Both the personal computer business and, even more so, its large computer operation showed sizable losses, losing market share to rivals like Dell Computer and I.B.M.
I.B.M. makes the microprocessors that power its larger computers, including mainframes, and I.B.M. asserts that its chip-making expertise gives it an edge over its rivals.
Internal arguments against a sell-off were intense: PCs pulled in sales of other I.B.M. products in corporate accounts, the cost of electronic parts for its larger computers would jump without the purchasing power of its big PC division, and the corporate brand and its reputation would suffer without PCs, the one I.B.M. product touched by millions of people.
IBM found salvation for its large computers used as Web servers.
What is the government demanding that Microsoft do? A. As part of the behavioral remedy, the government wants Microsoft to standardize the prices it charges to its largest personal computer customers, like Dell and Compaq.
The lab has its own large computer, which, over the years, has been rigged with just about every bit of programming anyone could think of.
I.B.M. plans to announce today an agreement to sell 20 of its largest mainframe computers to a German technology services company as part of a four-year contract, whose value analysts estimated at roughly $200 million.
Where Sony's fortunes depend on consumers buying gadgets, its rival Fujitsu, Japan's largest computer maker, needs a revival in business demand.
Big Blue's shares surged nearly $6 to $108.88 yesterday after the world's largest computer maker released its results at the close of the regular trading session.
Historically speaking, it became the second largest computer company in the world after I.B.M., and the largest producer of minicomputers.
