Lenovo & Customer Perception 472
music_lover writes "According to this article, Lenovo is losing current ThinkPad series customers to HP, Toshiba and other notebook vendors because of customer perception. Apparently, customers don't feel comfortable purchasing from a Chinese PC manufacturer now that the ThinkPad brand isn't supported by IBM anymore. Could this really be perception? Quote: "Despite the overall poor performance, Lenovo has still not gained the mindshare or the respect that the ThinkPads command. In fact, it has, to some extent, alienated ThinkPad's fans and taken a sales hit. In my immediate vicinity, those who owned ThinkPads have now traded up to an HP or a Toshiba. None of them went back to their ThinkPads. After asking for a clarification, I was told, "Who wants to buy things from a Chinese company?" That said, our corporate parent has continued to buy/use Thinkpads; the ones that I've seen do just fine, and they've added new machines and a parternership with AMD.
misconception (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:misconception (Score:4, Insightful)
This may not be strictly true, but somehow I doubt that corporate accountability in China is better than that in the States...
Re:misconception (Score:3, Interesting)
You're close, but not quite on the mark.
What drives me crazy about Chinese products is that brand-names are a dime a dozen.
IBM would spend significant ammounts to make sure nothing associated with IBM is regarded as poor quality. The brand is worth a lot to them. To a lesser extent, the same is true of Dell, HP, etc.
Enter China. Start a company named "Apex", manufacture c
Re:misconception (Score:5, Interesting)
It's terrible to think that a great brand is going to go out of existence because of unwarranted xenophobia. Imagine if we're stuck with Dell!
Re:misconception (Score:3, Funny)
@*&^^^ NO CARRIER
Doubtful about quality. (Score:3, Insightful)
Some people take those issues very, very seriously
Re:misconception (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:misconception (Score:3, Interesting)
The experience of getting my Lenevo ThinkPad was actually much lamer, although the computer was designed by the same peop
Re:misconception (Score:5, Informative)
The short story is in this article, Lenovo cuts jobs in restructuring push [zdnet.com]: In short, they've dumped the US design teams for their desktop line, but retained the Thinkpad people (based in N.C.). However if I was working there, I think I'd be either polishing my resume or taking a Berlitz course in Cantonese.
If their marketshare in the US continues to slip, it's not hard to imagine that they'll cut the design teams here (which are probably expensive to operate, versus having a few people on the payroll in an office they already own in Hong Kong) and retreat to the Chinese domestic market. That's pretty much what they've already done with the desktop lineup; if, given a year or so, they don't make up the lost ground to Dell and HP with notebooks, I could see it happening there as well.
My fav features (Score:5, Insightful)
My last laptop (averatec) was the biggest piece of shit ever. It had a notorious power issue and Averatec refused to fix it (or even admit its a common problem). There was no documentation for taking it apart or its layout, and even when I got it apart and found the part to be replaced, Averatec won't sell you parts. I set out to find the perfect simple laptop...
It feels very solid. You can handle it pretty well and it doesn't feel like it's going to break. Not toughbook strength, but still very good. IBM still hosts giant manuals on their site for taking them apart. This was extremely important to me. It seemed like an admission that it's actually ok to take apart your laptop and service it yourself. It's very extensive. I love how there are only 5 screw sizes on the whole laptop and they are all marked. It's such a simple gesture, yet it helps SO MUCH. With my Averatec, I was left with a pile of screws that got mixed up and was impossible to get back together.
As I said, I've got a Levano and not an IBM version. I would say the quality is still there. If you are a corporate buyer, keep buying them until they give you a reason not to. I've had enough problems with Dell's and HP's to know jumping ship to them on a whim isn't going to make things any better.
