Why Would IBM Sell Its Semi Group?

Ed Sperling, Semiconductor Engineering
February 20th, 2014

Rumors are flying, but what’s behind all the hubbub, and more importantly, why now?

Rumors are always just rumors until proven otherwise in business, but in the case of IBM’s semiconductor business, hints about the sale of its semiconductor business are particularly noteworthy.

Much has changed since the days when IBM—as International Business Machines—went head-to-head with AT&T’s quasi-public Bell Labs and Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). The breakup of AT&T in 1982 and the subsequent spinoff of Bell Labs as part of Lucent, ultimately ended up in the sale of Lucent to Alcatel, Bell Labs patents and all. Xerox, meanwhile, spun off PARC in 2002.