Bonum Certa Men Certa

Why Microsoft is Trying to Abduct OEMs Like Dell (or Nokia)

On Icahn and other moles like Elop

Punch from monitor



Summary: What lies beneath the strategy of taking control of OEMs without paying to buy them; Steve Ballmer visits Lenovo, which absorbed former Microsoft executives, trying to secure Windows lock-in

Microsoft used a proxy battle via Icahn to abduct Yahoo in pursuit of Google, the #1 rival of Microsoft (in the lucrative enterprise market in particular). In the mobile market, Microsoft abducted Nokia, killing Nokia's Linux pursuits. The same is happening on the desktop/server. Lenovo, for example, was preinstalling Android/GNU/Linux or nothing, based on this article which shows Ballmer getting involved (after a while Lenovo started promoting Ballnux, but not before Microsoft executives had entered the company). The report says: "First, a large percentage of Lenovo's sales are in Asia, where it's very common to find Lenovo PCs with no operating system preinstalled. In fact, in many Asian countries, it's hard to find Lenovo PCs with "genuine" Windows. In spite of the fact that Lenovo has promised for years to preinstall Windows on more PCs, and Steve Ballmer himself visited the Lenovo offices last December, it's still very easy to order Windows-less Lenovo computers from Asian Lenovo sites."



OEMs are walking away from Windows, so Microsoft wants to hijack the leadership of companies like Dell and so far it makes some progress. From the latest news:

TIN BOX FLOGGER Dell has signed a licensing deal with Microsoft to become a worldwide distributor and OEM for devices running the Windows Embedded operating system.

Dell, which is in the midst of a messy leveraged buyout that could see it become a private company, is trying to move away from its low-margin PC business. The firm announced that it has signed a worldwide licensing deal to become an OEM and distributor of Microsoft's Windows Embedded operating system.


According to some news, Icahn steps closer into Dell. Can he help Microsoft abduct Dell without a takeover, just like Yahoo? There is already a hijacking-esque move: "Taking a huge publicly traded company, such as PC maker Dell, back to its origins as a private corporation is a huge effort and now there's word that those plans may be getting more complicated. Billionaire Carl Icahn is rumored to be buying a six percent share of Dell and if that happens, his next move may be to organize an effort to stop Dell from going private."

Microsoft Dell is one to boycott unless the planned deal is revoked. Dell has had some GNU/Linux projects in the pipeline (Alienware too) and Microsoft wants to stop this. Icahn is getting uglier. Icahn Threatens “Proxy Fight” as Dell Buyout Drags On, says one headline. Here is one that says Carl Icahn retaining proxy vote option, rival bid in battle for Dell. To quote:

Corporate raider Carl Icahn is refusing to give up the right to a proxy vote on a large once-off dividend from Dell and is continuing to threaten to launch a rival bid as the battle for ownership of computer giant Dell intensifies.


Now watch the report which says Dell to Reimburse Icahn if He Drops Proxy Fight, Litigation Threats (why is this even legal? It's blackmail).

Dell Inc. (DELL) said it is willing to provide activist investor Carl Icahn with the same expense reimbursement that it has offered to its other two bidders, but only if Mr. Icahn drops his threats to pursue a proxy fight and litigation.


And here is the latest:

Carl Icahn refuses to drop proxy fight option in Dell proposal, WSJ reports



Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is refusing to drop the option of a proxy fight to force Dell Inc to pay a big dividend, in spite of the board committee's request that he drop his threats and launch a formal bid for the company, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Icahn had asked the board's special committee to be reimbursed for the cost of his due diligence on Dell, a benefit the committee has already granted to rival bidders Silver Lake Partners and Blackstone Group LP.


Silver Lake is connected to Microsoft. Dell is just a "pawn in the battle," as Microsoft likes to call it.

Recent Techrights' Posts

SoylentNews Grows Up, Registers as a Business, Site Traffic Reportedly Grows
More people realise that social control media may in fact be a passing fad
 
Garden Season Starts Today
Outdoor time, officially...
More Information About Public Talks That Richard Stallman Gave This Week in Europe
Two talks in Switzerland
Engadget is Still a Spamfarm, It's Just an Amazon Catalogue (SPAM/SEO), a Sea of Junk Disguised as "Articles" With Few 'Fillers' (Real Articles) in Between
Engadget writes for bots now, not for humans
Richard Stallman's Talks in Switzerland This Week
We need to put an end to 'cancer culture'; it's trying to kill people and it is even swatting people
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 28, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, March 28, 2024
[Meme] EPO's New Ways of Working (NWoW), a.k.a. You Don't Even Get a Desk at Work and Cannot be Near Known Colleagues
Seems more like union-busting (divide and rule)
Hiding Microsoft's Culpability in Security Breaches and Other Major Blunders (in the United Kingdom, This May Mean You Can't Get Food)
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is vast
Giving back to the community
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 28/03/2024: Sega, Nintendo, and Bell Layoffs
Links for the day
Open letter to the ACM regarding Codes of Conduct impersonating the Code of Ethics
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
With 9 Mentions of Azure In Its Latest Blog Post, Canonical is Again Promoting Microsoft and Intel Vendor Lock-in, Surveillance, Back Doors, Considerable Power Waste, and Defects That Cannot be Fixed
Microsoft did not even have to buy Canonical (for Canonical to act like it happened)
Links 28/03/2024: GAFAM Replacing Full-Time Workers With Interns Now
Links for the day
Consent & Debian's illegitimate constitution
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The Time Our Server Host Died in a Car Accident
If Debian has internal problems, then they need to be illuminated and then tackled, at the very least in order to ensure we do not end up with "Deadian"
China's New 'IT' Rules Are a Massive Headache for Microsoft
On the issue of China we're neutral except when it comes to human rights issues
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 27, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 27, 2024
WeMakeFedora.org: harassment decision, victory for volunteers and Fedora Foundations
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 27/03/2024: Terrorism Grows in Africa, Unemployment in Finland Rose Sharply in a Year, Chinese Aggression Escalates
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2024: Ericsson and Tencent Layoffs
Links for the day
Amid Online Reports of XBox Sales Collapsing, Mass Layoffs in More Teams, and Windows Making Things Worse (Admission of Losses, Rumours About XBox Canceled as a Hardware Unit)...
Windows has loads of issues, also as a gaming platform
Links 27/03/2024: BBC Resorts to CG Cruft, Akamai Blocking Blunders in Piracy Shield
Links for the day
Android Approaches 90% of the Operating Systems Market in Chad (Windows Down From 99.5% 15 Years Ago to Just 2.5% Right Now)
Windows is down to about 2% on the Web-connected client side as measured by statCounter
Sainsbury's: Let Them Eat Yoghurts (and Microsoft Downtimes When They Need Proper Food)
a social control media 'scandal' this week
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Windows/Client at Microsoft Falling Sharply (Well Over 10% Decline Every Quarter), So For His Next Trick the Ponzi in Chief Merges Units, Spices Everything Up With "AI"
Hiding the steep decline of Windows/Client at Microsoft?
Free technology in housing and construction
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
We Need Open Standards With Free Software Implementations, Not "Interoperability" Alone
Sadly we're confronting misguided managers and a bunch of clowns trying to herd us all - sometimes without consent - into "clown computing"
Microsoft's Collapse in the Web Server Space Continued This Month
Microsoft is the "2%", just like Windows in some countries