Oracle to Itanium...So long, farewell, auf wiedersehn, goodbye

Oracle has joined RedHat and Microsoft in discontinuing software development for Intel's Itanium processor.

http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/346696


Is this the final nail in the coffin for Itanium?  It has battled and survived in a market longer than I first thought they would many years ago.

The processor industry is accustomed to leap-frogging competitors, and the death of a processor is rarely ever laid at the feet of another processor despite the numerous predictions of doom.  (See AMD/Intel)

But a number of processors have gone the way of the dodo due to lack of ISV development.  No Apps = No customers.

Thanks for playing Itanium.

The other interesting aspect to this announcement is the escalation of the feud between HP and Oracle after Oracle had snagged Mark Hurd.  No love lost between these two companies at the moment...