The New York Times > Technology > I.B.M. Said to Put Its PC Business on the Market

The New York Times > Technology > I.B.M. Said to Put Its PC Business on the Market: "For nearly a decade, though, some industry analysts have urged I.B.M. to get out of that business as it made only a modest profit or lost money. For this year, analysts have expected a pretax profit of less than $100 million.
I.B.M. executives long resisted that course, arguing that personal computers were technology products its corporate customers wanted. It held on to the business on the theory that it helped hold on to customers.
But in the most recent quarter, I.B.M. ranked a distant third in worldwide PC sales, with 5.6 percent of the market, according to Gartner, the market research firm. Dell was the leader with 16.8 percent of the world market, and Hewlett-Packard, which has absorbed Compaq Computer, had 15 percent."