Only days before IBM’s earnings report, the company has being accused of collaborating with Chinese companies in ways that are perhaps a little too close for comfort.
IBM has agreed to provide Teamsun, a Beijing-based company with a blueprint of its higher-end servers, along with the software that runs on them. Meanwhile, Big Blue is providing Suzhou PowerCore, another Chinese Tech company, with the advanced chip technology which serves as the brain of IBM’s server system.
“People do feel angry about what appears to be an accommodation with the Chinese,” said an analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, James A. Lewis. “And you have to kind of expect that, particularly at a time when you have the whole U.S. government ginned up to push the Chinese on this.”
While IBM is suspected of compromising long-term political and trade issues, in favor of short-term business gains, company representatives state otherwise. IBM spokesman, Edward Barbini, has responded, saying:
“Our Open Power partners in China are getting access to the same technology that we make available to all Open Power members around the world. We’ve been very transparent with all our stakeholders on this strategy, including the Obama administration, about our plans to expand both the Open Power community and IBM’s technology partnerships around the world.”
IBM is scheduled to report earnings tonight (20th April 2015), at 16:30 EDT, and a variety of analysts are expecting weak numbers. Credit Suisse has reported: “despite a forthcoming mainframe cycle, we remain concerned that the fundamental headwinds facing IBM are challenging.” Financial analysts expect to see a weak order book, ineffective restructuring, significant underinvestment, and inner turmoil.
