As Rivals Outsource, Lenovo Keeps Production In-House

A good read, thought some here might find it interesting.

 

Great article, thanks for sharing. It's nice to see a company that actually cares - I've used computers from Apple, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard and nothing touches the ThinkPad in terms of quality (in my opinion).

 

Definitely an interesting behind the scenes read, thanks for sharing. I still hear many people using IBM when they actually mean Lenovo. It's been several years now but in the U.S. it's still an unfamiliar brand name even though they're top three in the world at selling PCs. Tough going to market the brand when it has no name recognition.

 

it's not just your opinion, lenovo has been ranked top in reliability,

1. Lenovo/IBM (281)
2. Toshiba (190)
3. Samsung (156)
4. Apple (151)
5. Asus (126)
6. HP/Compaq (100)
7. Dell (68)
8. Sony (64)
9. Acer (40)


2012 Computer Reliability Report: Lenovo Most Reliable, Acer Least Reliable, Apple Declined | Connecticut Consumer Advocate Protector Watchdog | Ct Consumer Complaints |Ct consumer Protection | Ct Advocate | Ct Consumer

and the same in 2011

2011 Computer Reliability Reports: Lenovo, Asus On Top | Connecticut Consumer Advocate Protector Watchdog | Ct Consumer Complaints |Ct consumer Protection | Ct Advocate | Ct Consumer

 

I was under the impression Lenovo uses Foxconn and another assembly company for ThinkPads.

 

Not the thinkpads...maybe the ideapads. Pretty sure I read somewhere the upcoming Lenovo smartphone was going to be built by foxconn as well

 

FWIW, DELL also builds in house. Its actually doesn't matter where or by whom its built, the key is quality control.

 

from:
PC giant Lenovo rises to challenge Hewlett-Packard in China - Companies & Industries - Morning Whistle - Latest chinese economic, financial, business, political and society news

"Even today, in the villages we use bicycles or donkey trolleys to ship products," said Yang Yuanqing, 48, chairman and chief executive of Lenovo, who once delivered HP computers on a bicycle. His competitors, he added, "don't know how to do business like that."

I want my thinkpad delivered in a donkey too!

 

That's not true--at least when it comes to laptops. Last I checked, Dell laptops are made by companies like Compal, Quanta and Arima (Inspiron, latitude and alienware, respectively).

 

My Thinkpad was built by Wistron, as I recall.

 

That was the other name I was trying to think of. Foxconn and Wistron. I'm not sure where the professional journalist at The Wall Street Journal got their information, but it isn't accurate. Lenovo doesn't build everything in house.

Unless of course Lenovo and the other companies are just fronts for the Chinese government.

Ducks and runs for cover.

 

not outsourcing ?
isnt lenovo a Chinese company who are they going to outsource too lol

all rivals who outsource like American companies dell or HP do soo because its too expensive

this article makes no sense to me

 

Actually, the article is misleading in more ways than one. Outsourcing is not the wrong term to describe Lenovo's business plan, but the reporter seems to have a poor grasp of its meaning. Result is that the reporter cannot identify what is being outsourced, especially after Lenovo acquired the TP brand from IBM. Outsourcing as the reporter means it more aptly describes what IBM had already started doing before it sold the TP brand to Lenovo, which, if I recall correctly, was already a contract manufacturer for IBM.

IBM had already begun to offshore the production of TPs in the days of the T3x and X3x series. My first two Thinkpads, a T20 and a T21 were made here in the US. By the time I ordered my third, an X31, production had moved to Mexico. And, when I ordered my fourth (an X60s), IBM had just announced that it was selling the TP brand to Lenovo. If you do a search on Thinkpadforums, you will find many posts from people wondering if TPs were on their way to the join the ranks of mediocrity when production has shifted to Mexico and then to China. By the time it acquired the TP brand, Lenovo was already a big player in China and what it was trying to do was acquire a global footprint by leveraging the brand and by acquiring the design, service and quality control knowhow from IBM. After the acquisition, the design teams continued to be based here and in Japan and its possible that that is still the case. TP support is still handled here in the US by IBM. If it is true that design is till based in the US and Japan, then it would be more accurate to view Lenovo as outsourcing design sources where there is such knowhow, while retaining ownership of the brand and of manufacturing (i.e. the reverse of what HP, Dell and Apple do, which is they design and own the brands they sell and service).

 

Yea, I know. That's why I was so shocked to read the rubbish in the article.

Journalism isn't what it used to be.

 

the production plant in mexico was making thinkpads long before you bought your first.   they were never exclusively made in the US.   you'll find plenty of 700, 701C, 560, 570, 600, 750, 760, 765, and 770 systems with "made in mexico" on the bottom sticker.   you were simply at the right place at the right time to get two US-made T20 and T21 systems since many of those came from mexico as well.

'20 and '30 series thinkstation systems for the western market are assembled in mexico.   not everything is made in china.

 

^^^ erik: Are the plants in Mexico (and, in general, other than China) still in operation?

 

for thinkstation, yes.   lots of changes are in the works so i suspect the buzz about making things in-house across the globe will eventually be clarified.   the article is slightly awkward but probably rings true in more ways than the pundits may think.

 

You could tell us, but then you'd have to shoot us.

 

took the words right out of my mouth. But on a different note, since we are talking about Lenovo, it might be interesting for some to read this article on Lenovo's predecessor IBM and specifically the IBM PS/2: The IBM PS/2: 25 Years of PC History | PCWorld

I can't vouch for the accuracy of the article, but reading it brought back memories of the sound and feel of the old IBM keyboards.

 

Yes, nothing touches Thinkpad's quality, I've got a faulty T510 after 1 year of usage... paid 1K. That was my last Thinkpad I bought.

 

This is a great article, any idea I'd it's still true? I'm speaking with reference to a slew of production and quality issues in Lenovo recently.

 

It wasn't true to begin with...

 

What is not true? On a side note, a couple days ago, Lenovo announced it was opening a manufacturing plant in North Carolina in the US, the announcement coming just a couple of days before we learned Lenovo is not the largest manufacturer of computer in the world, eclipsing HP

 

Being the biggest doesn't mean you are the best. Lenovo needs to take some of those profits and invest them in more engineering and support. The number of issues that remain unresolved from the Sandy Bridge machines isn't trivial. The issues with the Ivy Bridge machines are starting to group up. So far defects have forced motherboard replacements in the T430, T430s and now W530. Then there's the newly minted X1 Carbon.

Maybe the American's in North Carolina will do better. It couldn't do much worse than China.

 

No, it certainly does not --bigger does not mean best. In fact, I would argue Lenovo is suffering from growing pains and the quality has indeed slipped since being number one seems to be a goal of the company.

I just didn't understand what you were saying.

Does that mean Lenovo is crap (now that they are number 1)? No. I still prefer the Lenovo laptop line to most others, but I do think they slipped a little in the past three years.

Still, I like they are moving some production to the US....

 

The motherboards, keyboards and LCDs still come from a variety of sources, pretty much the same as it was in the IBM days. Open up your ThinkPad and look for the Foxconn sticker by the RAM slots, most likely it's there...

They'll be expanding the custom shop which has been there three days short of forever. The parts used will still come from China, at least the vast majority of them.

Not that I don't appreciate the fact that some people will be able to get off the unemployment line thanks to this move, but it's nowhere near as big of a deal as some sources try to present it...

 

Are they crap? Nope. But the discussion earlier was around how they got to be number 1 when they clearly are having some growing pains. It seems the whole quality bar for PCs is lower across the board. How did they get to be number 1? Because everyone else is worse.

And yes, I am happy NC will be building machines. And I hope they prove to be better.