The two companies saw their stock prices rise more than Apple’s in 2016.
Forbes reported that IBM’s shares were up 22.29 percent, while HPE is up 57.23 percent and HP Inc 33.61 percent, leaving Apple behind with only a 9.43 percent rise. The article said that it was too early to say whether this was a sustainable comeback for two old companies, but the factors behind the success may be down to “a leadership shakeup” and corporate restructuring, which enabled the two companies to “get their business model right” before the next technology surge.
The split of HP (http://www.therecycler.com/posts/hp-split-takes-place/) into HP Inc and HPE, which kept the printer and PC business and retained the technology sectors respectively, may have improved innovation and flexibility. IBM, on the other hand, went on a hiring spree improving the skills of its employees to prepare for an intellectual era, and its business initiatives have turned the company around, with the hiring of more than 100,000 new employees since January 2015. This is includes 700 executives and cloud advisors, digital representatives, data scientists and more.
IBM changed from being a traditional computing business to a more “cognitive business, driven by continues innovation, as evidenced by the company’s leadership in patents”. Meanwhile the innovation at Apple appears to be slowing down, noted Forbes, and Apple didn’t make it to the MIT Technology Review’s 50 Smartest Companies, while the company is low down on the patent list, which is headed by IBM and Samsung.
Forbes also noted that “Apples sales growth was down 27.10 percent six quarters ago to -9 percent recently”, with operating margins down from “30.15 percent to 27.83 percent and profit growth is down from 32.70 to -19 percent”. Apple’s performance is reflected in the fact that Wall Street has noticed, and Forbes commented that “perhaps, it is time for a leadership shake-up in Apple”.