Oracle's Larry Ellison Beats Up on His Rivals—Again - BusinessWeek

Some interesting speculation, from the second page of the article:

If the volume of Ellison's attacks is any indication, he views HP as a far greater threat. Both companies want to create the integrated hardware and software systems that can satisfy a corporate customer's every IT need. With that goal in mind, Oracle paid $7.4 billion for Sun Microsystems in 2009, outbidding IBM. Ellison told analysts last month that he would consider buying a chip company, which helped lift the stocks of semiconductor makers.

Rob Enderle, a longtime tech industry consultant, believes Ellison had once hoped that HP would sell Oracle some of the necessary pieces to combat his greatest foe, IBM. "HP is the only property out there that would allow him to take on IBM in what remains of his working lifetime," Enderle says. "The only thing that makes sense is that he is now trying to drive the value of HP down or force HP's board into a more collaborative position."

Oracle's Larry Ellison Beats Up on His Rivals—Again - BusinessWeek