There are other shortcomings that some pin on him. Last year, I.B.M.'s decline in the personal computer business turned into a rout. Caught unawares by a lightning shift to a no-frills, commodity-market approach in PC's and to direct-mail sales, revenue from Personal Systems hardware declined by more than $1 billion, to about $9 billion. There are some industry executives who suggest that last year's troubles may have put Mr. Cannavino on thin ice. A recent decision by the company's European business to sell an Asia-made PC clone is a warning signal that his division has failed to deliver either hit products or competitive machines, they say. Noting that Mr. Cannavino left mainframes for PC's more than three years ago, Stewart Alsop, publisher of PC Letter, a newsletter, asks, "What's he done for I.B.M.? The wheels he was spinning in his first few years in PC's were training wheels. He really didn't get it when he came over from mainframes."