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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.
...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.
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!).
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.