Re:misconception (Score:3, Interesting)
But the contrast between Thinkpad and Dell et al is the price. Chinese made products are made because of the Wal-Mart Effect. If it's made in China it's got to be very low in price. But Thinkpads are still significantly more expensive than a Dell or HP. This isn't to say that the price difference is unjustified or unwarranted. But if you were to have these computers made by a German company (a country with a long standing perception of high quality engineering) then people would be more willing to have
Re:misconception (Score:3, Insightful)
What part of being made in China mandates that it be low price? Perception? Does a crap computer made by Germans somehow work better than a crap computer made by Chinese? Sure, maybe economic and social conditions over there encourage a "low quality, high volume" business plan, but I seriously doubt that the country as a whole
So, call me superficial (Score:2, Funny)
"Who wants to buy things from a Chinese company?" (Score:5, Insightful)
about 200 million Americans shopping in Wallmart ?
everybody has their price, just some can be bought for less
Re:"Who wants to buy things from a Chinese company (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:"Who wants to buy things from a Chinese company (Score:3, Informative)
Re:"Who wants to buy things from a Chinese company (Score:2)
Now they will do. They're just switching their market for premium-buyers to cheapskates, or somewhere in between.
In related news, they will be selling in Best-Buy. http://news.com.com/Lenovos+Best+Buy+deal+may+att
I guess it all makes sense for them.
That's the problem, in my uninformed opinion. (Score:4, Insightful)
On the other hand, that's exactly how America was 200 years ago. We undercut everyone with cheap, crappy goods thanks to our abundant workforce and raw supplies, and we built quality goods much later. China will eventually overcome this reputation once they've bootstrapped their economy and their own consumers become more sophisticated and demanding.
Then again, what do I know? I haven't shopped for PC notebooks recently, and I don't know if there's an actual quality decline in Thinkpads instead of a perceived problem due to national origin.
Because I say so (Score:5, Insightful)
Come on, guys.
Re:Because I say so (Score:3, Insightful)
Personally, i would only but an IBM laptop, no other machine approaches the quality (maybe apple). I hope they aren't going down the tubes, or I will need to get a T43 - the best of the pre-lenovo crop.
Re:Because I say so (Score:2)
Re:Because I say so (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Because I say so (Score:2)
Lenovo bought IBM's ThinkPad division.
None of my friends buy ThinkPads anymore.
No one wants to buy from a Chinese company. That's not sensible, but it's sensible.
Lenovo doesn't command the brand premium like IBM could.
Lenovo still has high prices, so they maybe might perhaps lose marketshare.
Please lower prices, please?
Quality still as good? (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyone else have a similar experience?
Re:Quality still as good? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Quality still as good? (Score:2)
Re:Quality still as good? - Or as bad? (Score:2, Informative)
The only positive comment is that the IBM unit is still technically useful running Linux, whereas the Gateway with the then new Windows 95 ceased to have any utility to me a full six months prior to the lease expiration - and I was doing Windows type custom coding for clients at that time.
Irony (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Irony (Score:5, Insightful)
--Mike
Re:Irony (Score:2)
ASUS in Taiwan with Power/MacBook shells coming from Japan, I believe.
My PowerBook 12" says "Assembled in China" if that means anything, but it can mean either one afaik. I've heard definite confirmation that the iBooks are made by ASUS (they recently got a contract for the iBook replacement, too), presumably Power/MacBooks come from the same place.
Re:Irony (Score:5, Interesting)
Would that make a difference? I tend to think so. IBM didn't rely on the ThinkPads for most of its revenue. As a result, there was a slow cycle of development where proven things were kept in the laptop and it hadn't changed in many major ways for years. Still black, still the same awesome keyboard, still the trackpoint.
Now with Lenovo, you have a hardware company that is keen on outperforming its rivals and being the biggest PC supplier. I haven't been considering a new laptop purchase, but from what I've seen on Lenovo's website, they are already adding gimmicky things like white marks on the top to indicate where various ports are, making bulky wide screen models, etc. How long til the built-in multi card readers, and blue neon lights all around the case? The risk is that with a reliance on the ThinkPad brand, and a market share to grow, the T line will start undergoing very short developmental cycles with lenovo throwing in any new ideea they think up and seeing how it works out, breaking what makes ThinkPads ThinkPads. At that point, you might as well get an HP.
Re:Irony (Score:3, Insightful)
Let's not forget about the fancy smancy Windows key they put on it.
