IBM on Apple/Intel and the G5

[Jon the Heretic]

Originally posted by daveL
Actually, IBM is a services company. They make most of their revenue from services. They employe something like 100k people in IGS (IBM Global Services).

Over 150 thousand....

 

[Jon the Heretic]

Originally posted by Phil Of Mac
Back in the clone days, IBM was planning to (but never did) make a Mac clone.

IBM never made a "clone" per se but they did make PReP/CHRP boxes which could run MacOS 8.x (not an advertised feature). These were 601 and 604e-based RS/6000s and were vastly more expensive than a Mac or Mac clone.

 

[wms121]

more stuff for swiftie and the 64 bit Java people

Sun posted this earlier this month..

Seems that Java Os is making a comeback..check out the "Jinux info" at:

http://www.sun.com/smi/Press/sunflash/2003-08/sunflash.20030805.2html

hmm...connect two OS's via a mini-kernal of Linux...mebbe you could plug in Darwin or even 64 bit DOS?

 

[Phil Of Mac]

Originally posted by daveL
Actually, IBM is a services company. They make most of their revenue from services.

Definitely. For those of us who watch TV, we know that IBM doesn't advertise their PC's or workstations, they advertise their IS services. After all, there are no magic business beans.

 

[bcsimac]

I am just glad that
Apple didn't go with Intel. IBM is easier to swallow in my mind than Intel. Long live the PowerPC processor!

 

[ginoledesma]

The only hardware stuff that IBM may be even making a slight profit on is their ThinkPad line of laptops and their high-end servers. And even then, their regular customers with these products are most often big corporations, and not the average home user.

To say that IBM is not making money on their software because they are a "hardware company" is simply wrong. When they acquired Lotus, the whole suite of Domino and Notes became theirs, and that means getting the businesses of thousands of corporations that rely on the collaboration platform. The same goes for their development software, such as the Rational suite, WebSphere, and everything else, which costs quite a bunlde in annual licensing terms.

When they make a sale to clients, they really do in fact almost "give away" their hardware and software, and in return their money comes from long-term licensing.

IBM's realm is the high-end or enterprise market, where money is constantly flowing. While they have a Consumer PC division, don't expect that one to be critical to IBM's financial health, since even mass sales is pocket change to what they can earn elsewhere.

 

[ginoledesma]

We were cheering IBM on for far longer than most realize, since the PowerPC 601 chips (the first PPC chips for the Mac) were made by IBM early on. Its just that IBM has come to the forefront now.

 

[gloftis]

Long-term Licensing

The only hardware stuff that IBM may be even making a slight profit on is their ThinkPad line of laptops and their high-end servers. And even then, their regular customers with these products are most often big corporations, and not the average home user.

To say that IBM is not making money on their software because they are a "hardware company" is simply wrong. When they acquired Lotus, the whole suite of Domino and Notes became theirs, and that means getting the businesses of thousands of corporations that rely on the collaboration platform. The same goes for their development software, such as the Rational suite, WebSphere, and everything else, which costs quite a bunlde in annual licensing terms.

When they make a sale to clients, they really do in fact almost "give away" their hardware and software, and in return their money comes from long-term licensing.

IBM's realm is the high-end or enterprise market, where money is constantly flowing. While they have a Consumer PC division, don't expect that one to be critical to IBM's financial health, since even mass sales is pocket change to what they can earn elsewhere.

Licensing or support fees have been the traditional cash cow for proprietary systems. However, with the advent of distributed computing and applicaiton software written for the X environment, hardware will become more important in the future.

IBM dropped the ball in 1984 by not foreseeing the advent of consumer computing. Today, they have adopted LINUX and are major players in Apple's hardware innovations. I would not expect to see them miss the next technology leap!