IBM Hit by Rare Sales Decline in Software Units, Posts Disappointing Quarterly Revenue IBM is preparing to split itself into two public companies. By Reuters | Updated: 23 January 2021 10:45 IST IBM is preparing to split itself into two public companies Highlights Revenue from IBM's cloud-computing business rose 10 percent Sales from IBM cloud and cognitive declined 4.5 percent IBM missed Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue on Thursday, hurt by a rare sales decline in its software unit as clients shied away from longer-term deals due to pandemic-induced economic uncertainty. The 109-year-old firm is preparing to split itself into two public companies and the namesake firm will focus on the so-called hybrid cloud, where companies use a combination of their own datacenters and leased resources to manage and process data.