Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eggolas Moria who wrote (112500)	3/25/1999 9:27:00 PM
From: JRI	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

Gary- I have to disagree with the direction of your last paragraph.. "Possibility of IBM exiting PC biz under Akers, possibility now.." IBM was #1 (or at least a strong #2) under Akers.... and now are #3 (no. 4 in the U.S) and slipping big time....Regardless of Q4 (which every PC maker did pretty well), losing 1billion dollars is a BIG deal...Under Akers, they probably had no idea what the numbers were (although they were likely a hellof a lot better than now)... You have posted a number of articles listing meager revenue growth for PC makers, and slippage in unit sales (going forward)...Surely, this is (also) not as good an environment (for IBM) then in Akers' day... Last year, we had a poster familiar with IBM (it might have been J.Koligman) who clarified some of the internal processes at IBM..Under Gertsner, he stated that there very much is responsibility for P&L at individual business units (including hardware & PCs) and allocation of investment capital decisions are made accordingly..No more playing favorites (at least not like under Akers) and pouring money down black holes..."sink or swim on your own", ...... This would seem to jive with Gertsner's annual reports comments "PCs are dead" and what is known about Gertsner management style, and IBM's recent deals with IBM and EMC....no more playing favorites for the hardware division...... At the very least, IBM's hardware division is under extreme pressure to make it happen in the next year or two, or IBM's managment will likely move on to the next level of decision making....at most, IBM is already making plans to cut some of the PC biz (just deciding how/when)... I really fail to see where the IBM spokesman defending the PC division by saying 4Q was profitable is all that relevant....Was he supposed to keep the focus of the fact that it lost 1B, and .50-.75 in EPS? The more one focuses on that, the more one would question why IBM hasn't done more (yet) to address the problem....