Argh, the most worthless keys ever added to a keyboard. Whoever invented that complete waste of space that serves no purpose other than to diminish the size of the space/alt/control keys needs to be taken out back and beat to a pulp. Another tragedy of microsoft's innovation at work...
Re:Irony (Score:2)
IBM had a reputation for excelent service. Even if they told everybody their laptops were made by some Chinese company and could be bought without the label for half price, businesses would still have bought the IBM product because they want the support that comes with an IBM product. Perhaps Lenovo didn't realize that when they made their purchase? Either way, if they
Wait a minute... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Wait a minute... (Score:2, Informative)
Performance (Score:3, Interesting)
Its the same as it was when Thinkpad was still an IBM product, they were tight little systems with perhaps a few cool features (butterfly keyboard anyone?), but when it came to the actual performance of the machine, competitors always beat them and at a cheaper price too.
Now if this is still true or not, I'm not sure, but that is my "impression" of the Thinkpad brand still leftover from the old IBM days.
Re:Performance (Score:4, Interesting)
Now a 32 oz glass of tea into a T21 didn't fair nearly as well, but that's a lot of liquid. I was impressed I yanked the power cord in like 0.2 seconds but it kept running on that little thing called a battery.
Hard drive was fine though.
Slight Disclaimer: I work for em, and no matter what happens to them they get repaired, but so far I've not managed to do much to them that requires it, and I'm not gentle with my systems. I shudder to think if I treated the Dell, HPs or Toshibas (little while since I've used on of the Toshibas though). I see bits-o-plastic everywhere.
Perception (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Perception (Score:5, Insightful)
Lenovo. Well, this "new" (to American ears) Chinese company may have bought the ThinkPad name, but there no IBM. Nosireebob. We need something that stands for quality. A company that would never cut corners. A solid performer that believes in quality over raw profits. Those boys at Hewlett Packard have been around forever and I know that name. It must stand for a good product. So now that IBM, the venerable old company, is not producing laptops, we'll go with HP. Rock solid, I tell you. (Yes everything about HP is tongue in cheek...Thanks, Carly).
This has very little to do with xenophobia, and much to do with brand recognition.
I think you sum up my point well, "... I challenge anyone to find a laptop that isn't made primarily overseas." And yet, we buy them by the landfill-load. It's not about where they're made, it's about what name is on the cover. It's no different than the way be buy cars, clothes, appliances, and consumer electronics. Nobody would buy Lenovo bought Nike people woudn't buy Lenovo athletic shoes - even if they made them in the same Chinese factory.
Re:Perception (Score:2)
There's something to that. There's many companies out there that run Dell Desktops, Dell Servers, Dell Laptops
The Levano models come out, they're supposedly the same. But they aren't quite. The buttons are cheaper and fuglier. The lids are shiney rathe
Re:Perception (Score:3, Insightful)
Wow. I know that looks are subjective, but I've never heard anyone call a ThinkPad "ugly" or "clunky" before reading this (and a couple of other postings here -- but there are also a lot of people here who disagree with you).
I've got a T42, and it's sleek (pretty much the opposite of "clunky") and I really like the way it looks. I had a Dell before this -- now that was a clunky a
Re:Perception (Score:3, Informative)
> company where the profits of the entire laptop sale
> itself go to the company vs. the profits of the
> entire laptop sale go to the Chinese government.
Err, what are you on about? Lenovo is not owned by the Chinese government, nor does its profits go to the Chinese government (least nothing over and beyond what IBM would of had to pay when they owned them).
Your bosses seem a bit thick.
Re:Perception (Score:5, Informative)
Reality check: Lenovo IS government owned.
Re:Perception (Score:3, Informative)
No its not. They have 27% shares in it. Thats all.
Re:Perception (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/sep/15bspec.htm [rediff.com]
I do think that the U.S. government should retaliate against China's "no one may own more than 49% of a Chinese company" policy. On the other hand, the macroeconomist inside me tells me that is a stupid position.
