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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."
Reuter's story on this is here.
In the beginning the universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry and is widely considered as a bad move.
My understanding is that the current Intellistations are made by the server division rather than the PC division (which makes sense as they are basically just servers with high end graphics cards) so they will not go to with this deal.
...IBM will keep an 18.9 percent stake in Levono. Lenovo will pay...
I was going to make a smart alec remark, but the first return on a Google search of Levono leads to a site for a Lenovo product.
Sorry, but Dell does not manufacture their own PCs.
This past year IBM's Technology group and their Systems group were merged into the "Systems & Technology Group" (yeah, I know, astoundingly creative) to get better synergy between the semiconductor (technology) and server (systems) parts of the business. The PC division being sold definitely does not include the technology/chips group, whose assets alone greatly exceed $1.25B
Who do you get to be an expert to tell you something's not obvious? The least insightful person you can find? -J Roberts
Odd already are that the laptop you are typign on was not manufactured by IBM, but by some contract manufacturer in Asia. IBM has been divesting itself of PC and laptop manufacturing facilities for quite a while now.
/. synopsis, it's not an actual "sale" of the PC unit. IBM is forming a joint venture with Lenovo, which means that IBM will continue to be involved in the PCs and Thinkpad business for at least a few years.
In fact, if one actually read the article, one would see that point being made in...oh...about the thirteenth paragraph. One would also realize that, inspite of the headline and
---anactofgod---
"Equal opportunity swindling - *that* is the true test of a sustainable democracy."
I live near the IBM PC Division Headquarters (RTP North Carolina). On the news the General Manager of that division (Fran Somebody) said that since there was very little overlap between the two companies that most of the current employees will remain on. She went on to say that her and her entire management team would remain. Hopefully this bodes well for the quality.. at least in the short term until its decided where money could be saved at. I would suspect that eventually those jobs would be moved overseas where the labor is cheaper. The lady also said that the deal wouldnt be final until 2Q 2005.
Tis better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt --Abraham Lincoln
Anyway, it's a funny world. Low-margin commodity businesses are good for the people and companies that get to buy the cheap commodities, but bad for the companies that have to produce the commodities and suffer from the competition. Stock price uber alles, you know.
However once someone gains solid control of the commodity market, then heaven help everyone, but that's long-term thinking, and very out of fashion.
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
That woosh is the joke going over your head.
The better safe than sorry reason. Paying a premium for a laptop isn't a problem. Paying a premium for an unknown item is not a good choice. I guess that is what I get for working in risk management.
When I worked at Andersen they used Compaq and IBM laptops. I got lucky and got an IBM. The compaqs were breaking so often that they were switching completely to IBM (then they fucked up and got shut down!).
IBM used to do R&D and design for Thinkpads, then contract out the construction. Lenovo (a.k.a. Legend) will be doing the design now.
I don't know about you, but I currently own a Thinkpad T22 and a Powerbook 17". Plus, I've owned 2 other Thinkpads over the last 7 years.
Quite frankly, my preferences between the two come down to this:
(1) The Powerbook is the better Road Warrior, with better overall thoughtful packaging. I'm productively running all different pieces of Oracle on PPC/OSX, BSD/Unix and Wintel in that square foot. And you really can't underestimate the WOW factor of that snazzy case!
(2) There will NEVER be another notebook brand that has the superb keyboards that the Thinkpads do. Those keyboards make the machine. Between the keyboard and the support network, it's easy to see why Thinkpads are such a consistent number one choice.
I'm glad I have both. Put me on a deserted island with a choice between the two, and I'm liable to hang myself before choose betwen the two.
If Levono is stupid enough to abandon the customer base they just purchased through increasingly inferior products, well, I'll just have to go get myself a job as a greeter at Walmart for the remainder of my days.
Makin' money, makin' friends, makin' whoopee and wearin' Depends
2. 2. They dont have a "middle" size powerbook. They go from tiny 12 to large 15+. Where is the 14 ?
The 15 is the middle size. Apple also sells a lunch tray version. Don't believe me? Walk into the cafeteria at Apple some time and you'll see what I mean. 17 inches of usable food tray space. :-D
3. What the hell is the deal with the speakers being next to the keyboard ?
Simple. It gives you bass response that doesn't suck. Of course, some might suggest moving the speakers to the screen, but it turns out that clear speakers are neither. :-D
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
A NY Times article makes the point that an important factor in this deal was IBM's desire to better position itself in China. I thought it was kind of interesting that the chief executive of Lenovo will be Stephen M. Ward Jr., currently an I.B.M. senior vice president in charge of the PC business. Lenovo's current chief and president, Yang Yuanqing, will become Lenovo's chairman.
I was hoing that IBM stocks would go up but it looks like the stock market isnt too keen about this sale. stocks are down a few points for IBM
ok.. you seem to be confused. first you claim powerbooks are WHITE when those are the iBooks. then you say there's no 14" model. there *is* a 14" WHITE iBook. 12" and 14" iBooks. then you have the 12", 15", and 17" powerbooks. hrrm.. lookie there, 15" is right in the middle of 12" and 17".
A few words from it:
This week two leading PC companies announce their intent to create a single global PC powerhouse.
IBM's Personal Computing Division, maker of the IBM ThinkPad® and the world's leader in enterprise PC innovation, will join forces with Lenovo, the most well-known brand in the world's fastest-growing PC marketplace - China.
The result will be a new company, the 3rd largest PC company in the world*, to be headquartered in New York.
Driven by innovation and customer service, this new entity will have the global depth, heritage, and scale to set new standards in the PC industry.
New standards not just for quality, support and cutting-edge innovation, but for value and choice for PC customers around the globe.
IBM and Intel are more friends than enemies. Looking at the future roadmaps for their x86 servers, they are all Intel based.
HP.
1) Apple's stock price is inflated because of the iPod
2) HP won't want to give up their marketing of the iPod, or the perceived loss of control if IBM snatches up Apple
3) A bidding war between HP and IBM for the whole of Apple's biz would benefit neither, only Apple shareholders.
So my conclusion is that IBM isn't going to buy up Apple, unless it was silly enough to have a deal planned to spin off the iPod/iTunes unit to HP, and that's quite a cash cow to give up.
The biggest side benefit of that might be that it could diffuse the Apple Corp. (Beatles) lawsuit, if Apple Computer is no longer the owner of a music-related product. A spinoff might be the only way to end that suit (Apple or whoever owns them would still have to cough up a big chunk of bullion to Yoko and Sir Paul, but it would end the long-term problems).
Design for Use, not Construction!
Lenovo. They're a big name (the biggest) in China, used to be called "Legend"; good quality. Obviously a lot of the value of the purchase for them is to get the international IBM brand recognition. And you know that just about 99% of PCs and laptops (including Macs) are made in China or Taiwan?
It's not false advertising for a company to sell its trademark. It happens all the time. Have you seen all the Harley Davison crap out there? It's pretty obvious that the owners of Harley Davison treats its trademark like most people treat toilet paper.
And besides, IBM has not made its own computers for years. They're all made in China by third parties. IBM merely slaps its name on them. As does Dell, HP, etc. Nothing is really changing.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.