Ballmer Criticizes I.B.M.’s High-Profit Diet Oct 9, 2009, 22 :35 UTC (3 Talkback[s]) (3869 reads) (Other stories by Ashlee Vance)
"“I.B.M. is the company that is notable for going the other direction,” he said. “I.B.M.’s footprint is more narrow today than it was when I started. I am not sure that has been to the long-term benefit of their shareholders.”
"I.B.M. sold off its networking business in 1999 and then steadily exited lower-margin hardware businesses throughout this decade. I.B.M. has argued that it makes more sense to concentrate on higher-profit businesses and leave the grunt work to other guys, namely Hewlett-Packard. Today, I.B.M. directs most of its energy toward software and services and continues to sell higher-margin hardware like Unix servers and mainframes."
Some more unintentional comedy from Microsoft-- ed.
