IBM is considering moving its headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa out of Paris, according to a high-ranking insider at world's largest computer company.
Under its European restructuring programme, in which Big Blue last week said it would slash between 10,000 and 13,000 jobs, the tech giant intends to dismantle the 900worker-strong Paris headquarters and replace it with two "operating hubs" in Zurich and Madrid, each employing around 200 workers, the insider said.
Speculation has been rife about where exactly the restructuring axe will fall after IBM made its announcement late last Wednesday, raising fears that it would impact badly on the IBM plant and the 2300 workers remaining at Greenock, Renfrewshire.
The latest indications are that 100 jobs are to be axed at Greenock, but no confirmation was offered by the company.
IBM's Greenock operation, which once manufactured PCs and employed almost 6000 workers, is now almost entirely dedicated to global services, which takes over computerroom operations for other companies and provides consulting, repair and help desk operations.
"The truth is that no-one knows where or to what extent the other European regional offices - including Greenock - will be run down, or in some cases even shut down all together, " the insider added. "Probably, at this stage, only Mark Loughridge, the chief financial officer, and Sam Palmisano, the chairman and chief executive, know the full details."
Loughridge last week said the changes would be implemented by July 4, subject to the completion of a consultation process.
He portrayed the cuts as an evolution in the company's strategy to reduce bureaucracy in lower-growth countries and globalise operations by moving back-office work, such as accounting and procurement, to lower-cost locations and pruning operations in highcost markets.
IBM yesterday declined to comment.
Microsoft has unveiled a new version of its Windows operating system for mobile devices which adds such features as PowerPoint viewing while making it easier for gadget makers to equip phones and handheld computers with typewriter keyboards and iPod-sized hard drives.
Windows Mobile 5.0, introduced by chairman Bill Gates at the company's annual conference for mobile software developers in Las Vegas, marks an about-face in marketing by eliminating the distinct Pocket PC and Smartphone brands of the operating system.
Other feature enhancements include updates to the mobile versions of Microsoft Word and Excel that better maintain the formatting of documents created on a computer and allow charts to be created from a spreadsheet.
The elimination of the fiveyear-old Pocket PC brand for PDAs and the separate Smartphone label puts Windows Mobile on the same page as rival mobile device platforms such as Symbian and BlackBerry.
It also marks another change of course in Microsoft's long-evolving strategy to extend the dominance of its Windows computer platform to mobile devices.
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