IBM

IBM, short for International Business Machines Corporation, is an American technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, that sells enterprise software, consulting services and computing infrastructure. It reported revenue of $67.5 billion for 2025 in its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company says its work centers on helping clients use hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence.

History of IBM

IBM was incorporated in New York on June 16, 1911, as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, usually shortened to C-T-R. It was formed by merging three firms: the Computing Scale Company of America, the Tabulating Machine Company and the International Time Recording Company of New York. The company’s own heritage site describes a business once known for its tabulators and clocks.

In 1924 C-T-R changed its name to International Business Machines, a signal that its operations and ambitions were international. Over the following decades it grew into the dominant supplier of business computing, selling large mainframe computers to governments and corporations.

A mainframe is a large, highly reliable computer built to process huge volumes of transactions, and for decades IBM mainframes were the backbone of banking, insurance and government record keeping.

In August 1981 IBM launched the IBM Personal Computer, a personal computer that brought the company into the market for desktop machines. For the operating system, it turned to a small software firm called Microsoft. That decision allowed Microsoft to license the same software to other computer makers and helped create the market for IBM-compatible computers.

IBM’s later history has been one of reinvention. The company moved away from hardware such as personal computers toward software, services and cloud technology. It closed its acquisition of the open-source software company Red Hat in 2019, and in 2025 it completed purchases that included HashiCorp, a maker of cloud infrastructure management tools.

Products and services of IBM

IBM’s annual report describes three main segments: Software, Consulting and Infrastructure. Software offers hybrid cloud and AI platforms that let clients run applications and manage data across different computing environments. A hybrid cloud setup mixes private computing resources with public ones rented from outside providers.

The report says IBM sets its software apart through the depth, breadth and innovation of its offerings, its global reach, its industry expertise and its research capabilities.

Consulting combines strategy, design, technology and operations expertise to help clients transform their businesses. It covers business consulting, systems integration, application development and management, and business process outsourcing.

Infrastructure provides server and storage products, both on-premises and in the cloud, along with services for deploying them. The report says IBM invests in security, scalability and reliability for mission-critical and AI workloads, which are tasks that a business cannot afford to have fail. IBM also names quantum computing as one of the next set of business opportunities.

The company works with strategic partners that include Adobe, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Oracle, Palo Alto Networks, Salesforce, Samsung Electronics and SAP. It notes that partners may also be competitors in other areas.

Corporate structure and operations

IBM is a globally integrated enterprise, which its annual report uses to describe a company that organizes work across countries instead of running separate national businesses. Its principal executive offices are at One New Orchard Road in Armonk.

The company’s revenue was $61.9 billion in 2023, $62.8 billion in 2024 and $67.5 billion in 2025. Gross profit rose from $34.3 billion in 2023 to $35.6 billion in 2024 and $39.3 billion in 2025. Net income was $7.5 billion in 2023, $6.0 billion in 2024 and $10.6 billion in 2025.

Income from continuing operations before income taxes was $10.3 billion in 2025. The company recorded an income tax benefit of $242 million rather than an expense, which helped net income exceed that pre-tax figure.

Spending on research and development increased from $6.8 billion in 2023 to $7.5 billion in 2024 and $8.3 billion in 2025. The report describes IBM’s research organization as one of the world’s leading corporate research groups. IBM also records income from licensing its intellectual property and from custom development, which was $964 million in 2025.

The company’s annual report incorporates much of its business description, such as its segments, strategy and human capital information, from its separate annual report to stockholders.

Impact of IBM

IBM shaped modern business computing. Its tabulating machines handled census and business records, its mainframes ran banks and airlines, and its personal computer set a hardware standard that many other manufacturers copied. These products helped establish the idea that companies could store and process records electronically at scale.

The company’s research laboratories have been a major source of technology in storage, semiconductors and software. Its work with enterprise customers continues to influence how large organizations adopt AI and cloud tools, since many of its clients are banks, insurers, manufacturers and governments with strict reliability needs.

IBM also illustrates how a large company can change its business over time. It is among the oldest technology firms still operating, and the shift from machines to software and services is a case study in long-term corporate adaptation.

Challenges and criticism

IBM’s annual report lists a number of risks. It operates in a highly competitive environment, and in each segment it faces large rivals. Software competitors include Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce and SAP, while consulting competitors include Accenture and Capgemini. Infrastructure competitors include Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and NetApp.

The company also says it depends on skilled employees, and a shortage of critical skills could slow its progress. It lists cybersecurity incidents, government investigations, legal proceedings and damage to its brand among other risks. Because IBM serves clients in sensitive industries, errors in its processes or technologies could harm both customers and its own reputation.

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 4, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue