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Going, Going, Gone: IBM Sells PC Group To Lenovo
It was rumored before, but now, as Rick Zeman writes, "It's official: According to news.com, IBM has sold their PC business in a complex arrangement where, 'under the deal, IBM will keep an 18.9 percent stake in Levono. Lenovo will pay $1.25 billion for the IBM PC unit and assume debt, which will bring the total cost to $1.75 billion. Lenovo will pay roughtly $650 million in cash and $600 million in securities.' Plus, Lenovo will be able to use the IBM and Think names for 5 years."
That's a damn expensive IBM PC unit. The clones are a lot cheaper, people.
I'm banking on "Thoughtpad". They can use it after the 5 years is up on using the Think brand, and it carries a convenient past tense.
Will miss not having a T1000 eventually...
Gee, I guess that whole PS/2 thing WAS a bad idea after all........
My Thinkpad's now a Chinkpad?
.. i'm going to get modded troll .. I'm not racist or anything .. I'm asian myself.. so I couldnt help but think it was funny!
.. hopefully the chinese can make do well with this. Thinkpads really rock.
.. question is .. can they sustain the momentum .. if they can really keep this up for 30 to 40 years .. that would rock. I think it's better for the world overall to have powerful economic engines developing goods and services to improve overall quality of life. I don't buy the BS argument that there's a fixed number of jobs .. when every person in the world has everything they need that's when you have a market with no demand .. we're nowhere near that point ..meaning there's still goods and services that can be traded amongst people. With globalization, the number (not just percentage btw) of people living in poverty has reduced dramatically over the last decade. (Google for that recent study).
Ok Ok
Anyway
China is coming up really fast
Do Dell computers use Dellium 4 CPUs and Dell RAM?
No, they pretty much just assemble the computers from components. Pretty much the same components that any decent quality manufacturer uses.
If you don't understand any of my sayings, come to me in private and I shall take you in my German mouth.
eye bee em
"I think Thinkpad and other IBM gadgets will decrease as much in quality under Lenovo as Volvo has decreased in quality under Ford's"
So quality is going to go massively up, and the computers will become very trendy and liked instead of mocked by the masses? Sales will increase, and people won't think of their products as boxes anymore.
Gee this is horrible.
I think you are looking at this wrong like so many others. They bought IBMs PC devision, that will Lenovo will basicly become IBM PC devision. They will take up the quality IBM has, not bring down IBMs quality.
They did this to gain all the quality. Besides things like thinkpads arn't even designed much by IBM, it's some asian company that makes them for most everyone else.
I expect them to be much like when IBM spun off the printer devision which became lexmark. Lenovo will re-orginize, probably just scrap much of what they had. Probably rename under a new catchy name, and grow to be a big time player. People just don't think IBM when it comes to home computers anymore. They will go after that again which IBM has long since ditched.
I guess thing will now be listed as "Lenovo Compatible"
1. Merges divisions A and B to create "synergy."
2. Split the AB divison to improve "focus."
3. Repeat steps 1 through 3.
If this gets me apple notebooks with two mouse buttons and a trackpoint, then sign me up!
I would love to see an IBM badged mac just to give a new meaning to the phrase "IBM compatible computer"
All your IBMs are belong to Chinese!!!!
IBM stopped making personal computer before Apple. I'm sure there's some kind of ironic victory here somewhere...
IBM Thinkpads were the only top-tier notebook in the US, and now all thats left that I would like is an Apple iBook.
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
That they blew their money. As in "Big Blew"? ...ugh. That one hurt me as much as it hurt you. Sorry.
Someone had to do it.
Now we all need to download new drivers from www.thinkpad.cn...
I'll expect it... ok...
Kirk: My God, Bones, what have I done?
McCoy: What you had to do. What you always do. Turn death into a fighting chance to live.