TianPad? Yup. With the recently buyout IBM PC businesss unit by Lonovo (was Legend) China, therefore it’s only months away before the beloved IBM ThinkPad will vanished from the marketplace and rename something funny.
IBM PC Business is a long story doomsayers says. Started with AMBRA also in US Market and Lexmark for printing business. Now each one is up for sale, with the momentum of IBM Exit Strategy in PC Business which no longer feasible (in IBM’s eyes). Yes the PC business has created a mass destruction in driving the wackiest and craziest price competition over the years. The big margin is gone, and now everything count only in cents. Evenworse IBM PC Business unit is steadily loosing and loosing (while IBM sells only 75,000 PC/years, Compaq-HP happily sells at 2,000,000 rates).
But the real different is ThinkPad. ThinkPad is a market leader and most succesfull brand IBM ever created in its PC Business Unit. It is a second to Toshiba in term of volume of sales. It’s huges. It really successful so it drives the every “Think” campaign, from ThinkCenter to ThinkVision. So by selling the whole PC Business it will make the ThinkPad brand goes away to Lonovo along with the rest of IBM PC business assets.
When we’re talking about IBM, it’s a really complex organisation. Louis Gerstner has pulled it out from doomsday real good, and now it’s up to Sam (Palmisano) to continue the leadership.
When we’re talking about IBM PC Business dooms, we knows that there’s few thing that keep it out from customers and steadily failing:
1. They are stiffs. Black. Boring. Boxy. Black is debatable, some can say black is beautiful. Just like ThinkPad. But when we’re talking of overall IBM “aura” then we know IBM is promoting it’s “not-moving-an-inch” from those black-and-brick company. This thing is not compelling to home users. That’s why only corporate love to use IBM PC (even worse when we’re talking about PC there’s a lot of choice can be make, HP-Compaq, Dell, etc).
2. IBM PC Business People just so uncreative. Read my lips. So “corporate” that they don’t belong to PC Business which steadily grows and innovate (in everyways, sometimes an advertisement can even consider an “innovation” by competition).
Don’t get me wrong. I once work for Lotus Corporation (IBM Subsidiary), in my observation, Lotus is more jazzy that IBM, since they are smaller and start from different corporate culture. IBM People is so “corporate” that they are more belongs in high profile of Consulting Business than a computer business. Dell is an example of company that has no innovation at all but rather a company that worry about every single dime they spend. IBM is far from that’s why there’s no way IBM can compete with Dell and HP/Compaq in PC business.
So what’s next? Will IBM buys Apple so it can have a best of best marriage (OS X Server/Client and access to PowerPC business)? Chip business has proven a real Mecca for Intel by setting up a high margin for each chips its sells.
I don’t know. I don’t give a damn about this thing since I got my own company to take care 😛 The only thing I’m worrying about now is a TianPad replacement, hmm I’m still considering PowerBook or Vaio TR series…. tik tok tik tok…
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