Chinese PC Maker Looks to Buy IBM's PC Business

idril writes "According to The New York Times (free registration required), China's largest PC maker is reportedly in talks to buy IBM's PC business. Lenovo, formerly known as Legend, is the leading PC maker in Asia outside Japan. Lenovo sells primarily low cost PCs; acquiring IBM's business would help them raise their brand recognition and status among more affluent, brand-conscious consumers."

Comments

No reg link

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/04/business/worldbu siness/04asia.html?ex=1259816400&en=306e8426c19779 57&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

I am such a karma whore. O'wait, I dont even have a slashdot account. O'well.

Enjoy.

Re:IBM's Rep at stake

[Amiga Trombone]

I can't imagine IBM allowing a foreign manufacturer to sell products with IBM's name/logo on it. Seems awfully risky to their rep.

I don't know that IBM selling out entirely is a foregone conclusion. There's an article by the Register that speculates what's being negotiated is more likely a joint venture than a buyout. Which makes sense. IBM would still be able to maintain control of the branding in that case.

IBM Outsourcing

[Anonymous Coward]

IBM Thinkpad laptops have been manufactured by
a Taiwan company for years ...

Re:I hope not

[rubyfreak]

Honestly, I think IBM's desktop PC segment has grown more or less pathetic over the last few years. Old hardware (took them forever to stop using TNT2 cards), ridiculous prices and embarrasingly low quality. Even the chassis, which once was one of the most robust (and heavy!) ones, are now made of weak plastics, and overall I get the feeling that IBM only keeps their PC section alive purely out of habit. Selling their PC section to some low-cost manufacturer with a genuine interest of making it profitable would only make things better... or at least not worse than their present state :)

But their laptops are a whole different thing... i love them as much as i hate the desktops :)

IBM and China

[Anonymous Coward]

IBM's business in China dates back to the 1930s with the installation of "a business machine for a hospital in Beijing."

In the 1980s, IBM opened representative offices in Beijing and Shanghai, followed in 1992 by establishment of the IBM China Company Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IBM World Trade Corporation. The IBM China Research Laboratory was established in Beijing in 1995. Today, IBM China has offices in 11 cities and operates eight joint venture companies in China.
--PrimeUR

IBM built and operates a chip packaging plant in China (registration site), a Research Laboratory in China, and is eyeing upward of a 50 percent share of China's market for business computers. Even IBM mainframes are big in China

IBM is creating a chip ecosystem in China and expects that Asian manufacturers will represent the bulk of the new Power licensees

IBM is international

[Linuxathome]

It's interesting that some view Chinese companies (or any companies outside the US) as foreign vis-a-vis IBM. Last I checked, IBM stood for International Business Machines. I personally don't see it as a risk to their reputation.

Re:IBM's Rep at stake

[Bishop]

All commodity computers (such as laptops) are built in Asian factories. I would go so far to say that all laptops, regardless of brand name, are built in the same dozen factories or less. Some laptops are designed by the manufacturer and simply rebadged. Higher end laptops usually get more input from the brand name owner (e.g. IBM, Dell). Some laptops are essentially built in Asian, but are "assembled" in North America, or Europe, for PR reasons. Now some companies will say everything is built in "our factory." Understand that the manufacturers are more then happy to let a brand name claim that a manufacturer's factory is owned by the brand name. And with a little creative contracting it almost true.

Now before anyone points to Apple and claims that Apple designs everything, let's get something clear: Apple gets alot of help from the manufactureres. They would be foolish otherwise. There is a big difference between an excellent design, and a design that is cheap an easy to build.

Many big servers are still built in North America and Europe. This is partly because of the lower volume. The other reason because there is a perceptions that the North American and European workforce is better educated and more capable at performing testing. Durring the manufacturing process commodity computers and parts get very little testing. (Testing is time consumeing and expensive.) Mid range servers and up will get more testing. Testing varies from checking that all components are properly attached, to a full system integration and power up with regression tests. Due to the cost of some servers it is sometimes worth while to fix manufacturing errors. If a commodity computer fails a test it is usually tossed.

Some commodity components will also be manufactured in North America early in the life cycle. For example my ATI card was built in North America while they worked out the bugs.

dells are made in china

[rofthorax]

this is the truth..

So why should this suprise me.. Note my
last machine was made from chinese parts, I
bought it off of Ebay.. And its worked like a charm,
not once did I have to send it in for warantee service.