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IBM Sells PC Unit to China's Lenovo [$1.25 billion deal]
Reuters ^ | Dec 7, 2004

Posted on 12/07/2004 6:13:38 PM PST by yonif

BEIJING (Reuters) - Tech giant IBM (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is selling its PC-making business to China's largest personal computer maker, Lenovo Group Ltd. (0992.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) , for $1.25 billion, Lenovo said on Wednesday.

"Lenovo has acquired IBM's personal services business for $1.25 billion," Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of Lenovo Group Ltd., told reporters in Beijing.

He said the deal would make Lenovo the world's no. 3 personal computer maker.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: china; ibm; lenovo
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1 posted on 12/07/2004 6:13:39 PM PST by yonif
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To: yonif

Interesting, no news of this in the press release/latest news section of IBM's corporate website.


2 posted on 12/07/2004 6:24:56 PM PST by Army Air Corps (Half a league, half a league rode the MSM into the valley of obscurity)
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To: Army Air Corps

Use your personal computer to watch NBC's late night comedy programs.


3 posted on 12/07/2004 6:27:07 PM PST by ReadyNow
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To: Army Air Corps

This was been talked about for some time......


Guess the rumors were true..


4 posted on 12/07/2004 6:28:51 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (A Proud member of Free Republic ~~The New Face of the Fourth Estate since 1996.)
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To: ReadyNow

Broadcast TV. How quaint. ;-)


5 posted on 12/07/2004 6:29:20 PM PST by Army Air Corps (Half a league, half a league rode the MSM into the valley of obscurity)
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To: yonif

I hope this means America can in turn invest in China too. Story is official, also being reported by Bloomberg.


6 posted on 12/07/2004 6:30:03 PM PST by baseball_fan (Thank you Vets)
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To: Army Air Corps

It's there.


7 posted on 12/07/2004 6:31:36 PM PST by PFKEY
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To: yonif

According to what I heard on fox News earlier, IBM only sold a controlling interest - IBM still owns a good chunk of it.


8 posted on 12/07/2004 6:32:40 PM PST by Gabz
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To: yonif

So the rumors were true, indeed.

What happened to the security concerns about transferring high-tech to China? Yes, this is only PCs, but it gives them a big foot in the door.


9 posted on 12/07/2004 6:36:08 PM PST by Cicero (Nil illegitemus carborundum est)
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To: Cicero

Most of the motherboards come out of Taiwan.......


10 posted on 12/07/2004 6:37:49 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (A Proud member of Free Republic ~~The New Face of the Fourth Estate since 1996.)
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To: Cicero

I wonder if we trade with them in sufficiently high volume whether they will never go to war with us because of the high cost to their economy.

Then again, if we are dependent upon them and they are sufficiently advanced, they might invade anyway.

Who knows? The Shadow, maybe.


11 posted on 12/07/2004 6:40:14 PM PST by arjay (If the NYT is against it, it must be good for America.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
As product profit margins approach zero in developed countries, production inevitably moves to lower cost procurement centers. PC manufacturing is a commodity business. That's why IBM is getting out. That's just the way it is. (not meant to be qouting Bruce Hornsby and the Range).

But it will be interesting to see if the IBM machines lose ground vis the competition due to loss of the IBM brand name. Nonetheless, almost all PC components are produced in China, Taiwan, S. Korea, Indonesia anyway, just like almost all of our clothing.

12 posted on 12/07/2004 6:49:44 PM PST by Mad_Tom_Rackham (Time to let slip the dogs...)
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To: All
Legend Group Holdings, which is controlled by the Chinese government, owns a majority stake in Lenovo. http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/56/56726.html

Capitalism-loving, free enterprise, freedom loving democratic People's Republic of China now owns the IBM brand and will market worldwide -- uh, well at least the Party owns it..

SOP for state owned enterprises in the "free traders'" Chi-com capitalist heaven is stealing intellectual property.

"Lenovo’s new 3G cellphone rips off the PlayStation Portable"

http://www.engadget.com/entry/6831627748437149/

13 posted on 12/07/2004 6:50:24 PM PST by WilliamofCarmichael (MSM Fraudcasters are skid marks on journalism's clean shorts.)
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To: Cicero

Isn't it ironic that now an arm of IBM, the great American technology company, could now be making equipment for the Chinese military?

It's amazing.


14 posted on 12/07/2004 6:56:32 PM PST by TFine80
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To: arjay

I believe that the stronger the trade ties, the less the chance of armed conflict. War is simply bad for business (with isolated exceptions). Nonethess, a strong argument can be made, based on history, that trade conflicts often lead to warfare, even among trading "partners". However, I conclude that, in the current era, it is far less likely that conflicts among trading partners will result in warfare as a resolution. Thus I agree with your premise.


15 posted on 12/07/2004 7:04:08 PM PST by Mad_Tom_Rackham (Time to let slip the dogs...)
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To: TFine80

HUH?

These aren't mainframes.....

Intel and AMD.....and VIA (a taiwan company) make the processors.....all over the world.....


16 posted on 12/07/2004 7:06:29 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (A Proud member of Free Republic ~~The New Face of the Fourth Estate since 1996.)
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To: yonif

related thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1296587/posts

if my prediction is right, that the yuan is going to float or be re-pegged at a different level, expect china to go on a shopping spree for US companies before the revaulation.


17 posted on 12/07/2004 7:07:25 PM PST by oceanview
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To: yonif

IBM laptops/notebooks are the best. What will happen to the quality now?


18 posted on 12/07/2004 7:10:30 PM PST by Irish Eyes
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To: Army Air Corps

some bullet points:

- "The PC business at IBM posted a loss of $50 million on sales of $2.84 billion in the third quarter."

- Michael Dell, chairman of the PC maker that bears his name, said the combination probably will fail.

``When was the last time you saw a successful merger or acquisition in the computer industry?'' Dell told reporters during an Oracle Corp. conference in San Francisco. ``It hasn't happened. It hasn't happened in a long, long time.''

source for quotes http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=aHNEaiLHd7P0&refer=home

comment: this gives China a greater stake in the world economy. they need the US market to make their investment profitable, so they will need to work within certain standards to gain cooperation. this can turn into a win-win situation as long as it's two way, but there is no escaping we need to be successful on a number of fronts - education, R&D investment, infrastructure, taxes, trade, policy, etc. - to maintain our global competitiveness.

I assume this will in turn give IBM entre into China with their global services which, given its higher profitability, would be a net plus for IBM (unless we read a few years down the line that they have to sell that too to the Chinese because they cannot compete. By then it may be unclear who "they" are anyway since it has become such a global business.)


19 posted on 12/07/2004 7:15:38 PM PST by baseball_fan (Thank you Vets)
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To: baseball_fan

I'm glad to see Michael Dell's comment, because that occurred to me, too.

Back in the days when Japan was riding high, they bought up a lot of US companies and properties. On the whole they haven't done very well with them.

China has a ton of dollars. Hundreds of billions, maybe a trillion, who knows? But taking over the world isn't easy.


20 posted on 12/07/2004 7:34:46 PM PST by Cicero (Nil illegitemus carborundum est)
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