Warren Buffet has often said he avoids investing in the tech sector because he does not like to own companies he does not understand. For the life of me, I can not fathom why he broke this cardinal rule with IBM.
Imagine what they could have accomplished if they invested this into R&D instead.
They've given a huge amount of wealth to their shareholders at the expense of future growth. They can't sustain this much longer.
Some charts illustrating this from 2014 - http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-17/great-stock-buyback...
And them manipulating their finances http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-20/ibm-reports-worst-s...
Also they can borrow at incredibly cheap rates, which makes them useful as a financial company. (like GE / GE Capital)