IBM in talks to buy SUN Microsystems

It broke last week that IBM is in talks to buy SUN. At first glance this is hard to understand, the two have competing operating systems and chip architectures. They operate in similar markets and SUN has considerable intellectual property and a consulting division which may be of interest to IBM.

Reuters: Sun talks to continue into next week

The Why:

Some analysts have said that IBM, with greater manpower and more effective management, may be able to make better use of Sun's assets.

The What:

The merged company would hold 65 percent of the $17 billion market for Unix servers, which major companies and governments rely on for critical operations, according to market researcher IDC.

The How:

[...] could be worth $6.5 billion to $8 billion