IBM Stays Backstage but Executive Sees Major 'Cloud' Opportunities

That doesn't mean IBM isn't interested in consumer electronics. In fact, "We're not in the forefront of dealing with the consumer," Bruce A. Anderson, general manager for the global electronics industry told International Business Times in a TV interview. "We're more in the background, helping keep their products global."

Meanwhile, the Armonk, N.Y.-based research giant sees great potential in the $1 trillion global consumer electronics sector, Anderson said.

First, IBM products are already in the back-end of major provider networks, verifying shipments, new orders and claims, he said. "We're as well often behind the scenes in the caller centers," he added. Companies use IBM's "cloud" for services they can't provide independently, Anderson said.

Next, IBM software, particularly for new Google Android applications, is a major growth sector, Anderson told IBTimes. IBM, until about 20 years ago, owned a minority stake in Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, which announced a major push into smartphones here.

Another promising aspect will be in home health care. During the IBM Watson supercomputer Is now advising medical patients at WellPoint in Indiana, at CES a Pittsburgh-based company, BodyMedia is showing wearable bands that use smartphones to gauge blood pressures and other checks to advise patients and their physicians.

Anderson declined to tell IBTimes how much IBM derived from consumer electronics from the near $100 billion in revenue reported for the nine-month period ended Sept. 30.