clear).
The next question is what is the end game for Sun? Do they circle the drain like Silicon Graphics (yes, they are still in business) or do they get consumed by the likes of Fujitsu or perhaps a rising dynamo from the developing world? Leave your predictions as comments and maybe we’ll start a pool.
4 responses
A couple of things could happen here but I’ve been keeping my eye on the market cap Vs the amount of cash they’re sitting on. I think there’s a red line where institutions will start dumping the stock while calling for it to be sold so they can get out of the company with their skin still on. Sun’s software assets have been tainted by the various open source licenses so there’s nothing they’re holding which you can’t already have if you’re willing to run the gamut of IP licensing. Their SPARC business is all but dead.Besides being one of the best community builders in the industry I have no idea what I’d be buying if I bought Sun. If Sun are smart they’ll sell to Fujitsu, a company who have coveted them for years. Sun keep proving they’re not that smart so I expect things to get even more embarrassing.At this stage, and just like SGI or Cray, it’s nothing but ego which is keeping them moving.
why are they so intent on keeping the hardware and software assets bound together?i don’t begin to understand.If i was in charge i’d sell the hardware assets to someone and go run the software assets.would have been a great strategy 8 years ago.a little dated now but still better than the current.
John, I think the old McNeally "software is a feature of hardware" belief still runs deep at Sun.
bring back BerkeleyDB dude