Why does Lenovo hate Europe?

It's called "CAPITALISM".
Supply and Demand.
Different taxation.
Etc.

I am sure that you can buy a Mercedes for less in Germany than in the US.

Every country/region of the world has lower or higher prices for different commodities.

 

Hello Bashar,
if they do not provide the world wide shipping you are right. The problem is that this way you should pay for both of US and Kuwait taxes. but if you purchase it directly to the Kuwait (if they provide worldwide shipping and probably in greater price than mail forwarding) you will be paid for just the Kuwait taxes. maybe this way, I mean bypassing US taxes will be cheaper. Am I write or not.

 

The other thing is availability. I mean we in Europe are loaded with cash and generally rich as f*** (especially since the financial meltdown in US) so we can easily pay 30-40% premium, no problem...

But there's a good few months delay in availability of new Thinkpads in Europe. X200s with 1440x900 screen is still to come to Europe and it's on sale in US for a while now...

I mean, come on...

 

The same model costs $3500 US in Brazil.

So, I guess I should open a topic named "Why does Lenovo hate Brazil?"

 

Hah, I just ordered my T500 from Germany, because it is way cheaper than in Denmark.. and you say the prices in Germany are insane.

 

Tax is paid for people who live in USA, i dont live in USA

plus there is no tax on purchases in kuwait

i believe its country related thing

 

Yes, but it may be cheaper for you to just pay the tax and use the mail forwarding rather than have it sent directly to Kuwait. However, you should keep in mind that this will mean you have to use that forwarding service again if you need to return it for repairs.

 

haha.. you are cativo

 

true

asfsadfsafasdfsafdasf

 

I think as srunni said if you want to use the mail forwarding service, so you should pay the US tax because it is shipped to US first. if you want to skip the US taxes you should have it shipped directly to Kuwait and it is more expensive.

 

You're right, but what's puzzling is the relative price of Thinkpads compared with other notebooks. I mean, a t400 (2.4GHz, ati 3470) in Italy cost almost double than an HP 6530b(2.26GHz, x4500) - (1599€ vs 845€ on eprice.it)

I understand it's not comparing apples with apples, that there are different marketing strategies, that Lenovo don't sell directly in Europe, but, still...

 

In which case you make the decision as a consumer to forgo the thinkpad for an HP. It is lenovo's "loss." Their pricing structure might be screwed up to you, but if they could profit more with a lower price and greater quantity, they would. So if truly if their pricing structure is obtuse and they could be more profitable, they will eventually change their pricing to react to the market.

 

Be careful the b-series of HP have an issue - no downgrading to XP.
The T series are simply no go in Europe right now. Where I am(Central Europe) T400 with P8600, Ati 3470 and non-led WXGA+ screen is 2100$ and
T500 with P8400, X4500 and non-led WXGA screen is 1850$....give me a break.
Are those new thinkpads made of precious metals or something???
Reading the forum I find that the business models of most brands have problems:
Dell E-series - sound (seems common for all new Dell series....)
Lenovo T-series - you know better
HP Elitebook - power adapter whine and downgrade issues.
....
Lottary with LG and Samsung screens is in all brands.
The result is that the cheaper notebook at the moment - the better. At least I want be furious about having expensive notebook that has a dozen issues. I will probably go with R-series.

 

That's from official sources. Of course everyone here in China knows that you can get them for the same prices as the US and that the X200 is cheaper than the T400. I think one of the cheapest T/X series notebooks was around 7000 rmb for a decently-spec'ed machine.

 

Well, try to get a Lenovo from Japan... You will perform a Harakiri on yourself in no time! Overpriced, no configurable, no special discounts...

 

Just import your TP from the US. I've done it, I let my friends import theirs and will import one myself the next time.

 

I second "supply and demand" - plus it's maybe just stupidity from Lenovo. They don't seem to have the guts to do something to increase their market share here (I live in Germany btw). I mean lowering prizes will increase market share given the positive feedbacks the Lenovos often get (and I'd say this is in some way or another especially true for Germany). But they are nowhere near competetive pricewise in the "direct" market (IDK how this would be called in actual financial terms).

What I mean by "competetive on the direct market": You hardly actually see a Lenovo in the shops here, and if you see one it's so overprized that only a few would really consider it an option.

But companies can actually get competetive prizes if they settle a custom configuration and make a deal with Lenovo (remind you, there is no CTO available in Germany otherwise). For another example the austrian universities (which participate of the u-book program) configure their own machines and make a deal at the beginning of each semester.

I was quite stunned: Austrian students can get a very good configured LED backlit T400 for 1050€ (including tax, 3years warranty, T9400 etc) - here in Germany Lenovo sells an equally (but still less speced) T400 for a premium of 1650€ - WITH "student discount". Now really, that thing is more like a sitting hen in the stores than it has anything to do with capitalism.

I have thought myself they would do something to be more competetive with the new lines at first, but I was wrong. I'll buy my next machine from the US (again). That saves me (including tax) round about 46 boxes of fines Augustiner Edelstoff beer, or 90 boxes cheap ALDI beer

 

There is a hope... Dell has been offering configurable notebooks (CTO) in EU for some time now.
If Dell succeeds in this business the other will follow...

 

But still, some parts of Dell stink compared to Lenovo's.

Like the onboard RAM on the 12" Latitudes.

 

Interesting this mail forwarding services. Does anyone know what's the cheapest online store right now for a X200 and X2000s?

 

Lenovo is selling ThinkPads in the US for unbelievably low prices. I guess they have to because of price war with HP and Dell here.

 

I just came across this thread, and I have the same problem with Lenovo. I live in Norway, and everything is expensive here. Some on this thread mentioned price difference on cars, and just for fun I could give you an example. I see Porche Cayenne Turbo S has an estimated price at around
$100 000 in USA. In Norway it has an estimated price at around $350 000. The price is that high because the Norwegian Government has extremly high taxes on cars with large engines.


Take a look at these speccs as an example on the price difference (Norway vs USA).
Lenovo T400:

Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9400 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)
Genuine Windows Vista Business
14.1 WXGA TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight, Camera
ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 with 256MB
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN)
Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
6 cell Li-Ion Battery

Price at Lenovo's website in USA: $ 1112.65 (before VAT)

Price at Amentio's website in Norway (which recently won an award for being Norway's cheapest internet store): $ 2912.03 (after MVA)

MVA is Norway's equivalent to VAT, just that MVA = 25 %.

 

Assuming that the cost differentials cannot be explained by importing costs (tax differences, import duties, tariffs, et al.) alone, it might be possible that Lenovo is setting the prices artificially high in some markets in order to protect resellers in that market. The resellers may be demanding a certain markup, and Lenovo may either mark-up their direct prices to the same level (in order not to undercut a reseller or distributor) or perhaps mark-up their prices to ABOVE those of the reseller/distributor/importer so as to not take away sales from said reseller and encourage people to instead buy from the reseller.

That's just an idea and idle speculation. I have no idea if Lenovo has territorial resellers to protect. I have seen these practices for other goods and services. It may not be that manufactures hate Europe. It could simply be that manufactures like resellers more.

 

Hi,
this is the price list of lenovo italy. I have always bought lenovo in Usa or Canada. My last t61p t9500 has been bought in canada for 1400 USD (1000€) S & H included.
Thanks fan263 (seller's ebay)