Margins Check: Oracle’s acquisition, Microsoft’s search, and more

Editor’s Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the wider business world and how they could affect the wireless industry.
–Oracle pulled off the $8.5 billion acquisition of middleware vendor BEA Systems, shortly after Sun Microsystems bought open-source database company MySQL. Wireless industry players would do well to watch the consolidation in the software industry, as it could provide a number of opportunities as companies re-evaluate their mobile initiatives post-merger.
–Microsoft made a bid for Norwegian Web search software company Fast Search & Transfer, a move that signifies interest from the world’s largest software company in the business-oriented search industry. Although search functions are still in the embryonic stage in the wireless industry, mobile companies may consider staking out a position in search before the market’s behemoths turn their sights on wireless.
–President Bush announced plans to give the U.S. economy a “shot in the arm” with an election-year package of temporary tax cuts and other measures worth up to $150 billion. The plan is to help generate up to 500,000 new jobs. The administration’s efforts may well help put more funds into the pockets of wireless entrepreneurs.
–As the sub-prime financing mess continues to expand, financial-services company Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. announced the worst quarter in the company’s history. It’s unclear just how far the ramifications of Merrill Lynch’s troubles will stretch, but firms that are doing business with the company, as well as firms that rely on the company’s cash, would do well to prepare for rough waters.