IBM reports a surge in mainframe sales in the most recent quarter, surpassing all previous quarters. This announcement was part of the company's release of quarterly and annual results. Overall, total quarterly revenue was down 1% from last year, and down 2% for the year.
Revenues from System z mainframe server products surged, increasing 56%, compared with the year-ago period, IBM says. Total delivery of System z computing power, as measured in MIPS (millions of instructions per second), increased 66% versus the prior year and represented the largest MIPS shipment quarter in the company’s history. New workload specialty engines, including Linux, represented one-half of the MIPS shipped.
Revenues from Power Systems decreased 19% compared with the 2011 period, while revenues from System x decreased 2%, IBM reports. Revenues from System Storage decreased 5%.
Revenues from the Software segment were $7.9 billion, an increase of 3% from the fourth quarter of 2011, the company also states. Revenues from IBM’s key middleware products, which include WebSphere, Information Management, Tivoli, Lotus and Rational products, were $5.5 billion, an increase of 5% versus the fourth quarter of 2011. Operating systems revenues of $709 million were flat compared with the prior-year quarter.
Revenues from the WebSphere family of software products increased 11% year over year. Information Management software revenues increased 2%. Revenues from Tivoli software increased 4%. Revenues from Lotus software increased 9 %, and Rational software increased 12%.
“Our performance in the fourth quarter and for the full year was driven by our strategic growth initiatives - growth markets, analytics, cloud computing, Smarter Planet solutions --which support our continued shift to higher-value businesses,” says Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer. ”Looking ahead, we continue to invest to deliver innovations for the enterprise in key areas such as big data, mobile solutions, social business and security, while expanding into new markets and reaching new clients.”
Total fourth-quarter 2012 net income for IBM was $5.8 billion, compared with $5.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, an increase of 6%. Total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2012 of $29.3 billion decreased 1% from the fourth quarter of 2011. Revenues from the Systems and Technology segment totaled $5.8 billion for the quarter, down 1% from the fourth quarter of 2011.
For the year, net income was $16.6 billion compared with $15.9 billion in the prior year, an increase of 5%. Revenues for 2012 totaled $104.5 billion, a decrease of 2%, compared with $106.9 billion in 2011.
Systems and Technology segment revenues for the year 2012 were $17.7 billion, a decrease of 7%. Total Global Services revenues decreased 2% (flat adjusting for currency). Software segment revenues in 2012 totaled $25.4 billion, an increase of 2%. Global Financing segment revenues totaled $2.0 billion, a decrease of 4%.
More information is available at www.ibm.com.