IBM finishes 2010 on a high

IBM has claimed record revenues for the fourth quarter of 2010.

In the three months revenues rose to $29 billion (18 billion) up seven per cent and net incomes hit $5.3 billion a rise of nine per cent.

Revenue for Big Blue's System Z mainframes was the highest climber, rising by a massive 69 per cent and business analytics revenue jumped 19 per cent. Services saw a more modest rise of two per cent.

"We completed an outstanding year, with record profit and free cash flow, and exceeded the high end of our 2010 earnings per share roadmap objective," said Samuel J Palmisano, IBM's chief executive (CEO).

"As IBM enters its second century, we will continue to focus on our long-term strategic initiatives growth markets, Smarter Planet Solutions, cloud and business analytics as we drive to achieve our new roadmap target of operating earnings per share of at least $20 in 2015."

Yesterday, the company announced an extended partnership with UK company ARM to work on advanced 14nm semiconductor technology for mobile devices.

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.