Oracle Corp.'s (NASDAQ:ORCL) surprise
$7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ:JAVA) has some employees skittish about their future.
Analyst speculation about Oracle possibly selling Sun's hardware business prompted Sun to file a
proxy statement Thursday reiterating that "Oracle plans to grow the Sun hardware business after the closing."
Still, the hardware business, which employs more than 2,000 people, could still end up in someone else's hands. An analyst told Bizjournals Oracle could
sell it to a partner company, such as Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ), that would sell Sun hardware in coordination with Oracle's software and consulting, so Oracle itself wouldn't have to expand into hardware manufacturing and sales.
Adding heft to that notion is the fact that Oracle is more concerned with Sun's Java technology. Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle says Java technology is the most important software it has ever acquired. Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle's fastest-growing business, is built on top of Sun's Java language and software. -
Baz HiralalGo to the storyOracle wants Java more than IBM did
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