“IBM mainframe sales grew some 69% during the second quarter of this year, achieving the highest year-over-year percentage increase of any other business unit.

“IBM mainframe sales grew some 69% during the second quarter of this year, achieving the highest year-over-year percentage increase of any other business unit. Some industry observers attribute the unexpected performance to the fact the z15, introduced a year ago, is still in its anticipated upcycle. Typically, mainframe sales level off and dip after 12 to 18 months until the release of a new system. But that might not be the case this time around.” They don’t give any more context to know how unusual that 69% is. Maybe there is a big jump every year in the second quarter, and this one was just a bit bigger. I don’t know. One reason they cite is the increase in online shopping that prompted customers to pay for activation of the extra hardware that is included, disabled until you pay, in each mainframe: “Some industries are in slumps, but online sales are up and that means credit card and banking systems are more active than normal. They liked the idea of being able to turn on ‘dark’ processors remotely.”