IBM declared its latest quarterly profits, which are up by 12 per cent, along with issuing an optimistic forecast for 2009, making the company's results the silver lining on the dark cloud of the technology sector.

The company also reported having had some measure of success in its cost cutting measures.

IBM's net profit during the fourth quarter went up by 12 per cent in a year-on-year comparison, touching $4.4 billion, prompting IBM's chief Samuel Palmisano terming the year as "outstanding".

The company said that it expects earnings of around $9.20 per share in 2009, significantly higher than analysts estimated.

IBM's profit margin was up by three per cent from a year ago, at 47.9 per cent. The results bolstered the share price of the company, where it climbed almost five per cent in after-hours trading in New York.

Other firms in the technology sector have not been able to fare as well as IBM, with Intel having reported a sharp 90 per cent drop in profit during the final quarter of 2008, with the liklihood of the chip maker posting its first loss in over two decades during the current quarter.

Reports quoted analysts as saying that the secret to IBM's success was the implementation of its strategy in recent years that revolved around higher-profit software and services that reduced the company's exposure to its computer hardware business.

The computer hardware segment is more prone to tougher times during negative economic cycles.

IBM's hardware sales have not been an exception to the economic downturn, having dropped 20 per cent in the quarter. However, those negatives were far outweighed by strong results from its far-larger services and software groups.