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IBM puts big boot in own NC mouth

Won a huge deal with Fedex then lost it big-time

Earlier this year, The Register scored what we thought was a massive scoop when we reported that IBM had won a huge deal to sell 50,000 of its NCs to courier company Fedex.

As CeBIT approached, we wondered what had happened to our scoop. Had we made a mistake, and got the whole thing wrong? We thought not, because our source was as impeccable as any senior IBMer could be (they’re all a bit peckable, really). Now the truth has emerged and it is deliciously, deliciously funny.

IBM did indeed clinch a deal with Fedex to sell them 70,000 NCs, not 50,000 as we reported. The deal was in the bag and was the biggest win Big Blue had ever made on its ill-fated NC platform. But Fedex told them to get lost soon after hands were shaken because a decision was taken at a senior corporate level to move from Fedex, as its own courier, to UPS. Gasp…. ®

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