Two Reasons Why Microsoft May Want a Piece of Dell

Why Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is taking a seat at the negotiation table for Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) isn’t clear, but according to multiple sources Tuesday, the company is doing just that. The company is in talks with private equity firm Silver Lake Partners to invest $1 to $3 billion in a leveraged buyout of the once popular PC maker. But why? First, there’s no doubt that PC sales are falling fast. Gartner reports that in Q4 of 2012, PC shipments declined 4.9 percent year over year. Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa said it is more than just a weak economy causing the decline. “Tablets have dramatically changed the device landscape for PCs, not so much by ‘cannibalizing’ PC sales, but by causing PC users to shift consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs.” Is Microsoft interested in Dell in order to reignite PC sales? Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said he believes...