U.S. Approves IBM/Lenovo Sale 217
MartinB writes with the "Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review result: unanimous approval for the sale to go ahead, with no further external approvals needed. No compromises were required over the location of Lenovo facilities in sensitive research areas, nor were limits put on Lenovo's ability to sell PCs to U.S. agencies."
No biggie... (Score:5, Insightful)
In truth, most all of the materials are now made in China, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, etc.
So in such light PC and component manufacturering really doesn't pose a "security" risk. Which is what this was ALL about.
The jobs aren't there to begin with...so no worry over loss of jobs moving to China.
Re:sweet now we can be owned by china (Score:3, Insightful)
You don't have to be Carnac to guess most motherboards, CD drives, DVD drives, PSUs, cabinets and wiring is already being manufactured in the PRC.
Chances are the keyboard and mouse you used in your posting, as well as the screen you are viewing, came from there as well.
i for one welcome our new Lenoverlords!
Re:I blame Bush (Score:5, Insightful)
In the larger market sense it may or may not be a good thing, but that certainly depends on your POV. However, I disagree with the prevailing sentiment here that all mergers are inherently evil and motivated by monopolistic greed. Sometimes the logistical considerations are such that a merger can benefit everyone.
wow, anti-globalisation theme day on slashdot (Score:5, Insightful)
China and Taiwan ~already~ mass-produce the vast majority of systems components, their final assembly was pretty much the only remaining domestic manufacturing process. Also, IBM is being VERY wise in this regard, cashing in a unit that has very little future projected revenue growth and miniscule profit margins, and will gain the capital for some future expansion. PCs are a commodity business, and with the exception of Dell are probably a loss-leader for most companies now (e.g. IBM, HP/Compaq).
This is a wise business move by IBM, and it was wise for the US gov't to involve themselves in the sale. The technology is 20+ years old, the industry is commoditised, and its all open-standards based... there is no strategic threat here.
I should explain.. (Score:5, Insightful)
The only way to make money in the PC biz is by selling directly to consumers, bypassing the supply chain of stores, merchants, etc. But this conflicts with, among other things, IBM's consulting business which relies upon dealing with people, building relationships, rubbing backs, etc., etc.
HP faces a similar problem. The only way for them to make money in the PC biz is to sell directly to consumers. But this conflicts with their need for pushing printers and printer supplies which requires using the supply chain.
Instead HP is shedding money with their PC selling business and not doing so well in the printer biz. Good job Carly! But I digress.
Let the Chinese have the fun task of competing head on with Dell, IBM will do what they do best.
American Manufacturing : RIP (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Wow, I'm moving to China (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, they probably don't actually use MSG in all the restaurants over there. You will probably notice the food looks a bit more rustic than the local Ho-Lee Chow [holeechow.com] or a can of La Choy.
The BBC has been carrying a number of analysis articles on China, where the economy is booming and where it isn't. Still shooting for 7% growth this year and they'll probably make it, while the rest of the world scrambles to sell them raw materials. Notice mining and steel companies are suddenly hot items?
Re:Strange that (Score:3, Insightful)
Why the naysayers? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I should explain.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Shell Games (Score:5, Insightful)
America never really got globalisation right... (Score:1, Insightful)
Look at them now. Sure they got cheap labor and upturned local markets everywhere, but globalisation is distributing the riches from the first world countries right down to the poorer nations. They never really figured that out quite rightly.
Yes, yes, the people in control are of course getting richer but the avg guy is actually earning less. Also this phenomenon is so apparent local America. It's pathetic how anywhere you go in the US you get the same Denny's, Mac, BK, TacoB, OG, etc... In most of the places, the local cuisines and restaurants are all dead. Most American downtowns are going that way too. A drive through them on the weekends portrays them as ghost towns literally.
My point? ThinkPads are definately going in the drain. 20 years ago most garments sold in the US were made here. Most stores guaranteed them. Today you see no-one guarantees anything because everyones is unsure of who's pulling what outta whose arse. That's what's gonna happen with Lenovo too.
Re:I should explain.. (Score:2, Insightful)
IBM makes a great deal of their PC sales through business/government contracts in which X machines are purchased and supported for X number of years.
Their business image has faded in late and their contracts have migrated to other vendors. I provide hardware support within a large corporation. Our IBM contract was nixed a long time ago for Dell whom has served us much better.
IBM... China can keep 'em
Peguins in Mao Jackets (Score:3, Insightful)
The funniest irony of all was that the PC Division, that rathole they poured billions down which rarely if ever made a profit finally made a huge chunk of change selling itself off and as a result those employees are getting the largest bonuses in the company, on a division by division basis. Lesson learned? Fuck your business up until someone buys it at firesale prices then claim a huge a victory, rake in your pile of cash. All the other IBM divisions should learn from this.
Re:Wow, I'm moving to China (Score:2, Insightful)
I traveled to China recently. I'll say this: Chinese food in the USA is nothing like real Chinese food.
I particularly remember some sweet/sour chicken I got there. In the US, you get these pretty nuggets of white meat and sauce on them. In China, you get... well pretty much the whole chicken. It's like the took the whole thing (minus the feathers and major organs) and chucked it into a shredder. Spinal cord and all.
It was an odd experience.
One of the best meals I had there was Kangaroo Tail.
Folks don't seem to understand what was sold... (Score:1, Insightful)
Shortly after that the manufacturing moved out of country.
The Lenovo deal transfers those serfs known as engineers, product testers, and world wide tech support from IBM to the new company.
It remains to be seen if the engineering and product support are shipped off to China.
My POV (Score:5, Insightful)
1. They sell a branch of the company that was often losing money for cold hard cash.
2. They get 19% of a Chinese company, giving them a way past China's trade barriars. They get a headstart on everyone else providing high end technology services to a booming Chinese economy that lacks said expertese and has the means to pay for it. Meanwhile HP languishes under two divisions of PC manufacturing (HP & Compaq.) Way to go Carly
3. Did I mention that this gives IBM a way to sell products and services to the Chinese? Potentially billions to be made before the Chinese technology providers mature to IBM's level. (Note: I'm not saying that China lacks intelligent people, it's just that the US/Western world has spents decades longer training thousands more techs. It won't take them long to catchup though.)
4. If the US screws up their economy too bad IBM has a lifeline! I really hope that letting the dollar fall in value helps with the trade gap and makes it possible for US manufacturing to pick back up. I do not think that the US economy will crash in 10 or 20 years. I do worry that it will crash in 50 to 100 years. I also fear that the US will decide the best thing to do is plunder a few countries via conquest with their surplus military equipment
The Romans were so confident in their legions that they stopped inovating. After all, they conquered everyone worth conquering, right? Wrong, they got beat by wandering nomads who actually fought differently than the Romans were used to: how dare they?! Western based companies, often spear headed by American companies, have dominated the economy for fifty years now, but people are starting to play by their own rules. Will they be able to compete or will the 'barbarians' decimate their legions with unorthodox tactics. I honestly hope something in the middle happens