I am no chip person of American Discent, like yourself, but let me venture that the Power5 is no all that significant to IBM.
Intel is working its way up the food chain and now runs over 50% of the 500 worlds "biggest" computers.
The Power 5 is a replacement for IBM big Iron, and it will run Linux. This still means IBM service bills.
This seems to pave the way for a gradual transition to cheaper Intel xeons and I's. IF MS backoffice is a better alternative to old proprietary systems.
And, not a moment to soon!
What do you think?