IBM to sell its PC and ThinkPad business

[Dinner]

IBM's mangement is blowing this. They may not make bucket fulls of cash on desktops and laptops but they get a lot of market and name recognition for this line of business. They can claim the market isn't big enough for them to worry about but the truth is they're getting out because they can't hack it.

Or rather because a short sighted CEO doesn't want to hack it.

[Az]

I am just sorry for the consumer brand name. All those thousands of hours of advertising, and PR, wasted...

[Atahualpa]

Originally posted by Azazel
I am just sorry for the consumer brand name. All those thousands of hours of advertising, and PR, wasted...

Well if you think it's a waste that their products got such a reputation that they can sell it for $2 billion...

If the CEO uses this wisely he could enhance IBM in other areas where it's stronger.

[Az]

Yeah, well, I, for once, think that a company that big shouldn't specialize in one thing only. Hell, if they made consumer appliances, I would think it's a good idea! ( they'd have to be high tech, and really top notch, though.)

[Zopperoni]

Originally posted by Agathon
Of course you have to do it the right way, and diversify efficiently, etc.

Yes, into services and solutions

Originally posted by Ted Striker
On the other hand, we have had burn after burn from getting IBM consultants coming in and not knowing what the hell they were doing.

Are that those PriceWaterhouseCoopers tw*ts?

Originally posted by Azazel
Yeah, well, I, for once, think that a company that big shouldn't specialize in one thing only. Hell, if they made consumer appliances, I would think it's a good idea! ( they'd have to be high tech, and really top notch, though.)

Bad idea. Creating new markets means creating new competitors. Competitors you do not need.
I'll give you the example of Philips in the period before Jan Timmer re-organized it: Philips was totally engineer-dominated, it was making anything it had the technology for. Originally it was an electronics company, but the company diversified as far as into the realm of toilet seats! If Philips continued this, it wouldn't have existed today (to introduce its retarded "Sense and Simplicity"-campaign, but that's another discussion).

Business is about potential, and high-potential (high growth, high margin) markets are the ones you want to invest in, penetrate, and establish customer lock-in in. Key words in strategic marketing and business growth strategies are focus and value.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Zopperoni
I'll give you the example of Philips in the period before Jan Timmer re-organized it: Philips was totally engineer-dominated, it was making anything it had the technology for. Originally it was an electronics company, but the company diversified as far as into the realm of toilet seats! If Philips continued this, it wouldn't have existed today (to introduce its retarded "Sense and Simplicity"-campaign, but that's another discussion).

I am not so sure about that. A number of Japanese and Korean corporations are large conglomerates, and they are doing well.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Oerdin
IBM's mangement is blowing this. They may not make bucket fulls of cash on desktops and laptops but they get a lot of market and name recognition for this line of business. They can claim the market isn't big enough for them to worry about but the truth is they're getting out because they can't hack it.

Or rather because a short sighted CEO doesn't want to hack it.

I very strongly disagree.

I still don't think you understand how irrelevant the "market and name recognition" for the PC and Laptop business is to IBM's real, core businesses.

IBM gets much of its core business by default, and because they've been doing it far longer than any other competitor, and because if they encounter a problem they will fix it.

IBM gets its money through RFPs (Request for Proposals) and other related documents. Deals are negotiated over months or even years, and the companies that buy the products and services know exactly what they're looking for.

This is far away from the realm of getting name recognition with the average consumer. General Motors will still call IBM to install its new simulation supercomputers, or to integrated their disparate networks, regardless if IBM makes desktops and laptops as well.

IBM's customers are highly educated and have top brass pushing on them for fast, reliable solutions. Uneducated customers buying based on "name recognition" because their low-end desktop PC was made by IBM is irrelevant.

"Nobody got fired for buying IBM."

[Agathon]

IBM's mangement is blowing this. They may not make bucket fulls of cash on desktops and laptops but they get a lot of market and name recognition for this line of business. They can claim the market isn't big enough for them to worry about but the truth is they're getting out because they can't hack it.

Yep.

I love this "solutions" crap. More marketing gobbledigook....

If IBM had any balls at all, they'd be trying to add value to their PC products so as to give people a reason to buy them.

[Zopperoni]

The PC has become so commoditized that it's not worth the investment. The only target segments left for value-adding initiatives are niches, like gamers and fashion tw*ts.

The value in business (computing) is added through augmented services.

[Agathon]

The PC has become so commoditized that it's not worth the investment.

Yeah right. That's just loser talk from companies who can't be bothered to give people a reason to buy their products.

IBM are idiots. They should have spun off the thinkpad business. A lot of people love those machines.

[Az]

ummm... what investment? they're already there.

[Zopperoni]

Investment in research and value-adding components (stuff).

[Az]

Investment in research and value-adding components (stuff).

I thought it was included in the results of the personal computers, and thinkpads unit?

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Azazel
ummm... what investment? they're already there.

You have to keep innovating to keep ahead of the competition. Because PC manufactering is staggeringly horizontally intergrated, the profit margin is razor thin, and companies can only survive through sheer volume.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Agathon

The PC has become so commoditized that it's not worth the investment.

Yeah right. That's just loser talk from companies who can't be bothered to give people a reason to buy their products.

There really is no reason to buy brand name Wintel boxes anymore, most of these things are very reliable and you can hire tech support kids straight from HS. I am talking about desktops, servers are a different ball game.