Tag Archives: Dell

COMPUTERS: 10 Years After IBM Buy, Lenovo Looks For New Relevance

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Bottom line: Lenovo has done remarkably well since defying skeptics with its landmark IBM PC buy a decade ago, and could stand a 50-50 chance of remaining relevant a decade from now in the fast-changing world of high-tech gadgets.

Lenovo celebrates a decade since landmark IBM buy

Global PC leader Lenovo (HKEx: 992) is commending itself on how far it has come since its landmark purchase of IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) PC business 10 years ago, setting it on a path that has made it the world’s top computer seller. (company announcement) I’ll admit I was a skeptic at the time of the IBM deal in 2005, and have become much more bullish on Lenovo since then. Still, the company hasn’t completely convinced me that it has the necessary skill and vision to move past its global PC crown, which is fast becoming yesterday’s news as traditional computers rapidly lose ground to newer devices like smartphones and tablets.

Before I look at the challenges that Lenovo is facing, I want to start by personally congratulating the company on its huge accomplishments over the last decade since it announced it would purchase IBM’s storied PC business for $1.25 billion. I and many others predicted at the time that Lenovo could stumble badly with the move, since it had no experience at running such a major foreign business that was clearly in decline and need of restructuring. Read Full Post…

CELLPHONES – Xiaomi Nets New Western Exec From Spotify

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Bottom line: Improved working environments are allowing Chinese tech firms to compete with multinationals for top talent, a template that state-run firms and other industries would be wise to follow.

Xiaomi attracts top exec from Spotify

Fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi made headlines last week when it lured away a top western executive from European online music streaming giant Spotify by offering him an attractive new job at its Beijing headquarters. The move marks the latest in a stream of high-profile defections by technology executives from comfortable jobs at major western firms to join up-and-coming Chinese names like Xiaomi and Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU).

The movement reflects a maturation for China’s fast-growing high-tech sector, whose rapid rise and improving working conditions are making companies more competitive with big western names traditionally preferred by many highly-skilled workers. But the trend is still limited mostly to China’s private high-tech sector, and is largely absent in state-run firms and other industries. Read Full Post…

Lenovo’s New IBM Deal: Deja Vu?

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Lenovo buys IBM server unit

While reading reports about Lenovo’s (HKEx: 992) new blockbuster deal to buy IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) low-end server business for $2.3 billion, I felt a strange and unusual lack of enthusiasm from Lenovo’s usually upbeat Chairman Yang Yuanqing. Yang never met a reporter he didn’t like, and he loves to talk about Lenovo’s big hopes and dreams at every opportunity he can get. Yet in the reports I read, this talkative chief executive was decidedly low-key and not extremely bullish on this new mega-deal, his company’s largest and the biggest ever tech acquisition by a Chinese firm. Perhaps that’s because he senses trouble ahead as his company tries to integrate and promote a business whose slowing growth was the main reason IBM desperately wanted to sell the unit. Read Full Post…

Lenovo Eyes IBM Servers, Jumps In Japan

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Lenovo still chasing IBM servers

After more than a half year of silence, Lenovo’s (HKEx: 992) dream to buy the low-end server business of IBM (NYSE: IBM) is suddenly back in the headlines, in a development that I predicted quite a while ago based on the fact that both sides really want to do this deal. The first time around saw the talks founder and ultimately stall due to disagreement on price. But such a deal makes so much sense for both sides that it’s almost inevitable that it will happen, which leads me to believe that we could see announcement of a preliminary agreement sometime in the first or second quarter. Meantime, Lenovo is also seeing a positive development on the Japan front, where its 3-year-old PC joint venture with local partner NEC (Tokyo: 6701) is doing better than expected. Read Full Post…

HP New China Push Set To Sputter

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HP overhauls China ops

Perhaps struggling former global PC leader Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) has finally straightened its house, or perhaps it senses that rival Lenovo (HKEx: 992) has become distracted with its recent push into smartphones. Whatever the reason, HP appears to be gearing up for a new push into China, with its announcement of a newly created China chairman position which is being filled with a tech industry veteran. Such a move implies an overhaul of HP’s China operations, and is certainly long overdue for a company whose share of China’s PC market has dropped sharply in the last few years. But the move also looks like too little too late, amid a global trend that has seen PC sales fall sharply due to the rising popularity of smaller devices like tablet PCs and smartphones. Read Full Post…

Lenovo Bid Likely For BlackBerry But Unwise

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Lenovo bid for BlackBerry looks likely

As we get bombarded with a slew of quarterly reports from the likes of NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) and Tencent (HKEx: 700) about their health in the present, I want to turn my attention to the future with a look at an interesting report on potential Chinese suitors for tumbling smartphone maker BlackBerry (Toronto: BB). The report that caught my attention mentions PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992) and telecoms equipment maker Huawei as 2 leading candidates to buy BlackBerry, which formally put itself up for sale earlier this week. Read Full Post…

