International Business Machines Corp., the world's largest computer services company, will use Google Inc.'s technology within its own search programs to help clients better find and manage information.
The agreement is part of IBM's new strategy, "Information as a Service," to provide software, hardware and services to make it easier to find and use data across various formats and locations, Chris Andrews, a spokesman, said in an interview today.
In linking with Google, IBM is tapping a technology used by more than 400 million users a month to search the Internet and desktop files. IBM, based in Armonk, New York, is betting it can use the technology to boost sales by helping customers manage their documents.
"IBM are trying to take their whole product set and create a holistic solution to managing information," said Barry Murphy, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "They could drive this into a multibillion- dollar-potential market." Chief Executive Sam Palmisano has revived profit at IBM by selling the money-losing personal computer unit and is now focusing on more-profitable services and software. The company has spent US$1 billion on research and development on its new strategy and has bought 14 companies, including Westborough, Massachusetts-based Ascential Software Corp. for US$1.1 billion in May, to add technology including data-integration software.
IBM faces challenges in persuading companies to buy an over-arching data-management system, when they may want products and services to fix specific problems, according to Murphy.
"This is a lot for any organization to get their arms around," said Murphy. "The biggest challenge is, are organizations going to respond to this big a solution?"
IBM will have to change its corporate culture to encourage its sales force to sell a general data-management solution rather than individual products, Murphy said.
The Google desktop search is available at no charge to current users of IBM's Omnifind search as a download on IBM's Web site. There was "no exchange of money" with Mountain View, California-based Google, and the deal is purely a technology partnership, Andrews said.
Shares of IBM slipped US$0.89 to US$81.42 at 4pm in New York Stock Exchange Composite trading. The stock has slumped 17 percent so far this year.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
RSS