'...i suspect the ibm's (and i very much doubt they would be interested) of the world would wait for them to default and pick up the ip in a fire sale.'
It would not surprise me in the tiniest bit if IBM sits back and watch just like you suspect. They have a history of sitting idle watching their competitor (Microsoft) surpassed them to become the dominant player. When Microsoft came on to the scene IBM was a software giant but they underestimated Microsoft and they didn't care to compete. So their OS/2 went down in history little known. If you asked 100 people on the street whether they've heard of Windows chances are they will all say yes and quite probably use it at home too. And if you asked them if they have heard of OS/2 chances are many of them haven't.
Out of the three named by BBY analyst as potential buyers for iSoft, if I were to guess I would rate Oracle before IBM and Microsoft, as a more likely buyer. However, I would question whether the BBY analyst have included China and India in his/her analysis. Have they looked at Healthcare systems in India and/or the ongoing healthcare reforms in China? It would probably surprise a lot of people if we get an offer from an Indian company.
ISF Price at posting:
10.5¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
