International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) or IBM is a multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology.

The company was founded in 1911 as the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation through a merger of three companies: the Tabulating Machine Company, the International Time Recording Company, and the Computing Scale Corporation, all which had roots in the 1800s. A name you will hear often from IBMers is Tom Watson who led IBM from 1914 to 1956, and was followed by his son Tom Watson, Jr. from 1952 to 1971.

On February 14, 1924, C-T-R's name was formally changed to International Business Machines Corporation. By then, the company's business had expanded both geographically and functionally, including the completion of three manufacturing facilities in Europe.

IBM was among the first corporations to provide group life insurance (1934), survivor benefits (1935) and paid vacations (1937). The Social Security Act of 1935 brought the company a landmark government contract to maintain employment records for 26 million people. It was called "the biggest accounting operation of all time," and it went so well that orders from other U.S. government departments quickly followed.

When World War II began, all IBM facilities were placed at the disposal of the U.S. government. IBM's product line expanded to include bombsights, rifles and engine parts - in all, more than three dozen major ordnance items.

IBM introduced the Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator (1948) as the company's first large-scale digital calculating machine, the successful 604 Electronic Calculating Punch (1948) - 5,600 of which were built in a 10-year period - and the Card-Programmed Electronic Calculator (1949), the first IBM product designed specifically for computation centers.

In 1952, the company introduced the IBM 701, its first large computer based on the vacuum tube. The IBM 7090, one of the first fully transistorized mainframes, could perform 229,000 calculations per second. The U.S. Air Force used the 7090 to run its Ballistic Missile Early Warning System.

In 1957, IBM introduced FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslation), a computer language based on algebra, grammar and syntax rules. It became one of the most widely used computer languages for technical work.

IBM's supermarket checkout station was introduced in 1973 and used glass prisms, lenses and a laser to read product prices. Also in 1973, IBM developed an early form of today's Automatic Teller Machines.

In 1981 something took place at IBM that changed the world forever. It was the birth of the IBM Personal Computer or PC, and with that the IBM brand began to enter homes, small business and schools. And of course, those machines needed operating systems and software to run on them, giving birth to companies like Microsoft.

In the latest annual report, IBM shows revenues of $108.02 billion with net income at $15.86 billion which represents an 8.2% growth in sales in 2011. They have 425,000 employees and do business in nearly 170 countries. Their web site claims they manage a supply chain of more than 27,000 suppliers.

HP is a technology company that operates in more than 170 countries around the world. They provide infrastructure and business offerings that span from handheld devices to some of the world's most powerful supercomputer installations.

Their consumer products cover a wide range of products and services from digital photography to digital entertainment and from computing to home printing.

Hewlett-Packard began when Stanford University classmates Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard decided to form a partnership in 1939. The company's first product, built in a Palo Alto garage, was an audio oscillator - an electronic test instrument used by sound engineers. One of HP's first customers was Walt Disney Studios, which purchased eight oscillators to develop and test an innovative sound system for the movie Fantasia.

In 1942, they pioneered the concept of health insurance for all their employees.

In 1943, HP entered the microwave field, setting the stage for future leadership in signal generators. In 1951, HP invented the 524A high-speed frequency counter, greatly reducing the time required to measure high frequencies. Frequency counters and related products would account for billions in future revenue for HP.

By 1958, HP expanded by acquisition. The first was the F. L. Moseley Company, a producer of high-quality graphic recorders, establishing the foundation of HP’s printing business.

In 1962, HP had revenues of $110 million with 6,260 employees. In 1964, they introduced the highly accurate HP 5060A cesium-beam atomic clocks which set the new standard for international time.

In 1966, they had more than $200 million in revenue and more than 11,000 employees when they introduced their first computer, the HP 2116A. The world’s first go-anywhere, do-anything computer was designed to withstand environmental extremes.

By 1972, they introduced the HP-35, the world’s first scientific hand-held calculator. Small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, it made the slide rule obsolete.

In 1980, HP introduced its first personal computer, the HP-85. The unit had input/output modules that allowed it to control instruments, add on more powerful peripherals and even to talk to other computers. In 1982, HP’s electronic mail system was the first major wide-area commercial network of its kind based on minicomputers.

By 1999, HP had revenues of $42 billion and 84,400 employees and a new CEO, Carly Fiorina. Last September, HP's board of directors appointed Meg Whitman as president and chief executive officer.

Their most recent annual report shows revenues of $2.54 billion with net income of $433.37 million, which represented a 35.7% growth in sales. They have 8,724 employees.

On Local Cable, HP outspent IBM. IBM ran 30,017 spots, while HP ran 165,652 spots. The biggest month for HP was July with 48,242 spots, while IBM ran hottest in July with 3,884 spots.

On Radio, IBM ran a healthy spot load with 99,577 spots running in the last 12 months, while HP cleared 74,366 spots. IBM ran the most spots in August with 11,931 and recently popped back up in last month (January, 2012) with 11,124 spots. HP ran hottest in July (29,694) and August (29,401) respectively

On TV, both computer technology companies were not big buyers. IBM only ran 15,138 spots in the last 12 months, while HP ran 27,685 ads. IBM’s biggest month was September with 3,834 spots, while HP ran hottest in July with 9,095 spots.

Posted: February 20, 2012