IBM has recently finalized a deal with Chinese electronics retailer Suning Appliance to build research centers in China and the U.S. The company will leverage this deal to develop e-commerce products as well as to help the Chinese company expand its e-commerce site and services. To put this deal into action, IBM will build a research center in the Nanjing (China). The company will also staff the premise with around 15,000 Suning employees within next few years.

Besides this deal, IBM will also establish a lab in alliance with Suning in the Silicon Valley, focused on developing e-commerce services.  This deal is going to be quite beneficial for both parties.  For Suning, it will help expand its presence in China’s rapidly increasing e-commerce sector, and help to compete with industry giants like Alibaba. Suning’s main aim is to build an e-commerce platform that will personalize the shopping experience by recommending suitable products and providing better search to its customers.

Giving his views on the deal, Frank Kern, an IBM senior vice president said,

“There is no question that we live in a time of rapid change that calls for the transformation of organizations in many industries. With this innovative business model, consumers, suppliers and businesses along with society can all benefit.”

While this is good news for IBM, the company is losing out on some of its initiatives. IBM recently lost out on a big contract against Cray Inc. The ambitious project IBM was striving for was recently awarded by University of Illinois research center to Cray Inc. for a contract valued over $188 million. This high profile project, called ‘Blue Waters’ led by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, will now utilize Cray’s supercomputers instead of IBM.

“IBM struggled to develop a companion chip that would connect those calculating engines in the system. The center had worked with IBM since 2007 on the project, constructing an 88,000-square-foot computer room to house the system. It was supposed to be operating last summer, but IBM ran into delays and asked for changes in its obligations before finally terminating the contract,” said Thom Dunning, the NCSA’s director.

In other IBM news, it was just revealed over the weekend that Warren Buffet’s Berkshire firm owns nearly 6% of the company.  IBM hasn’t released a statement on the matter, but its stock went up on account of Buffet’s reputation as recognizing solid investments.