IBM is splitting itself into two public companies, capping a years-long effort by the world's first big computing firm to diversify away from its legacy businesses to focus on high-margin cloud computing.
IBM, which currently has more than 352,000 workers, said it expects to record nearly $US5 billion in expenses related to the separation and operational changes.Investors cheered the surprise move by chief executive officer Arvind Krishna, the key architect behind IBM's $US34 billion acquisition of cloud company Red Hat last year, sending the company's shares up 7 per cent.
"IBM is essentially getting rid of a shrinking, low-margin operation given the cannibalizing impact of automation and cloud, masking stronger growth for the rest of the operation," Wedbush Securities analyst Moshe Katri said.