Regarding "...With 3D Sim recently acquired by Ansys,. Perhaps that was one piece of the puzzle that was waiting to get put together..." I had the same thought. Didn't Melissa Orme, though, when asked about simulation software, refer to some other companies' simulation technologies in a positive way?
It's very difficult to ferret out which companies might bring their technologies together in a joint endeavor with Morf, (though it does seem in the natural course of things for Sigma, hopefully to be included), but I think your overarching point that there is increasing recognition by management of companies with technologies in the area, of the need to come together, sounds right. In addition, the need to pull together should only increase in order to stay competitive, now that the trend has begun. And it would seem that Sigma ought to be valuable to potential partners with complementary technologies, combined with Morf and/or others.
I also wonder what the private discussions are like between John Rice and Mark Cola. Would be interesting to be a fly on the wall there. Sigma is of course Mark's baby. John Rice is of course a businessman, and my confidence is that he would objectively recognize the need to make a move to join another organization when/if the timing is right. Because Mark is a technologist and father of PrintRite I would just hope that he would not cling to notions of Sigma's going the distance alone and winning a race, potentially against the odds. Hope those guys are on a page, together.
When you see the sort of consolidations and prospective consolidations that we are discussing, and taking the example of 3DSim's sale to Ansys as an example...yes, clearly 3DSim has value...but it may be the case also that its principals recognized that their value could have come to be at competitive risk from a number of directions and effectively have made it known in industry circles that they would entertain offers. Of course a company can have more value down the line, but it's also riskier to keep going it alone, especially as others are pairing and partnering...
Interesting to speculate.
