Recently, Apple announced highest quarterly income in corporate history and now, IBM is going through biggest layoffs in corporate history. It seems to be the season of superlatives in corporate history.
Tech has a very powerful tendency to winner-takes-all dynamics. IBM's had an unbelievably long run (formed in 1911 though through the merger of two existing firms), and has taken on and disposed of other competitors (most recent Sun, though there were the Seven Dwarfs in the 1960s / 1970s).
Which is to say, the shifts are likely not unrelated, though Apple doesn't directly compete significantly in business.
But what a contrast between Apple and IBM!!!