IBM Corp shares have begun their expected journey south for the winter after the company reported that Y2K issues would hurt sales for the next couple of quarters. They closed down $16.00 or 15% at $91.00. IBM dragged the rest of the server market with it. IBM’s third quarter results were propped up by the global services business and its problem continues to be hardware. It still can’t get PCs right and the server business needs a rethink. It has shed networking hardware and is exiting retail PC sales. Industry watchers wonder whether new server boss Sam Palmisano will take action to consolidate brands or reposition the products.
