Lenovo & Customer Perception

music_lover writes "According to this article, Lenovo is losing current ThinkPad series customers to HP, Toshiba and other notebook vendors because of customer perception. Apparently, customers don't feel comfortable purchasing from a Chinese PC manufacturer now that the ThinkPad brand isn't supported by IBM anymore. Could this really be perception? Quote: "Despite the overall poor performance, Lenovo has still not gained the mindshare or the respect that the ThinkPads command. In fact, it has, to some extent, alienated ThinkPad's fans and taken a sales hit. In my immediate vicinity, those who owned ThinkPads have now traded up to an HP or a Toshiba. None of them went back to their ThinkPads. After asking for a clarification, I was told, "Who wants to buy things from a Chinese company?" That said, our corporate parent has continued to buy/use Thinkpads; the ones that I've seen do just fine, and they've added new machines and a parternership with AMD.

Comments

Re:misconception

[dhruvx]

This is their own doing. In the zeal to become the manufacturing giant, they compromized quality and their brand value. The Chinese government does nothing to stop its companies from dumping, smuggling cheap goods on other countries. It fails to punish companies manufacturing duplicate goods of big brands. The end result is that people dont trust a Chinese manufacturer however good they may be.

What you sow is what you reap. I don't think Chinese brands will ever be able to get respect / following as other brands. I personally am for banning trade with China unless it stops its unfair trade practices. It needs to make its businessmen more accountable.