HP in talks to buy EDS

Hewlett Packard is in talks to acquire Electronic Data Systems (EDS) Corp. for about $13 billion, setting the stage to make HP the world's second largest provider of technology services behind IBM. Not only will the combined company allow for lower overheads, HP also will be better positioned to push its servers to clients currently under EDS.

Some analysts think that it's a great move for HP, though there are also concerns that such a merger could trigger a similar run within the tech industry. An IBM spokesperson summed it up best with the observation that "integrating services companies is difficult," underscoring that a successful merger is not necessarily a given, even if a merger gets the go-ahead.

For more on HP's efforts to acquire EDS:
- check out this Wall Street Journal article