International Business Machines (IBM) Corp's software sales may be hurt because of the war in Iraq, according to Thomas Weisel Partners analyst David Grossman.
Grossman lowered his estimates for first-quarter revenue at IBM, the world's second-largest software company, to US$19.7 billion from US$20 billion, and cut his earnings forecast to US$0.76 a share from US$0.79.
He maintained a "buy" rating. Analysts have forecast sales of US$19.9 billion and earnings of US$0.79, the Thomson Financial average forecast.
Computer-related companies including Oracle Corp, Microchip Technology Inc and Gateway Inc have said concern about the war is preventing some clients from buying. The concern is most likely to affect sales of large contracts, Grossman wrote.
"We are concerned about the ongoing reluctance of companies to close big deals in the fiscal first quarter, and with war clouds looming during the final end-of-the-quarter push," Grossman wrote in a note to clients.
Not all investors agree that sales of computers, software and related services are being hurt by the war. They say the industry is still in the slump that followed the boom of the late 1990s.
IBM is the largest software company after Microsoft Corp.
IBM's software sales were US$13.1 billion last year, about 16 percent of overall revenue.
The company's other divisions are meeting his expectations, and there isn't a "fundamental shift" in IBM's overall business, Grossman said in an interview.
The company continues to make gains in databases against Oracle, the world's largest database company, he said. Orders for IBM's WebSphere program that's used to manage Web sites, such as EBay Inc's auction site, are getting larger, Grossman said.
He estimates WebSphere's sales at about US$200 million a quarter.
The number of deals in IBM's Tivoli business, which makes security software, continues to decline, Grossman wrote.
The company's Lotus unit continues to encounter tough competition from rival Microsoft. Lotus' products include programs for instant messaging.
"This is a division we think IBM is gearing for a makeover to address a new market," Grossman says.
IBM spokesman Joe Stunkard declined to comment on his report.
Armonk, New York-based IBM is the world's largest computer maker and top seller of computer services such as running help desks and Web sites.
The company's shares declined US$1.90 to US$81.55 at 4pm in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have declined 20 percent in the past year.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained