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    Why did IBM spin off their PCs?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by Whistler, Jun 30, 2006.

  1. Whistler

    Whistler Notebook Guru

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    Sorry if this has been discussed to death before but I'm just curious why IBM sold off their PC division to Lenovo... I remember growing up and using 8086s and stuff, always IBM. It will be weird to see the IBM name start to dissapear in the next few years...
     
    Whistler, Jun 30, 2006
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  2. seanlee

    seanlee Notebook Enthusiast

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    IBM/Thinkpad will be here b4 year 2010 at least.
    also, just FYI, although lenovo is producing thinkpad now, to merge thinkpad division, lenovo sold most of their stuck to IBM, thus made IBM controls majority of lenovo's stock. so it is very likely lenovo becomes IBM PC division (lenovo controls majority of PC production in Asia, which is a much more promising market than the already matured Europe/North America market), and thinkpad will be under lenovo's name even after year 2010 (since IBM now is the owner of lenovo).
    hope that answers your question.
     
    seanlee, Jun 30, 2006
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  3. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    Because they were not making any money on it. IBM is now mainly a services company. It seemed short sighted to me, but what do I know.
     
    ZaZ, Jun 30, 2006
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  4. Nooorm

    Nooorm Notebook Consultant

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    This is some of the most erroneous crap I've ever read.

    Read this: http://www.lenovo.com/lenovo/us/en/

    Lenovo is a multi-billion dollar company who paid $1.3B for IBM's PC division...mostly the Thinkpad brand. As part of the deal, IBM received 15% of Lenovo's stock as part of the deal...but I read recently IBM is selling that earlier than planned.

    All of the people who worked at IBM in the PC division moved over to Lenovo. Lenovo is building their new corporate headquarters in north carolina.
    http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2005/10/24/daily32.html
     
    Nooorm, Jun 30, 2006
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  5. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    I still get a kick everytime I see ZaZ' avatar -- its so perfect !!! :)
     
    wearetheborg, Jun 30, 2006
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  6. jagged

    jagged Notebook Consultant

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    I also wonder why IBM sold the PC division too. Since IBM Thinkpads had a good reputation for quality, I thought it was one of the profitable divisions for IBM.

    I've always admired and even dreamed of working in IBM as a kid (but couldnt cuz local IBM here didn't even give me a chance to take their entrance exam hehe). It is quite sad to know that one of pioneers of the modern PC wasn't able to capitalize on this business before (unlike Microsoft), and then selling their PC business now to another company.

    Kinda like an end to an era for me. :(
     
    jagged, Jul 1, 2006
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  7. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    If a typical ThinkPad is going for $1500 you got Dell and HP squeezing every penny out of the manufacturing process. Since the specs look relatively the same the typical consumer only sees that the Dell and HP cost less. The areas where the ThinkPads shines are hard to quantify and don't show up well on the spec sheet.
     
    ZaZ, Jul 1, 2006
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