To: The Duke of URLĀ© who wrote (75321 ) 3/4/1999 12:22:00 PM From: John Koligman Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 186894
Actually it looks like a large technology agreement for the most part... John IBM/Dell Agree To Broad Cross-Licensing Of Patents Dow Jones Newswires NEW YORK -- International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) confirmed they signed a strategic $16 billion technology pact that is expected to span seven years. As part of the contract, Dell will purchase storage, microelectronics, networking, and display technology from IBM for integration into Dell computer systems. In the future, the agreement is expected to include IBM's copper, silicon-on-insulator, and other advanced technologies. In a joint release, Dell Computer and IBM said the agreement calls for broad patent cross-licensing between the two companies and collaboration on the development of future product technology. Initially, Dell will have access to IBM's high capacity disk drives, network adapter cards, flat panel displays, high performance static random access memory (SRAM) and custom chips. "The body of Dell-developed product technology, particularly in servers, storage products and notebook PCs, is expanding rapidly," Mike Lambert, senior vice president of Dell Enterprise Systems Group said in a release. "By more extensively pairing IBM's world-class technology with our own, in systems brought to market through our efficient direct business model, we intend to enhance Dell's competitiveness in the global computer systems industry," Lambert said. As reported in today's The Wall Street Journal, 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.