In his statements that accompany the quarterly figures, IBM chairman John Akers presents himself as an incorrigible optimist, so that even bad quarters are dismissed with comments about demand being strong and confidence about the future – so it looks as if Wall Street was not listening properly when Akers accompanied the second quarter figures with while first-half results are encouraging, much remains to be done this year, upgraded from the additional effort that he told shareholders at the annual meeting would be needed this year; coupled with his worries about increasing competition coupled with shorter product cycles, it sounds as if IBM is far from confident about the prospects for its 1990 second half.
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