Big Blue saw steady earnings this quarter, reported a 13 percent rise in net income for the first quarter of 2010, with net income equaling $2.6 billion compared with $2.3 billion in the first quarter of 2009. IBM also reported diluted earnings of $1.97 per share compared with diluted earnings of $1.70 per share in the first quarter of 2009, an increase of 16 percent.

IBM saw $22.9 billion in total revenue for the first quarter of 2010, increasing by 5 percent from the same quarter last year. Steady profits resulted partially from strong results in the software sector. Revenues from the Software segment were $5 billion, an increase of 11 percent compared with the first quarter of 2009. Revenues from IBM’s key middleware products, which include WebSphere, Information Management, Tivoli, Lotus and Rational products, were $2.8 billion, an increase of 13 percent versus the first quarter of 2009. Operating systems revenues of $499 million increased 1 percent compared with the prior-year quarter.

IBM ended the first-quarter 2010 with $14.0 billion of cash on hand, which could bode well for a number of acquisitions in Big Blue’s future. IBM just acquired Chicago-based software firm Initiate Systems. Initiate helps healthcare providers and other government organizations manage and organize data across various sources. IBM acquired six startups last year, so we expect to hear for IBM to make a few purchases in the coming months.