NetworkWorld on PCI conflicts-of-interest

NetworkWorld has an article on the potential for conflicts of interest in the PCI world. In sum:

• There are only 60 qualified security assessors (QSAs).
• Many QSAs also sell products.

What I found interesting was that the three major companies mentioned as QSAs, IBM. Symantec and Trustwave are very acquisitive. Indeed, the article mentions two companies as "Acquired by Trustwave". IBM purchased ISS and has recently announced they will invest $1.5 billion on security and Symantec just bought Vontu. So, unless the PCI powers that be are adding new QSAs, the number of QSAs and security vendors must be dropping.