Apple Inc. (AAPL) to Buy Dell Inc. (DELL)? Have Stranger Things Really Happened?

Satell goes on:

Further, while Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) can still expect 3-5 years of strong growth from its existing lines of business, the future beyond that is unclear. It could very well be that they will need to make a significant back-end acquisition to augment its legendary front-end prowess at about the same time that Dell’s bankers are looking for an exit. Stranger things have happened.

This is a very odd statement on numerous levels and assumes that Apple will remain stagnant in innovation. Plus, using the terms “back-end” and “front-end” implies an enterprise-level focus, which is absolute nonsense. Not only does it contradict the author’s original quote above suggesting Dell’s poor innovative efforts, but the argument ignores that two of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s biggest rivals are in fact Google and Microsoft — mentioned in describing Dell’s futility. So what then would Dell have that Apple would need to gain ground on two of its biggest rivals?

The argument suggests that if Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) doesn’t buy Dell now, it certainly will in three to five years when Michael Dell and his partners are ready to be bailed out. At first, I thought the notion was ridiculous. And after I’ve had time to think, I realized I was right — the idea is absolutely insane. The very notion itself undermines Apple CEO Tim Cook, who, while speaking at the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Technology and Internet conference last week, declared twice that Apple is “not a hardware company.” This quote is consistent with the ideas of former CEO Steve Jobs, who described Apple’s products by calling them, “beautiful software wrapped in a beautiful box.” So why then, would Apple find any interest in Dell?

And the author was wrong on another thing — no, stranger things have never happened.

The article Apple to Buy Dell? Have Stranger Things Really Happened? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Richard Saintvilus.

Fool contributor Richard Saintvilus owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Goldman Sachs, and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Google, International Business (NYSE:IBM) Machines, and Microsoft.

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