*shrug*. . . . Who knows? I do know that the Chinese domestic market is far from a fair one.
MOD PARENT DOWN (Score:3, Informative)
Real data about Chinese Gov. ownership of Lenovo (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Perception (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Perception (Score:2)
i buy stuff made overseas all the time, but i think i speak for a lot of us when i say that all things being equal it makes sense to buy it from an american company. so the question is, these laptops were being sold by IBM and now they're being sold by Lenovo, were they getting sales before t
Re: (Score:2)
No change of perception (Score:3, Informative)
I know my company is still sticking to Thinkpads.. for the time being atleast.
Lenovo vs. HP (Score:4, Informative)
In contrast - I've had two HP's that I've had to ship back - one took 2 weeks to return, was still broken when I got it back - shipped it again - waited another two weeks, got it back again still broken, then a day later I got a 'new' refurbished laptop in the mail - no explanation.
Jim
It is misconception. (Score:3, Insightful)
Hope it is misconception. Why would anybody discard a product just because it is from some other country unless there are quality issues.
my $0.02.
PS: No I haven't RTFA. The site is slashdotted.
Re:It is misconception. (Score:2)
What about slavery issues?
TWW
Re:It is misconception. (Score:3, Insightful)
>place of a high quality Chinese product. But there are
>plenty of comparably or better built laptops in the
>domestic market.
Name one machine that has all its parts constructed and assembled in the USA, or if you have problems with that name one machine that has no parts in it that originated from China.
Re:It is misconception. (Score:3, Insightful)
and thats the state you are in now. Companies American in name only while most of the work is outsourced to other countries. It is only a matter of time before they start cutting out the middle man. Or worse the US no longer becomes viable to work in and they just up and move to the EU or another country.
After all am I going to buy a US laptop for $4000 or Chinese one for 1/10th the cost. Of course the US might start introducing protectionis
Re:It is misconception. (Score:3, Interesting)
- Why is the Chinese considered to be a "hostile entity"?
- The US trades with plenty of "opressive regimes", so who cares?
No difference n my opinion.... (Score:3, Insightful)
No, it's because Thinkpads suck (Score:2, Interesting)
Thinkpads have always sucked. They are ugly, heavy, and generally have less features than similarly priced notebooks from other makers. So why were they so good? I.B.M. You had the reputation of IBM behind each one. It didn't matter that these things looked like they were slapped together from parts scrounged off of cheap umbrellas and suitcase handles, IBM - the business company - was making them, and that made these ugly pieces of crap not only the de-facto business lap
Re:No, it's because Thinkpads suck (Score:2)
Re:No, it's because Thinkpads suck (Score:5, Insightful)
That, or they are built like a tank, something that a business would appreciate. I have a circa 1999/2000 I-Series thinkpad. Bottom of the line pretty much. The friend who purchased it new abused the hell out of it (since selling it to me and buying powerbooks, he has broken the powerbook multiple times). Six years later, everything works but the PCMCIA card reader (he dropped it onto its' side with a wireless card installed) and the hinges for the screen take some finessing (it travelled cross country, more then once, thrown into the bed of a truck). The thing is a tank, and if you are travelling, it will outlast anything out there. Sure they are more expensive, but there is a reason.
Color! Brightness! Good keyboards! STYLE.
Maybe it's just me, but I like the plain, black look of the thinkpad, I find it rather sleek. But hey, style is subjective. I also like the look of the powerbook. And in terms of keyboard, I have not used a keyboard on a laptop I prefer to the thinkpad (this includes HPs, Dells, Apples and Toshibas).
It's all Windows underneath the hood, and in all likelihood it's the same hardware as well.
While that may be true, the fact that the "hood" is heavier duty, makes a huge difference.
-dave
You think Thinkpads suck? O-kaaaay! (Score:3, Insightful)
Take the MacBookPro. Pick it up in one hand along an edge. If you can't see the entire damn case flexing, I'll eat my UPS.
I'm not really sure what your experience with Thinkpads was.
