IBM (NYSE: IBM) just decided to sell a large portion of its server manufacturing business to Lenovo for $2.3 billion two weeks ago, but Big Blue reportedly is not through with efforts to get out of manufacturing,
Both The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times are reporting that IBM is looking to sell its semiconductor manufacturing operations. If so, it would be the latest move by IBM to quit manufacturing. IBM wants out of the low-end server business as shown in the Lenovo deal, and its retail point of sale business was sold two years ago.
The semiconductor operations are largely focused in the northeast, however.
Both the x86 server group and the point of sale group maintained significant operations in the Triangle.
The latest news comes as IBM puts into motion a $1 billion “rebalancing” of its work force, which could lead to layoffs of thousands of workers as a similar program did in 2013.
The Financial Times reported that IBM is working with Goldman Sachs to find a possible buyer or buyers. The newspaper cited unnamed sources.
The Journal, meanwhile, cited an unnamed source “familiar with the matter.”
However, The Journal said IBM’s intent is to sell manufacturing of chips but retain chip design.
Electronics Weekly, which focuses on the semiconductor industry, speculates that Samsung is the most likely buyer. Samsung already manufactures chips through an IBM-led alliance known as Common Platform.
IBM reportedly generated revenues of $1.75 billion in the semiconductor business and a pre-tax profit of around $130 million, various media reports said.
[IBM ARCHIVE: Check out more than a decade of IBM stories as reported in WRALTechWire.]
