IBM touts low-end Power6 and fresh mainframe onslaught

IBM's CFO Mark Loughridge put on his product marketing cap during an earnings conference call today, revealing the imminent arrival of new Unix boxes and mainframes.

According to Captain Finance, IBM will push Power6 chips into low-end Unix servers by the end of this quarter. Customers should welcome this charge, since IBM has only slotted the speedy Power6 into a single midrange box and blade server to date.

In addition, IBM looks to fill out its Unix server virtualization software alongside the release of the fresh hardware. IBM believes it has an edge over Unix rivals via its technology for moving live applications across boxes.

At the end of Feb., IBM will hit the market with new mainframes that should replace the z9 systems.

In its fourth quarter, IBM's mainframe sales fell 15 per cent, as customers stalled purchases in favor of grabbing new product, according to Loughridge. ®