My experience was almost universally positive. And the things, while not the greatest gaming systems (Internation
Re:You think Thinkpads suck? O-kaaaay! (Score:2)
The one advantage I'll give the T40 is that the USB ports on the side make for easier use of a memory stick in tight quarter
Re:No, it's because Thinkpads suck (Score:2)
Cheap cases that creak and flex whenever you pick the thing up! 400 obnoxious blue LEDs! Windows keys! Sending the thing in for repairs! 500 multimedia keys all over the thing! Tech support in third world countries! Horray for nice round fisher-price cases!
And I have no idea what you're talking about with "good keyboards" or these things being heavy.
Re:No, it's because Thinkpads suck (Score:2)
I currently use (R51) and purchase IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads for my company (T-30, T-40/42 and one X somthing). Over the years I have used and purchased other brands such as Gateway, Toshiba, Sharp and HP. 7 years ago I got my first Thinkpad A20m and have since that day forward been buying thinkpads.
When I think of buying a corporate laptop for a s
40% of the laptops we get are bad (Score:2, Interesting)
Don't Know Lenovo (Score:2)
Re:Don't Know Lenovo (Score:5, Informative)
I'm going to wait and see what other customers have to say. That said if I were in the market for a laptop right now I'd heavily consider Lenovo because Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba, et al have all already proven themselves to be inferior products.
IBM and Lenovo are still tight business partners. For example, at the end of March, I met with my IBM sales rep to review projects coming up over the next 12 months. As an aside, half-jokingly, I mentioned in that timeframe I'd also buy a new laptop ... and if he knew of any new ThinkPads coming out, let me know. Heh heh.
The next day I got a call from a Lenovo rep, who had spoken with my IBM rep. She said she heard I was interested in Lenovo Thinkpads, and would I like to test-drive a new model that recently came out? Hell, yes.
I've been running a Thinkpad T60 laptop since the start of April. Of course, I'm running Linux on it. [umn.edu] It's a great laptop. Titanium body, magnesium-allow cover, integrated wireless, ... It's even Intel Core Duo! At the end of the month, it's going to be hard to go back to my Thinkpad R40 (ABS plastic body & cover, single-core CPU, etc.)
Still, if you're waiting to see what other customers have to say, I'd suggest getting a model that uses the Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 video (which is natively supported by x.org). So far, ipw3945-0.0.74-4.rhfc5.at seems to provide stable wireless networking, so I guess the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG integrated wireless is okay.
Surprised? (Score:2, Insightful)
Not well thought out. (Score:2)
We've been a Thinkpad buyer for many years and haven't seen any change or decline in quality or service. We just got in a few of the T60 and X60 notebooks that are brand new. The Core Duo T60 sure runs cooler than my MacBook Pro. We have enough new Dell and HP notebooks come through here to know that we're
Lenovo is good stuff (Score:2, Informative)
It's not like nothing good can come out of China...
Re:Lenovo is good stuff (Score:3, Interesting)
The thing is -- companies aren't always brands, as is well known to, say, General Motors. Any organization that can make superb equipment can also make junk, and there's money to be made selling junk.
My late brother was, unlike me, a super-salesman. It wasn't that he was the sort who could sell anything to anyone. In fact that would ran counter to his philosophy of sales, which is that if you want to sell to somebody, have the right th
The Lenovo Tapes (Score:2)
Probably nothing to do with China, or even Lenovo. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Probably nothing to do with China, or even Leno (Score:2)
But, if you suggested the company to buy an Acer/ASUS/LG etc, then someone will say behind your back that you have no commerical sense because you tried to save a few bucks for cheap gear. Oh, if you suggest
The real problem with Lenovo (Score:5, Insightful)
The good thing about Thinkpads is that IBM refused to cheapen the laptops just to get market share. IBM users knew that they were getting a solid notebook with good service and a 3-year warranty. IBM could therefore charge a premium for that. Now that Lenovo is trying to get their products into Best Buy, there is no incentive to build a rock solid machine because nobody is going to buy it because it is too expensive. So the incentive is to build cheap crap that is good enough to get out the door without excessive warranty claims from cheaping out too far.
