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To: paul_philp who wrote (51206)	5/2/2002 10:02:57 PM
From: chaz	Respond to of 54805

Paul + TR... Like a good many of us, old enough to remember those earlier chimps and their mergers, I have a harder time envisioning a single source for PC's...although HP+CPQ reduces the number by 1. I don't know if, current environment, any PC seller is doing well...and the longer current environment lasts, the lesser sellers are going to become more and more marginal. But I can't see us losing all but one. I keep wondering how long HP is going to continue selling printers and scanners to Dell for resale. It will be galling to the CPQ part of the new HP to see business going to an arch competitor, supporting the very organization the CPQ part is hoping to undermine. Were they to cut Dell out, Dell would simply put another brand in their place, and probably cost HP that profit, with little hope that the said undermining could actually take place. Carly has some work to do, and for those inside HP it's not going to be pleasant. Chaz

To: paul_philp who wrote (51206)	5/2/2002 10:52:29 PM
From: techreports	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 54805

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see the connection. First, mainframes were become replaced by mini-computers (or was it the PC?) Regardless, mainframes was a technology that was eventually replaced. Just like the buggy and whip guys. If you put the two top carriage companies together, they'll still fail because demand for their product is decreasing because consumers found a new product that replaces theirs'. HP and Compaq will sell commodity, cheap wintel (or with linux) servers. Secondly, the mainframe business seems to be more of a gorilla game with proprietary architectures, which IBM won. HP + Compaq will get scale to compete against Dell, IBM, and Sun. I worry about IBM and Sun, because they both offer proprietary higher cost products. I think HPaq and Dell will undercut them once these cheaper servers have the functionality that IBM and Sun offer. HPaq just looks totally different than the Unisys analogy. Unisys's problems seem very different. Unisys was formed by the merger of Sperry and Burroughs. Both companies were mainframe era chimps. Right, they were chimps playing in a gorilla game. HP and Compaq don't play in a gorilla game and offer servers based on Intel chips with windows or linux. That's exactly what Dell offers. So how exactly is HPaq doomed and Dell is not? If Dell and HPaq don't win the server wars, then I'm assuming you like IBM and Sun's chances better with their proprietary solutions and proprietary chips and proprietary operating systems and customer service? The reason I mention this is because I don't know if IBM and Sun can continue to develop chips and compete with Intel. AND develop software and operating systems to compete with Linux and Windows. Many high officials at Sun are leaving. They claim that this was a planned move, but if it was planned, wouldn't they have had someone to fill the void instead of placing Scott in the CTO and CEO position? Then again, I've never ran a public company or a company of any size, but I would think a rational person would have found a person to fill the void. That's just my opinion.. Like a good many of us, old enough to remember those earlier chimps and their mergers, I have a harder time envisioning a single source for PC's...although HP+CPQ reduces the number by 1. I don't know if, current environment, any PC seller is doing well...and the longer current environment lasts, the lesser sellers are going to become more and more marginal. But I can't see us losing all but one. Well, remember, HPaq is more than just PCs. Look at the entire picture. HPaq might lose a bundle on PCs but if the company has 10% net margins overall, who gives a flip. 10% net margins would be impressive, although unlikely. Carly has some work to do, and for those inside HP it's not going to be pleasant. here's a thought, I think I can run HP better than Carly. Here's another thought. She runs the biggest computer company in the world (or will be) but I'm willing to bet that she doesn't know how to install a video card. Or how to reinstall Windows. Or partition her harddrive. Or the history of Intel and Microsoft, yet she runs the biggest computer company in America? If i was a betting man, I'd place my bets on Michael Dell. Been working in this industry for over 15 years and lives and eats this stuff. I just think it's amazing that the biggest computer company in America has someone running the company that probably doesn't even know what the difference between RAM and ROM is. Granted, I've never met her, but I just simply don't think she understands this stuff. I could be wrong. I'd like to think I'm wrong. We wouldn't want an environmentalist running our military. You want someone who understands how to wage a war running the military. I want the person to eat, sleep, and breathe military knowledge. I think the same should be true for the CEO of a computer company. Do you think Carly wakes up and gets excited about new gizmos and technology?

To: paul_philp who wrote (51206)	5/17/2002 11:07:29 PM
From: Tx Buck	Respond to of 54805

Yes, Unisys still exists but, no, it doesn't sell mainframes, it sells something better: Multiprocessor servers (ES7000 series) that are partionable like mainframes. They are scalable up to 32 processors, 4x the number of nearest competitor, and have been handily beating out Sun, Microsoft and other competitors in the market. Take a peek at a recent report on how the ES7000 stacks up in competition as reported by the highly respected Gartner research firm at gartner.com and then take a look at some recent accolades and awards from Windows & .NET Magazine and SQL Server Magazine at wininformant.com. And there is a whole lot more to Unisys' global business than just the ES7000. There's too much to cover here so I'll leave that to you to examine at unisys.com.