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Technology Stocks : IBM -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: WebDrone who wrote (5367)	7/5/1999 4:57:00 PM
From: Rocky Reid	Respond to of 8218

RCA Lyra MP3-player Microdrive-compatible lyrazone.com This new MP3 player from RCA features a CompactFlash typeII slot and is IBM Microdrive-compatible (due September). The rollout for the next generation of portable devices has begun. And more and more devices are offering this CF type II slot to enable the choice between CF cards or IBM Microdrive.

To: WebDrone who wrote (5367)	7/5/1999 9:29:00 PM
From: Marty	Respond to of 8218

Another great article on IBM in the July 5 issue of Business Week, page 86. Anybody following this company ought to read it. Bringing Mainframe Might to PC Servers After falling way behind, IBM is snatching back the business When IBM (IBM) Chairman Louis V. Gerstner Jr. held his annual briefing for Wall Street analysts last year, he was brutally frank about the computer giant's PC server business, a segment of the industry that was fueling spectacular growth at rivals Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) and Dell Computer Corp (DELL). ''We missed this one so badly that I don't even like to think about it,'' he told analysts. ''We let Compaq run out and grab the PC server business.'' How much did Compaq snatch? Its 38% market share in 1997 was more than triple IBM's. Now, however, Gerstner can hardly contain his glee. ''We've got great momentum,'' he crows. Indeed, for the first time in years, IBM is winning back customers and giving competitors fits. According to market researcher International Data Corp., sales of IBM's Intel-based Netfinity servers are up 63% in the first quarter of this year from the same quarter a year ago. IBM's market share for the same period climbed from 11% to 14%. And, in the past six months, IBM says it has won more than $50 million in PC server business with important customers such as Chase Manhattan (CMB), McDonald's (MCD), and Kinko's. Even sweeter: In over half of those deals, IBM says it is replacing Compaq equipment. Concedes Mary McDonnel, a Compaq vice-president for servers: ''We have seen IBM come back a little bit.'' But she insists Compaq isn't losing big time to IBM. ''It's ebb and flow,'' she says. It's the flow that IBM must have. Intel-based servers account for $1 out of every $4 spent on computer servers worldwide. By 2003, that will be $1 out of every $2, according to IDC. That's because PC servers are getting more sophisticated and handling a bigger workload. Typically, PC servers connect small groups of users, say, a departmental E-mail system or a group's local files. But as the power of Intel (INTC) chips has grown, PC servers have gained the oomph to run such corporate jobs as Web sites and complex databases. That's cutting into IBM's sluggish mainframe sales, a $4 billion business with 60% gross profit margins, analysts say. IBM's Netfinity line, on the other hand, may have 30% gross profit margins, but it's a $1.2 billion business that grew 100% last quarter. ''This is a high-growth market,'' says IDC analyst Amir Ahari. ''The last thing IBM wants is to be blindsided like it was in desktops. They let the PC market slip past them.'' Instead, IBM hopes to zip past rivals. To do that, the company has given its PC servers a complete technology overhaul while pumping up its marketing, including spending $5 million a year just on customer research. The key makeover ingredient: putting the best of its mainframe knowhow and reliability into the smaller, cheaper machines. At the same time, Big Blue has rolled out the red carpet for wary customers, winning over the likes of Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. (VIA.B) and Fuji Photo Film Co (FUJIY). ''Whatever a customer is going to spend on [Windows] NT and Intel-architecture products, my mission is to get the most of that we can,'' says David Thomas, general manager of IBM's PC company.

To: WebDrone who wrote (5367)	7/5/1999 9:55:00 PM
From: George W Daly, Jr.	Respond to of 8218

Web, Thanks for the Gorilla Game suggestion. I'm getting ready to go on vacation in a couple weeks and that sounds like a good one to add to the beach bag. I guess I'm in line with your old man about taking profits. If it hits 135 this week I'm going to take back a chunk of this latest runup, and if this near insanity in the overall market continues and it should happen to get near 150 I'm probably going to take at least half off the table and wait to see the dust settle after the NewYear. Later... GW