Dell Suffers China Identity Crisis

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Dell shifts China strategy

The recent turmoil at struggling PC maker Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) is spilling over into its operations in China, where the company’s president has just resigned even as a top Asia executive discusses a new strategic direction for the market. All of this comes against a broader backdrop that saw global PC sales post their worst drop in history during the first quarter, as more consumers switched off their computers in favor of smaller and more convenient tablet computers and smartphones. Read Full Post…

News Digest: April 12, 2013

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Yum (NYSE: YUM) Says Bird Flu Hits China April Sales; March Down (English article)
  • Commerce Dept Finds Chinese Solar Importers Evading Duties (Businesswire)
  • Games Contribute 88 Pct of China Mobile (HKEx: 941) App Store Revenues (English article)
  • ICBC (HKEx: 1398) Announces Completion of Buy-Back By Central Huijin (HKEx announcement)
  • Dell (NYSE: DELL) Greater China President Yang Chao Resigns (Chinese article)

Lenovo M&A Addiction Targets Sharp 联想或收购夏普南京电视机工厂

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Despite his recent promises that he wouldn’t pursue any new major M&A, Lenovo (HKEx: 992) chief Yang Yuanqing appears to be addicted to purchasing global assets, as reflected by the latest news that he is exploring a potential new tie-up with struggling Japanese electronics maker Sharp (Tokyo: 6753). I’ve previously said that Yang’s addiction to M&A will result in some major challenges for Lenovo in the next few years, as it faces the difficult task of integrating various recently acquired assets in such diverse markets as Japan, Brazil and Germany.

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Lenovo’s PC Crown: Tough to Defend 联想个人电脑皇冠：强力捍卫

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The headlines today are filled with reports trumpeting Lenovo’s official ascension to the top of the global PC rankings, as the company officially passed longtime champion Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) to become the world leading computer seller. So now the next question is: What’s does it mean? Unfortunately, the answer could be “Not much,” as PCs get set to embark on a long-term decline that will ultimate see them go the same way as record players and VCRs as they get replaced by more nimble mobile devices. Over the shorter term, Lenovo will also have to show it has the power to stay at the top before it can claim true bragging rights as the world’s biggest PC seller — a challenge that could be tough for reasons I’ll explain shortly.

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HP: Abandoning China PC Market? 惠普能否继续在中国PC市场走下去？

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New data is showing that Hewlett-Packard’s (NYSE: HPQ) share of China’s PC market continued to plummet at the end of last year, a worrisome development for a company that is at once the world’s biggest computer brand but also seems unable to decide on its future direction in a PC market that will soon overtake the US to become the world’s largest. According to the latest data from IDC, HP’s share of the China PC market tumbled to 5.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, down from 8.5 percent in the second quarter, which was down from double-digits not long before when the company was one of China’s top players. (English article) The steep drop means that HP is just barely a top-5 player in China, with the latest data placing it behind market leader Lenovo (HKEx: 992), followed by Taiwan’s Acer (Taipei: 2353), US rival Dell (NYSE: DELL) and up-and-comer Taiwan’s Asustek (Taipei: 2357). HP’s rapid decline is due in no small part to confusion at the company’s headquarters over its future direction, following the departure of its widely respected CEO Mark Hurd in 2010 amid a scandal involving personal matters. Since then the company has announced plans to sell its core PC business last year, only to change its mind months later and force out the new CEO who made the decision. Such turbulence in the company’s top ranks is clearly not good for its longer term prospects, and its rapid fall in China is clearly an alarming sign as the country, already the world’s second largest PC market, prepares to overtake the US in the next few years to become the world’s biggest. Of course, many will argue that PCs could soon become an obsolete product anyhow, and that it’s more important to focus on next-generation products like smartphones and tablet PCs, which are more mobile and can perform many functions of PCs. But HP looks weak even in these 2 categories, and it’s probably fair to say its limited line of smartphones and tablet PCs are virtually unknowns in China. It’s probably too early to say HP is destined to become a non-player in China, as the company may finally be entering a new period of stability after the turbulence of the last 2 years. But unless it changes its game plan soon, it faces the very real risk of becoming a non-player in China, and ultimately losing its spot as the top global PC brand to the more focused Lenovo.

Bottom line: HP’s rapid fall in the China market reflects a broader turbulence at the company, which could result in its removal from the market if it doesn’t sharpen its focus soon.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Lenovo Considers Dangerous HP Computer Bid 联想应慎购惠普PC业务

◙ Acer Trips, Lenovo Next? 联想应避免重蹈宏基覆辙

◙ Lenovo Takes Backward Step With Compal JV 联想和仁宝合资建厂为倒退举动