IBM has beaten Wall Street estimates during the fourth-quarter, reporting an income rise despite a slight drop in revenue.

The world's largest technology services company says net income for the period stood at US$5.8 billion, an increase of 6% from 2011.

Operating (non-GAAP) net income was $6.1 billion which also represented a rise (10%) compared with $5.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011.

But total revenues for the quarter decreased by 1%, coming in at $29.3 billion, with diluted earnings of $5.13 per share, compared with diluted earnings of $4.62 per share in the fourth quarter of 2011.

"We achieved record profit, earnings per share and free cash flow in 2012," says Ginni Rometty, chairman, president and CEO, IBM.

"Our performance in the fourth quarter and for the full year was driven by our strategic growth initiatives -- growth markets, analytics, cloud computing, Smarter Planet solutions -- which support our continued shift to higher-value businesses.

”Looking ahead, we continue to invest to deliver innovations for the enterprise in key areas such as big data, mobile solutions, social business and security, while expanding into new markets and reaching new clients.

"We are well on track toward our long-term roadmap for operating EPS of at least $20 in 2015."

Responses to the results have been positive, with ISI Group believing the company's results to show that the tech spending industry was improving.

"It is better than what people had feared," said Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI Group told Reuters.

"Virtually every segment did a little bit better than people expected.

"It supports the fact that things are getting better out there at least from a tech industry standpoint."