3 December 2004 – Armonk (NY): IBM has put its PC business up for sale in a deal that could be worth up to $2 billion, according to a report in the New York Times.
IBM, the world’s number three PC maker behind Dell and HP, will likely include its desktops, laptops and notebooks in the sale, which could earn the tech giant between $1 billion and $2 billion, said sources close to negotiations.
Lenovo Group, China’s largest PC manufacturer that formerly went under the name of Legend, is said to be in talks with IBM, along with at least one other company, which was unnamed.
IBM’s CEO Sam Palmisano is known for his strategy of selling off hardware divisions with dwindling growth prospects and the company’s PC business, which accounts for about 12 per cent of annual revenues, has been loosing ground for a decade.
The news comes just days after analyst group Gartner released a report stating that the top three PC manufacturers could be forced to abandon the space "if their drag on margins and profitability are deemed too great by their parent companies".
IBM was unavailable for comment.
