
How Lenovo became the world’s biggest computer company - JumpCrisscross
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21569398-how-did-lenovo-become-worlds-biggest-computer-company-guard-shack-global-giant
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elteto
I own a T530 and couldn't be happier, and I say that coming from a MacBook
Pro. However two things you have to consider if you buy a Lenovo:

1\. Get a Thinkpad, preferably a T series, non-Thinkpad Lenovos are crap,
based on personal experience.

2\. Expect to do a full reinstall of your system. It comes over bloated with
the worst crapware available, to the point that it makes it unusable. Mine
couldn't perform Windows updates and Chrome crashed constantly, all of this
_out of the box_. But the mayor offense was including Norton bloatware, that I
couldn't just tolerate.

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mbesto
If I do actually recommend friends to buy a Windows based PC it's usually a
Lenovo. They're pretty rock solid. Good on them.

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rayiner
Me too, but my dad has had a pretty bad experience with his x220s. Anecdotal,
obviously, but I'm not sure the quality has kept since the glory days of Think
Pads.

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MichaelGG
Quality's definitely an issue, even with previous model of the Lenovo X
series, which I have. Things that were common and easy to replace, like fans,
are now buried and more difficult. And it overheats like crazy. An IBM/Lenovo
engineer told me that the number of screws used has also gone up
significantly.

They're still better than the competition, but the new ThinkPad models are not
very interesting. I'm hoping Lenovo will respond to current pressure and
release new X and T models that are worth buying.

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Rickasaurus
Maybe it has to do with the fact that Lenovo Thinkpad is one of the only
premium PC brands. No crapware, just the basics, and quality hardware.

I recently got a ThinkPad W530 because it was the only workstation laptop I
could find that supports 32gb of ram. It even came with a Core i7 Extreme
Edition CPU! Talk about beastly. Before that I had an X201 which wasn't quite
the powerhouse but both have been great performance and stability wise.

The only downside to Thinkpads is the crowded trackpad. Hourly I seem to
accidentally to page/up down while coding. However, it's my only complaint and
otherwise the Thinkpads are just fantastic.

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jisaacstone
My wife's parents still use a lenovo desktop from the ~'89 and it works fine.
My 2 year old laptop, on the other hand, has had several problems (especially
with hibernation/wake-up) and the battery life is and has always been only
about an hour.

I know it is just anecdotal, but it put me off the brand (which I was bullish
on before).

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guard-of-terra
Laptops are useless with their hulking mass and short battery life. Netbooks
rule the world: they always have three or more hours of battery life and
they're so cheap you can replace them if they break. Which they don't. And
everything works thanks to proven hardware.

I don't understand anyone buying non-Apple non-netbook laptops.

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sp4rki
My T420 easily gives me double (sometimes even triple) than your three hours
mate. It's very well built so it doesn't break as easily as crappy plastic
netbook. Not only is it's hardware "proven" whatever that means, but works
extremely well with Linux which is my OS of choice. Oh and almost everything I
want to change is easily user replaceable. Probably with the exception of the
gpu. And Lenovo provides manuals to do both the easy thinks like changing
memory, to medium things like replacing a keyboard (which is a piece of cake),
to more complex things like replacing the LCD screen. Oh and 14 inches is not
a hulking mass, and it also replaced my desktop. I don't understand Apple
fanboys (and I own an iPhone and an iPad)...

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guard-of-terra
I'm so happy for you that you're almost allowed to take a cookie.

Speaking seriously, my desktop PC will beat up your T420. I can't imagine
doing work (writing code) on laptops with their degenerate keyboards. And for
the rest you have desktops.

I don't know how you inferred I have any Apple products but actually I don't
and never had. I think you just have problems with logic.

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sp4rki
Wait wait, so you complain about the mass and short battery life, and when I
give you an example of why that's not really true you go ahead and try to
compare it to _your_ desktop? That's one of the worst counterpoints I've ever
come across. I have a small rack in the corner of my study and the machines
there will considerably outer perform not only my t420 but most of the
consumer grade machines either prebuilt or enthusiast built. On the other
hand, my t420 has better specs that most of what's considered normal for most
consumer based setups. I need to run various virtual machines for starters.

The Thinkpad series is know for having some of the best keyboards ever used on
a laptop. Even though I prefer using my happy hacking keyboard, I'll take the
Thinkpad's keyboard over pretty much anything else. It's so good that they
even sell the damn keyboard as a standalone option to regular keyboard.
Trackpoint and all. And yes I write code all day.

Regarding my "logic": You don't need to own an Apple to product to be a
fanboy, and as such I never said that you owned any. That's all on you and
your _logic_. I ended my post with the same type of sarcastic fanboish retort
that you used at the end of yours.

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yRetsyM
Does lenovo compete strongly in the enterprise market? do they have server /
storage / data centre technologies?

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justincormack
They make servers but not storage or other technologies.

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wmf
Iomega was just renamed to LenovoEMC or something, so now they have low-end
storage.

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lostlogin
Interesting that the Chinese government owns a stake.

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igravious
?

"Lenovo’s culture is different from that of other Chinese firms. A state
think-tank, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provided the original $25,000
seed capital, and still owns an indirect stake. But those in the know say
Lenovo is run as a private firm, with little or no official interference."

~~~
lostlogin
I don't understand. That says that the Chinese government owns an indirect
stake. I took that to mean they own some of the company. How do you read that?

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shawndumas
[http://www.economist.com/news/business/21569398-how-did-
leno...](http://www.economist.com/news/business/21569398-how-did-lenovo-
become-worlds-biggest-computer-company-guard-shack-global-giant/print)

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infinitebeam
I've had my current Lenovo Y410 Notebook since 2007. Solid performance even
after all these years. I recommend only Lenovo to any one who asks.

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mcartyem
Why must Lenovo reach a roughly 10% share in each of the target markets to
achieve long-term profitability?

 _"He vows to keep investing, regardless of returns, until the firm reaches a
roughly 10% share in each of the target markets. Only with such scale is long-
term profitability possible, he insists."_

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ferrantim
Good lesson never to rest on one's laurel's. Love stories of number 2's taking
over from the market leader.

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Retric
#1 by units not by units * price or profits which are around 2% of sales.

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rednukleus
Yes, #1. As in number of units sold. That's what #1 means.

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seunosewa
Not necessarily.

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IheartApplesDix
Did IBM sell of Lenovo in anticipation of adopting the much more profitable
Trusted Platform paradigm? Now Microsoft as well anticipates abandoning
"packaged products," that necessitate years of costly support. But how long
can the the castle walls hold?

<http://i.zdnet.com/blogs/20-01-2012-12-11-21.png>

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bitwize
IBM sold off its PC unit to Lenovo to focus on its core competency --
mainframes and large systems.

