Perhaps one of the biggest questions now is what happens to Nortel, which had been rumoured to be exploring a deal with Siemens while there had also been active speculation about a deal (described by Scotia Capital Markets analyst Gus Papageorgiou as "Norkia") with
Nokia. Did Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski get out-maneuvered or simply left sitting on the sidelines while two other players decided to dance? So what does Nortel do now? Maybe it goes after Siemens' enterprise business given Zafirovski is intent on Nortel playing in the market against rivals such as Cisco. Or perhaps Zafirovski will go after some kind of deal with Cisco or Juniper? Or does Nortel try to stay independent (if that's possible) until its makeover is done?As for why consolidation is happening, there are a few key factors: competition is brutal so profit margins have been savaged even as overall sales have rebounded. As a result, equipment makers have no choice but to slash costs. (Nokia and Siemens figure they will save $1.9-billion a year). Another factor is competition from low-cost suppliers such as Huawei and ZTE that can aggressively bid for contracts. To make matters worse, you've got large customers such as SBC and AT&T getting together to shrink the number of equipment buyers.
Update: For other takes on the Nokia-Siemens deal, check out Mathew Ingram, Om Malik and IP Democracy.