Now that it no longer has a decisive edge over competitors with large corporate clients, IBM Corp is planning to create a new division to target the consumer market, the Wall Street Journal reports. The new unit is expected to be headed by an outsider with strengths in consumer marketing rather than technology. It will take in the IBM Personal Computer Co and the new PowerPC group, which are being split away from the RS/6000 and OS/2 divisions, which will report to the executive in charge of IBM’s high-end offerings to commercial customers. One likely candidate to head the new unit is Richard Thomen, who just quit RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp, and used to work with Louis Gerstner at American Express. IBM Europe/Middle East/Africa needs to shed at least another 10,000 jobs from its 77,000 payroll by 1995, says new chief Hans-Olaf Henkel.
