Google earns nearly 50% as much as IBM
Eric Schmidt. Dr. Half IBM.
This evening I was reading the post mortem from 3Q earnings announcements. Google surged with a 26% increase in earnings, to $1.35 billion. IBM was suffering a tad in Europe, but still posted gains from a year ago, earning $2.8 billion.
It took a minute for that to sink in.
Google, founded in 1998, now earns 48% as much as IBM. A large portion of that money comes from a new market, tapping a need for people to reach each other at time of transaction, and sell their wares. Most of this money is automated, moving through online systems, running in a cloud. Contrast this with the labor, hardware-driven revenue of IBM and companies like them.
Amazing.