
IBM Tops Microsoft to Become Second-Most Valuable in Technology - tilt
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-30/ibm-tops-microsoft-to-become-second-most-valuable-in-technology.html
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tpatke
Microsoft still has the better P/E ratio. 9.4 for MSFT vs 14.5 for IBM. I
can't say I understand why investors would value IBM's growth potential higher
then Microsoft's.

The next big milestone is when Apple is worth two Microsofts. Heh.

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tomjen3
Personally I see it as MSFT having no future growth potential other than the
size of their main market. They can't innovate and they have little chance of
doing anything in the mobile space.

That is not to say that it is a bad investment, because they can milk the
clients in their space for a very long time.

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mgkimsal
In the short term this is probably true. As long as the top execs stay in
place, I'd agree. I seem to remember people having written off IBM as not
having much of a future beyond milking clients, but they seem to have done
some radical restructuring in the past 10 years or so, and seem somewhat
rejuvenated.

MS _could_ undergo a big shakeup/transformation and reemerge as more
innovative and profitable. I just don't foresee that happening in the near
term. "Never say never" :)

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technoslut
Your 'could' may be the difference between MS continuing its dominance or
falling into obscurity. Right now they're heading down the wrong path. They're
not lacking quality engineers but leadership. Some leaders are great as
innovators and some are good at keeping the ship afloat. Ballmer is obviously
the latter.

The engineers at MS have shown their talent. Metro is absolutely stunning.
What they need is the proper leadership to push this company in the right
direction and deliver the right message.

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tocomment
How does IBM make money?

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notirk
Enterprise sales, consulting, services. Mainframes still make up a large chunk
of their revenue. Perhaps research/patents? They aren't really that consumer
facing anymore, I guess that explains their ads on TV to keep their name out
there.

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loumf
They also sell Enterprise Software (DB2, FileNet, Lotus, Rational, and a lot
more).

The ads may be for their stock (indirectly) as much as for their products

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diminish
Yes it occurred few months ago again I guess.

