Dell says IBM-Sun talk creates business opportunity

TOKYO, JAPAN: The chief executive of Dell Inc, the world's No. 2 PC maker, said on Tuesday rumors of IBM possibly buying Sun Microsystems were creating an "enormous opportunity" for Dell.

Michael Dell said the rumor creates uncertainty over the future of Sun's Solaris-based servers and accelerates a customer migration to the X86-based Linux server, which is Dell's mainstay product.

"Just the rumor of IBM potentially purchasing Sun creates an enormous opportunity because all of the Sun accounts are very concerned what will happen to the Solaris platform and Sparc microprocessor," he told a briefing in Tokyo.

"I think this accelerates the migration (to X86-based servers) and sends a lot of those accounts into an opportunity," he said.

Sources with knowledge of the matter have said International Business Machines Corp is in talks to buy Sun Microsystems. The Wall Street Journal reported IBM is offering to pay at least $6.5 billion in cash, with the total deal value at about $8 billion, including $1.4 billion of cash on Sun's balance sheet.

Dell also said that the company was exploring the business of smaller screen devices, while its consumer business is growing faster than the industry in the first quarter.