Supercomputing is being squeezed by new cloud computing competitors and more expensive component suppliers. How will the likes of IBM adapt to this hostile environment?

Two weeks ago, the tech media was abuzz with news of the z13, IBM’s newest “mainframe” supercomputer”. Geared for processing 2.5 billion mobile transactions a day, the z13 is the most powerful piece of hardware out there for enabling mobile payments and analysing customer data in real time. It was five years in the making, costing US$1 billion in development and is built on 500 patents. Such a machine reminds us that IBM still has the strength to create powerful hardware. But the company’s earnings just one week later also remind us of IBM’s yo-yo-like fortunes in the supercomputing business.