It's a shame that Lenovo is ruining the Thinkpad brand. I have a Thinkpad and love it but I will have to think twice when it comes time to buy another one.
It has nothing to do with the China issue (Score:4, Interesting)
Now that Lenovo is a different entity, your Websphere, Tivoli or mainframe salesman cannot pad his commissions by moving a few hundred Thinkpads at a heavily discounted price. Hence the drop in Thinkpad sales.
Simple really (Score:2)
Sure the manufacturing, technical support, and eincrasingly the engineering can all be offshored as well, or perhaps even better for the price. But they could never offshore that ineffable yet undeniable ThinkPad style: that lushious black keyboard with crisp white lettering, accented with that audacious soupçon of blue... We
Toshiba rock (Score:2)
Then I visited a friend who had a Toshiba and my whole outlook on Notebooks changed.
The fan and battery on mine are shot now, after years of abuse (including a year in Mexico sucking really dusty air through it which I'm sure is what killed the fan). But it still runs, albeit at a slower CPU speed. If I need it to
It's all branding folks... (Score:5, Insightful)
Why do people continue to buy Microsoft software if it's known not to be the best out there?
Why do people eat at McDonalds instead of the mom and pop diner 2 blocks away that serves better burgers?
It's all name and brand recognition. People bought IBM notebooks because IBM had a name behind them, and in many cases also supplied all the bigger infrastructure and server pieces.
Now that same laptop isn't an IBM anymore. Like a high dollar luxury car manufacturer that also releases the same cars produced in the same way, but with a less expensive nameplate on them loses market value.
What used to have a Lexus nameplate on it, now has a Toyota nameplate. And has to complete on a different scale.
Lenovo is the same still. (Score:2, Interesting)
Perception is tantamount to reality... (Score:2)
When people buy at WalMart, they perceive they buying from a good old 'merican bidniz. They see Sam Walton, Arkansas, Slim Jims, NASCAR and Wrangler - what can be more American? In reality if WalMart were a country they'd be China's 8th largest trading partner.
Even when they see things that say "Made in the USA" they don't realize it could be from the Marianas, which is by technicality a US protectorate but is just another Pacific s
IBM's mindshare (Score:3, Insightful)
Thinkpads are ok (Score:2)
However I am also in the market for a machine for personal use - and I've found that Lenovo just doesn't offer the features I'm looking for,
My experience (Score:4, Interesting)
Silly, irrational, and mindlessly nationalistic. (Score:2)
Where do they think all these electronics get manufactured otherwise? Hint: not here in the good 'ol U-S-of-A.
It is not IBM. (Score:2)
The end of the ThinkPad (Score:5, Informative)
My roommate just bought an X41. The hardware is beautiful but the software that it shipped with is insanely buggy. She spent a day applying all the updates. Click update, click yes, reboot, click update, click yes, reboot reboot reboot. At the end of that, the laptop still throws up random error dialogs about hard disk issues and the CD-ROM drive is really flaky. She spent 4 hours on the phone with Lenovo over the weekend. Lenovo told her to run the entire diagnostic regimen (takes over 12 hours). No errors. Then they told her to wipe the hard drive and recover from the recovery partition. And then go through another day of update hell. She hasn't done that yet -- the laptop is sitting unused while she tries to find time to hassle with it again.
Lenovo seems to think that it's acceptable to charge her almost $2500 for a laptop and then burn over TWO DAYS of her time trying to get working software on this thing. IBM would have fixed it or replaced it and ensured she has a laptop that actually works. If she wanted to repair her own laptop, she would have bought an Asus.
I've bought and recommended ThinkPads since 1999. No more. Does anybody have any recommendations for a ThinkPad replacement? A company that makes solid laptops and stands behind them 100%?
Re:The end of the ThinkPad (Score:2)
Re:The end of the ThinkPad (Score:2)
Nope. And I think we all saw this coming, too. With the ever-declining emphasis on quality and service in favour of price for every sector, and the market rewarding them for this, I think that this will continue more and more.
