What do potential investors see in Dell?

After Nortel, acquisitions pros today incorporate an estimate of IP value. While many look at Dell and ask, legitimately, is the PC business static, even dying? Others see unrealized value in the balance sheets, and beyond.

M•CAM, from Charlottesville, VA, notes that Dell’s reputation for lack of innovation may be deserved, but their continual acquisition program has helped it accumulate a sizeable cache of patents: 3,449 patents and 1,660 patent applications pending as of the end of 2012. The analysis even suggests that the first bids to take Dell private discounted the IP in hopes of getting away with a low-ball price, focusing on what the Wall Street Journal refers to as “downbeat” sales forecasts.