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To: KM who wrote (17019)	3/4/1999 7:23:00 AM
From: Shumway	Respond to of 93625

off topic **** IBM, Dell Are Expected to Unveil An Accord With Sizable Impact By JON G. AUERBACH Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL International Business Machines Corp. and Dell Computer Corp. are expected to announce a broad agreement that could generate significant revenue for IBM, people familiar with the matter said. The two computer giants are expected to announce the agreement at a news conference Thursday in New York City, these people said. It was believed that IBM Chief Executive Louis V. Gerstner and Dell Chief Executive Michael Dell will be at the ceremony. Spokesmen at both IBM, Armonk, N.Y., and Dell, Round Rock, Texas, declined to comment. Details of the agreement couldn't be learned, but one person familiar with the matter said the deal would involve billions of dollars in sales for IBM in the short term. Industry officials say that Dell could benefit from hiring IBM to support Dell's customers with computer services. IBM's service business, which has annual revenues of about $30 billion, is one of its fastest-growing sectors and provides everything from computer consulting to installation and maintenance. People familiar with IBM internal deliberations, meanwhile, say the company has recently been grappling with a possible partnering with another company in the personal-computer area, although it couldn't be learned whether PCs would factor into Thursday's announcement. IBM's PC business has been struggling for several years to cope with rapidly declining PC prices and a flock of nimble competitors like Dell. IBM lost PC-market share last year, according to Dataquest Inc., with its percentage of world-wide shipments dropping to 8.2% from 8.6% in 1997. Dell, the nation's No. 2 PC maker behind Compaq Computer Corp., has recently been moving to provide larger computers, such as servers and workstations. But Dell still lacks a powerful services organization to support these machines. The lack of services has been a hindrance for Dell because its main PC rivals, including Compaq, IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co., have well-established service businesses that operate internationally. Dell is one of the most efficient and profitable PC makers. The company reported net income of $1.46 billion last year on revenue of $18.24 billion. Mr. Dell has said recently that his company's focus in 1999 would be on services and providing computers for small and medium-size businesses.