When IBM had the ThinkPad line that supplemented its other enterprise offerings, it could afford to emphasize the service end. Now with ThinkPads standing
Only one reason (Score:2)
Brand recognition. IBM - everyone knows it, company has been in America's consciousness forever. Lenovo - Chinese company no one knows and everyone assumes is planting spy chips in their computers.
Poor Service (Score:5, Informative)
Whereas when it was IBM run, it would have taken 1 call and 10 minutes.
It's not the computer alone (Score:2)
Not if. WHEN. Current production tolerances mean that something will break down sooner or later. Buy the necessities for an average computer and your chances are pretty good that one piece is going to be broken from the start. CPU, power supply, ram...
It's getting similar with notebooks. Few are broken by design, but many break down within the first year. Let's even ignore such things as the dreaded cup of coffee that follow's Newton
But I LIKE Thinkpads! (Score:2, Insightful)
TPs Middling as of Late, Support Lacking (Score:2)
Branding matters? (Score:3, Interesting)
So they look for brand identity, external appearance. Country of manifacturing on the brand is a part of the brand.
Over here (Bulgaria) there's plenty of companies running shared hosting business. Their tech support are all Bulgarian boys and girls, but they all have US name pseudonyms. One of those companies I've internal info on (shall remain nameless) insisted on being patriotic and splattering everything with the Bulgarian flag and not using pseudonyms.
After an incredibly weak few months, were even purchase by Bulgarians were weak, they joined the "let's pretend the world is US" bandwagon and sales quickly jumped up.
Perception and Misconception (Score:3, Insightful)
The 'misconception' in this situation is two-part. First, Lenovo has, to the best of my knowledge, been building ThinkPads for IBM for at least the last decade or so. Assuming my understanding is accurate, anyone who's ever bought a ThinkPad has already bought a Lenovo-built system.
The second part is the idea that quality will be lower on Chinese-manufactured products. While this is certainly true in many cases (think cheap hand tools), I don't see it happening here because, again, Lenovo has been building ThinkPads all along. Why would they risk damaging their own market, and possible collateral damage to IBM's rep, by starting to cut corners?
'Brand loyalty' is a tricky thing. Advertising companies know this, and I think IBM and Lenovo are learning that all over again. The bitter truth of the matter is that the US has sold off an awful lot of its manufacturing base to China, and other foreign investors, most definitely including computer hardware.
I may not like this trend, but I cannot deny that I have taken advantage of it many times. The motherboards I've been using for the past decade or so (Tyan, usually) were all manufactured in Chinese factories.
Another example: The surround receiver I just bought (Harman Kardon AV635) was designed in the US, but actually built in China. Used to be that H-K built ALL their amps, tuners, etc. right here in the US.
In short: How, exactly, does one AVOID Chinese-made electronics? There are darn few US-based electronics manufacturers left, and most of those are in specialty or 'niche' markets.
Even if an electronic product is made entirely in the US, by a US company, take a look inside. Chances are really good that you'll find transistors from Japan, capacitors from Korea or China, and plastic parts from Lord only knows where.
It's (unfortunately) unavoidable. The whole thing reminds me a bit of a Monty Python animation which shows a secretary drowning in a rising wave of Chinese.
The best anyone can do is what should always be done: Carefully evaluate multiple brands against your requirements, and pick the best one for the job.
Keep the peace(es).
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Lenovo = Legend Systems = Packard Bell (Score:5, Informative)
Ah sorry, that's not true.
Packard bell are owned by NEC, and Lenovo used to be known as Legend. They are not the same company, nor linked. However, they may use the same ODMs (Original Design Manufacturers) for some of their kit - IIRC the 3000 series Lenovo is made by Compal who also makes a lot of the HP kit.
However, the Thinkpad range has always been manufactured by Quanta. They also make laptops for Sony and Dell and are well respected in the industry, along with other top-tier ODMs like Celestica, Flextronics and Wistron.
Re:Better Tech Support!!! (Score:2)
Who do you think were making all those IBM thinkpads for all those years? Nothings changed except the branding.