Now Symantec is rumored to be close to a corporate split, and possibly Cisco and cloud-computing giant EMC to follow next. What gives? Analysts cite a number of factors: Some tech giants have reached mature stages in their core businesses, and profits aren't coming as easily as they once did. Others are under constant pressure from shareholders to increase their stock prices. Still others have taken advantage of relatively cheap financing enabled by the Federal Reserve's Quantitative Easing program of the past five years, and made some mergers and acquisitions (M&A) they may not have needed.
In any case, it may signal the start of a significant trend in the tech world.