IBM Absorbs Nokia Desktop IT In Outsourcing Deal
Posted by configure on 18 January 2004 - 11:26 · 1 comment & 546 views
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#1 Posted by rogerroger on 18 Jan 2004 - 16:56
- And if you are contractor working at a site where IBM takes over, they squeeze you out! Big Blue meanies. That is how I lost my job a couple years ago. Definately not fun!
The agreement, valued at approximately 200 million euros ($247 million U.S.), shifts some 430 Nokia employees in 36 countries over to IBM.
Nokia did the deal to focus on its core business IT infrastructure and activities, the company said, and to take advantage of IBM's on-demand technologies.
IBM, meanwhile, touted its Workplace on-demand solutions as the driver for the win, saying that it intends to move Nokia to a model where desktop resources -- including PCs and mobile devices -- are paid for only as they're used.
Under the arrangement, IBM Global Services division will manage Nokia's IT.
Creative chairman Sim Wong Hoo, who put Singapore on the global technology map in 1989 when his Sound Blaster card transformed the humble PC into a mini home entertainment machine, is driving the expansion.
Creative, started by Sim in 1981, has sold more than 120 million Sound Blaster units and more than 70 percent of the world's PC audio systems now use its music card technology.
Sales topped 701.8 million US dollars in fiscal 2003.
But with the growing commoditization of PC-related products in recent years, Sim has steered the company towards digital consumer electronics to tap on the growing demand for portable hi-tech gizmos.
In recent years, Creative has rolled out products such as the Nomad Jukebox digital audio player and a line of digital cameras, pitting the company against Japanese stalwarts such as Canon and Olympus.
The diversification strategy has paid off as more than 50 percent of Creative's revenues are now attributed to outside the PC market.
Analysts, however, believe Creative is still at a disadvantage to the Japanese companies, who have a headstart in the field and a huge marketing war chest.
"It is still too early to tell at this stage but so far there are certain products that are probably more well received than the rest," said Joel Ng, a technology analyst with the brokerage arm of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation.
"I guess the outlook is still mixed at this point."
But the pioneering Sim is confident his company's expansion into the digital entertainment field remains on the right track after the success of the Zen PMC at the International Consumer Electronics Show.
"This shows how Creative is leveraging the power of the PC (personal computer) to become a force to be reckoned with in consumer electronics," Sim, 49, told the media here after winning the Las Vegas award.
"It also shows that a cutting edge and innovative product from Creative, a leader in the PC space, can win hearts and minds in the consumer electronics space."