System i revenues down 21% in first quarter
This may be the last time IBM reports System i hardware revenues on their own. Seeing as the platform is now officially merged with System p into a new Power Systems, future hardware revenue figures will probably reflect that.
It’s probably a good thing.
System i revenues dropped 21 percent compared to the year-ago period. That compares to increased or flat revenue numbers from the other platforms — System z was up 10 percent, System p up 2 percent, and System x flat. Aside from a small blip at the end of last year, hardware revenues for the System i platform have been dropping steadily for a while now. Let’s take a look at the last three years per quarter:
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | |
| 2005 | +1% | +10% | +25% | -18% |
| 2006 | -22% | -7% | -22% | -10% |
| 2007 | -13% | -15% | -21% | +2% |
| 2008 | -21% |
Compare that to System p revenues in the same period:
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | |
| 2005 | +12% | +36% | +15% | +4% |
| 2006 | -9% | -10% | +10% | +4% |
| 2007 | +14% | +7% | +6% | +9% |
| 2008 | +2% |
Are there anymore questions about why IBM decided to merge the two platforms? Aside from the benefits of having a single hardware platform on the Power processor, the merger will eliminate those ugly-looking, often double-digit revenue decreases that System i was experiencing quarter after quarter after quarter.
Posted: April 16th, 2008 under System i hardware, System i revenue.
If you invested $100 in the system i in 2005 it would be worth less than $28 now. A pretty scary return
Comment by Ken — April 17, 2008 @ 1:27 pm