Oracle and HP team up on hardware: source

By Jim Finkle

BOSTON (Reuters) - Oracle Corp (ORCL.O), the world's No. 3 software maker, is teaming up with Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) to sell specialized computers for analyzing data, according to a person familiar with their plans.

The move will bring Oracle into the hardware business and place the two technology giants into competition with smaller players Teradata Corp (TDC.N) and Netezza (NZ.P), which specialize in selling those devices, known as data warehousing appliances.

It is a new area for Oracle, the world's largest maker of computer database software, which gets virtually all of its revenue from selling computer programs and related services.

The company will unveil the product on Wednesday when Chief Executive Larry Ellison addresses a users conference in San Francisco attended by more than 40,000 customers and business partners, said two people familiar with the software maker's plans.

Ellison will make a keynote address at the conference and be accompanied on stage by Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) Chief Executive Mark Hurd.

HP, one of Oracle's closest business partners, is one of world's biggest makers of server computers.

Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger could not be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle; editing by Carol Bishopric)