Brief Company History Formally established in 1911, IBM has grown within the past 100 years into one of the largest technology-oriented enterprises in the world to date. It was one of the first companies to develop the concept of the home personal computer, pioneered the development of the modern-day checkout line through the creation of the laser scanner, is the primary manufacturer of many of the cash registers in operation in grocery stores around the world and is one of the largest suppliers of automated teller machines used in nearly every single bank in operation at the present. By 2005 the company shifted is operational makeup by selling its personal computer division to Lenovo and instead focused on providing software and hardware-based solutions to other multinational companies and international organizations. This has resulted in the present-day IBM, which is known around the world as a business solutions provider that enables businesses to run more smoothly and efficiently under a technological infrastructure developed by IBM. Economic conditions While the 2008 global financial crisis in effect obliterated the profit margins of hundreds of multinational companies around the world, IBM was largely unaffected and by 2009 actually emerged from the crisis with a 20% higher third-quarter income, which amounted to $2.05 per share. This is in stark contrast to the effects of the financial crisis on other technology-oriented firms who experienced billions of dollars in losses during this particular period. The reason behind why IBM continued to be profitable despite the uncertain financial environment at the time is actually connected to the company relinquishing its production and sale of computer hardware and various devices directly to normal consumers. Instead, the company focused on the creation of software and service products with an emphasis on long term service contracts with corporations, government departments and various organizations. What you have to understand is that a large percentage of the technology-based corporations that were negatively affected by the 2008 crisis were affected due to a lack of consumer demand for their products. People were in effect to scared to buy new laptops, computers or other forms of technology-based products as a result of not only the high degrees of unemployment that permeated the market at the time but it was also due to the fact that there was a certain degree of fear in the markets regarding the possibility of job loss. Since IBM catered directly to corporations, this in effect allowed the company to altogether avoid the slump affecting other technology based enterprises, especially when taking into consideration the long term contracts the company had. Furthermore, as a direct result of the crisis many companies turned towards the concepts of Six Sigma and lean operations resulting in a distinct shift towards more efficient computer based operations as well as turned towards outsourcing various aspects of their operations to other countries. This in effect necessitated the creation of newer and better software and hardware infrastructures, which IBM was only too happy to provide during this particular period of time. On the other hand, it must be noted that as of late IBM has experienced some financial difficulties as many of its clients within Europe have been affe