EMC Weighs Merger, Other Options - WSJ

Dell, Cisco, and Oracle are also on the potential merger partner list; also see EMC Said to Have Held Merger Talks With HP (NYT)

"A merger of H-P and EMC, based in Hopkinton, Mass., would create a powerhouse provider of gear that companies use to manage data. It would shake up the roughly $2 trillion-a-year business market for hardware, software, and technology services, given what significant players both companies are in the industry.

EMC is made up of three businesses: EMC Information Infrastructure, its traditional center of gravity, which dominates the data-storage-systems business; VMware Inc., a pioneer in virtualization, a technology that substitutes physical computer servers and other forms of hardware with software; and software-development company Pivotal. VMware, which trades publicly, is now EMC's crown jewel, and has a market capitalization of $40 billion, accounting for most of its parent company's value. EMC owns a roughly 80% stake in VMware."

EMC Weighs Merger, Other Options - WSJ