IBM 2001 Annual Report Download - page 1

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ibm annual report 2001
dear fellow investor,
This is my last annual letter to you.
By the time you read this, Sam Palmisano will be our new
Chief Executive Officer, the eighth in IBM’s history. He will
be responsible for shaping our strategic direction, as well as
leading our operations. For a discussion of IBM’s performance
in 2001, I invite you to read Sam’s first letter to shareholders,
starting on page 45.
I want to use this occasion to offer a perspective on what lies
ahead for our industry. To many observers today, its future
is unclear, following perhaps the worst year in its history.
Alot of people chalk that up to the recession and the “dot-com
bubble.” They seem to believe that when the economies of the
world recover, life in the information technology industry will
get back to normal.
In my view, nothing could be further from the truth.

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