IBM is a very capable company when it comes to technology R&D. But they've always seemed to struggle to develop those capabilities outside of high-end consulting work.
IBM had the technical chops to create the likes of ARM, nVidia, or any number of big tech companies. They just never seemed to have the leadership capabilities to get out of their comfort zone. I understand the idea of keeping a business focused, but Alphabet and MS don't seem to struggle with managing a diverse portfolio of companies.
The answer probably depends on where you define the "birth" of IBM - the founding of the companies that merged to create IBM, the date of the merger, or the date they changed the name and/or began producing business machines with the name "IBM" on them.
In the context of the thread, it's reasonable to say that both at 22 and 45 IBM had strong leadership (Watson Sr.) that successfully managed a diverse group of subsidiaries. Although in neither case are there any products like a modern digital computer involved.
IBM had the technical chops to create the likes of ARM, nVidia, or any number of big tech companies. They just never seemed to have the leadership capabilities to get out of their comfort zone. I understand the idea of keeping a business focused, but Alphabet and MS don't seem to struggle with managing a diverse portfolio of companies.