If you have any suggestions about how I can phrase this in a way that makes you both comfortable, and that still makes it clear that I do not believe you have any business speaking on this subject, then I am 100% happy to listen to you. :)
I'm sure you're otherwise intelligent, but this is an area where you should probably just listen.
You first write:
"The mainframe market is still $10B" and then
"the mainframe accounts for a quarter of IBM’s revenue" (that would be about $25B).
Which one is it? :)
$10B are spent each year on sales of actual mainframe computers. [1]
The article quoted in the last article claims that everything you sell around mainframes, like services, is a quarter of revenue.
Now, it's your turn to do something for me. Don't respond if you're not willing to read before you speak. I should not have had to explain this to you.
> At any rate, the mainframe is a hugely profitable business for IBM. Only around 4% of the firm’s revenues come from mainframe sales. But once additional hardware, storage, software and all kinds of related services have been factored in, the mainframe accounts for a quarter of IBM’s revenue and nearly half of profits, estimates Toni Sacconaghi of Berstein Research.
Read that again. HALF of profits. A QUARTER of revenue.
Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2012/09/ibms-mainf...