[ltp] IBM PC dept. sale - it's official...

[ash]

http://news.com.com/IBM+sells+PC+group+to
+Lenovo/2100-1042_3-5482284.html?tag=st_lh

(apologies for the huge link)

TP-specific extracts:

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Lenovo will be the preferred supplier of PCs to IBM and will be allowed
to use the IBM brand for five years under an agreement that includes the
"Think" brand...

IBM sells to the cream of the corporate crop and often to customers who
have invested heavily in IBM services and software. Its flagship
ThinkPad notebooks come with novel design features like fingerprint
readers for additional data security and hard drives that can survive a
6-foot drop...

In China, IBM manufactures ThinkPad notebook models in a joint venture
with Lenovo arch-rival Great Wall Technology...

One IBM customer said that as long as products such as the ThinkPad
follow familiar paths, he will stay happy. "We tend to base our
decisions on quality control, features and functionality," said Shawn
Nunley, director of technology development for NetScaler, in San Jose,
Calif. "So if it's the same product, where it's coming from probably
won't make a huge difference. However, if they go the commoditization
route...and it's no longer the ThinkPad way, then it might change my
view." 

For Steve Evans, vice president of information systems for the PGA Tour,
sticking with IBM will depend on the details of the transaction and how
much of the new company would be concentrated nearby. The PGA buys
ThinkPads, servers and other IBM hardware.

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Fingers crossed, then...

-- 
ash <ash@kgbspy.org>