IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) said it has agreed to sell its x86 server business division to Lenovo (HKSE: 992) for approximately $2.3 billion in a transaction that further deepens the collaboration began by the two companies in 2005 when the Chinese OEM acquired its North American rival’s consumer PC operation. Lenovo, a $40 billion revenue…
The logic behind the concept made enormous sense when OEMs first began focusing on core competencies decades ago. Manufacturing became the main function of specialized contractors such as Flextronics, Solectron, Sanmina, Jabil, Celestica and others while OEMs like IBM Corp., instead of investing in manufacturing plants, concentrated on developing technology, leaving the assembly to the…
In a match up, engineers win over purchasing all the time. In most segments of the electronics industry engineers sit atop the food chain; they earn more than any other group aside from senior executives (many of who have engineering background, anyway) and the industry defers to them on many of the strategic issues affecting…
IBM (IBM) and United Microelectronics Corporation, a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced that UMC will join the IBM Technology Development Alliances as a participant in the group’s development of 10nm CMOS process technology. “Established over a decade ago, the IBM alliance allows the partners to leverage our combined expertise and collaborative research and innovative technology…
Like everything else in high-tech, the role of procurement continues to change. Until recently, according to IBM research, companies looked to procurement to help facilitate aggressive cost-cutting targets necessitated by a global economic downturn. As economic realities continue to shift, the procurement function must again adjust. To understand what actions and decisions have led to…