This isn't the first deal between IBM and Lenovo. In 2005, Lenovo purchased IBM's PC business, and later acquisitions propelled Lenovo to be world's top PC company last year. While IBM had a disappointing 2013, being the only company in Dow Jones to decrease, Lenovo posted record-high revenue and profit in its latest quarterly financials released in November. Notebooks consisted over half of Lenovo's revenue, and its industry outlook cites that "customers no longer see Tablet as PC replacement."
Sources:
- http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-23/lenovo-to-buy-ibm-server-unit-for-2-3-billion-amid-pc-slump.html
- http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-31/ibm-s-revenue-slump-turns-stock-into-dow-s-lone-loser-of-2013.html
- http://www.ibm.com/investor/events/4q13.phtml
- http://www.lenovo.com/ww/lenovo/investor_relations.html
- http://www.techterms.com/definition/x86