Major US companies shopping for sophisticated software to automate their accounting and personnel departments will face price increases of up to 30 percent if Oracle Corp buys rival PeopleSoft Inc, an antitrust expert testified.
California Institute of Technology business economics professor Preston McAfee presented his cost analysis on Monday as a witness for the US Department of Justice, which hired him as part of its effort to block Oracle's US$7.7 billion bid for PeopleSoft.
The antitrust trial hit its midway point on Monday as the government wrapped up the bulk of its case.
Oracle will have until July 2 to counter the government's antitrust allegations, continuing its year-old quest to buy PeopleSoft.
After reviewing sales data that documented steep price dis-counting when Oracle and PeopleSoft face off in head-to-head competition, McAfee used complex economic models to calculate what might happen if the two rivals were no longer bidding against each other.
Under that scenario, McAfee projected average price increases ranging from 5 percent to 30 percent in the market niche that sells financial and human resources management to large US firms.
In his cross-examination, Oracle attorney Daniel Wall denigrated the estimated price increases as biased data that drew upon incomplete market information.
Under Wall's questioning, McAfee acknowledged his anal-ysis didn't consider the prices that might be paid by companies that preferred products made by Germany-based SAP, the business applications software leader.
The documents reviewed by McAfee also showed how frequently Oracle and PeopleSoft run into each other in the business applications software market.
Oracle vied against PeopleSoft in 236 of the company's 982 sales opportunities, or nearly one out of every four deals, during the fiscal year ending in May last year.
Oracle encountered People-Soft in 46 percent of the 131 deals involving sales of more than US$500,000 -- the large-company market that's the focal point of the Justice Department's antitrust concerns.
McAfee told US District Judge Vaughn Walker that the documents provided "compelling" proof that PeopleSoft's market presence forced Oracle to lower its prices to close deals.
The government will present one more key witness, Microsoft Corp executive Douglas Burgum, who is to testify today about his company's plans to make business applications that automate a wide range of administrative jobs.
Most of the remaining testimony will be devoted to Oracle's attempt to rebut the government's contention that a PeopleSoft takeover would result in higher prices and less product innovation in a market segment catering to the nation's largest companies.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS