Broadcom to spin VMware takeover as creating 'more competition' in cloud

Broadcom hopes to convince European antitrust regulators to greenlight its $61 billion takeover of VMware early – by claiming it will boost competition with public cloud giants Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. Citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported Sunday that Broadcom wants to shave four months off its …

[Anonymous Coward]

SOP

When has any acquiring company every not claim that it will result in more competition?

When has Broadcom every not claimed that the latest acquisition will not result in the fiascos of previous acquisitions?

ISTM that VMWARE's customers and their empolyees have two choices - get out now or get out when the ship starts to sink. It's clear that Broadcom doesn't care about any of them.

I predict C-suite bonuses and golden parachutes all around.

[YetAnotherXyzzy]

More competition all right

For once Broadcom is telling the truth, if only accidentally. Its pending takeover of VMware already has customers dumping it for the competition.

[TVU]

Despite what Broadcom wants, there ought to be a full and thorough investigation into the acquisition of VMware, particularly as a majority of the current VMware customers are opposed to this takeover.

[Marty McFly]

Customers opposed to the take over? That is the tail wagging the dog.

Shareholders*. Those are the people making the decision. Not a single one of them cares about what pains the VMWare customers may endure in the future, as long as their investment is profitable for them. And I don't see a lot of them lining up to let their share price fall just to placate the users.

(*) Shareholders = Millennials making their first 401k investment, retirees living off a mutual fund IRA, and all types in between. Yeah, people like us who are saving & investing for retirement.

[Bitsminer]

competition? who cares?

Will they withdraw the VMware Workstation Player product?

That's all I want to know.

[Anonymous Coward]

Broadcom has earned its reputation, for better or for worse.

Acquisitions, growth, and career changes all happen. The IT director of a small company that is shunned today may be the CIO of a large company tomorrow. They will likely bring their suite of preferred vendors with them. If VMWare is not in that club, then don't expect them to answer the phone when caller ID reads "Broadcom".

"It takes years to win a customer and only seconds to lose one". Tech customers are not just XYZ Corp. They are the individuals, leaders, and executives that make IT decisions. Those relationships take years to build, but can be destroyed in seconds by strong arm sales & pricing tactics of an acquiring company.

[J. Cook]

Re: Broadcom has earned its reputation, for better or for worse.

Indeed; Due to several very frustrating events and issues, I can't recommend anything by Citrix.

[Joe Dietz]

VMWare _is_ the cloud competition... but not as a cloud

The EU and really any government that has the public interest in mind should look _very_ skeptically at this... Not only from a competition standpoint, but a national security one as well. VMWare is the only technically viable and operationally mature alternative to 'the cloud'... A Broadcom acquisition would very likely shift things to a 'big 3 cloud or nothing' set of alternatives.

I see zero reason to think Broadcom would handle vmware any differently than CA or Symantec... VMW _is_ legacy tech and sort of 'missed that whole cloud thing' despite some frankly confused efforts in the past few years to 'also run' on the cloud. Unlike CA of SYM, VMW also happens to be very, very, important legacy tech and should not be meddled with.