I agree with Donald, and the mental picture he developed, of two people with
problems getting married, is appropriate.  I just hope they don't have
children.
It will take the resolve of the remaining individuals in both companies to
pull it together.  They don't get the perks like the board members, they
could be sacked at a moments notice (by a manpower reduction program), and
for the recognition they get, they would do better as a greeter at Wal-Mart.
How many are already looking for another long term relationship?
As for the doctor, I had one that was always sick.  I changed doctors and
still haven't needed to see him for 4 years.

Guy
www.hptraderonline.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald Gudehus" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2002 2:17 PM
Subject: [HP3000-L] Compaq HP Merger


> HP has distinguished itself with several innovative products over the
> years:  high quality test equipment, state-of-the-art pocket
> calculators (with the intuitive RPN language), and unix workstations.
> In recent years they have branched into PCs and printers.  Here they
> have lost their edge, since their PCs are just clones of the IBM PC,
> and the printer division, although profitable, faces heavy competition
> from high quality printers made by Epson.  HP's printers using Poscript,
> offer only a clone version of that language, which has sometimes
> created problems for people trying to print postscript files.
>
> Compaq, though distinguished by being the first company to clone the
> IBM PC, has not historically been very innovative.  After all, in their
> PC clone days they did not have an architecture, did not have an
> operating system, and did not write software applications.  In an
> effort to boost their status a few years ago they acquired Digital
> Equipment Corp. Thusly they could boast a unique architecture
> (VAX and Alpha), an operating system (OpenVMS, Ultrix, and True64 Unix),
> software applications (numerous compilers and applications written by
> Digital), as well as IT services.  Yet their market share has plummeted
> and they are now contemplating phasing out the Alpha chip.
>
> What is the best approach for these two companies to take?  Should
> they mend their ways, or should they combine their ways?  The question
> is somewhat like the question of whether two individuals, each with
> personal problems should get married.  Actually, in this case it is
> an arranged marriage not one based on love.  The comparison is not
> like a doctor taking on a sick patient, since in that case one of the
> two is a proven healer.  A merger of these two companies in my opinion
> would create more problems than it would solve.  Even by consolidating
> the PC branches, the combined company would still have to deal with
> withering competition from aggressive shipper and packager companies
> such as Dell and offshore clone marketeers.  Furthermore, the time
> and expense of merging PC operations could prove fatal in the long run.
> One also has to ask whether the Compaq staff has an interest in printers,
> and whether the HP staff has an interest in unique architectures,
> operating systems, and compilers.  The latest polls show most employees
> of both companies not in favor of the merger.
>
> Warnings about the HP board resigning if the merger does not go
> through are quite interesting since it could easily be argued that
> what HP has needed all along is a new  board (excepting Walter Hewlett).
> If the merger does indeed fall through each company should probably
> seek outside advice about its future directions and seek a change in
> leadership.
>
> Donald Gudehus
>
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