Dive Brief:
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IBM saw a continued drop in hardware and software sales last quarter, as it posted its 13th-straight quarterly decline in revenue.
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The company's technology services division was down 12%, software dropped 10%, and hardware revenue fell 32%.
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Recognizing its vulnerability, IBM has invested in several new lines of business, including cloud, analytics and IoT.
Dive Insight:
Though it’s made moves to reinvent itself, it remains to be seen if the new markets IBM has invested in will grow fast enough to offset huge declines in legacy markets. Revenue from cloud and data analytics appear to have the best potential, with the company’s cloud revenues reportedly up 50% and data analytics revenues up 20% over the last year.
Bill Kreher, a technology analyst with St. Louis-based investment firm Edward Jones, said, "Long term, the company is putting itself in a position to grow again. Near term… they are going to have lumpy results for the next few quarters."
Last week, IBM announced it will work with National Instruments to create standards around the Internet of Things, another area IBM views as a “strategic market.” IDC predicts that the IoT market will grow 19% in the next several years.
