Posted by: kurtsh | April 13, 2013

COMMENTARY: Why Lenovo is doing well in a tough PC industry

imageI read just an unbelievably ‘from-the-hip’ article from a muckraking finger-waver that shall remain nameless, claiming essentially that Lenovo’s success in the past year is tied to:

  • ‘selling PC’s without Windows’
  • ‘focusing on downgrading Windows 8 to Windows 7’

…time to crank up the blog post editor.

re: ‘selling PC’s without Windows’
The first point about ‘selling PCs without Windows’ being the reason they’re successful is just patently false.  There’s a lot that folks don’t know about the relationship between Microsoft & OEM PC manufacturer’s that I don’t dare discuss, however two things should be readily obvious, at least to anyone who isn’t trying to sell ads for their online tech articles: 

  1. Lenovo’s client device revenues are primarily driven by Windows–based PCs & these devices are successful because of the cooperative investment that both Lenovo & Microsoft make in these devices
  2. Lenovo knows that Windows tablets are the key to success in Enterprise volume sales, because they don’t make iPads and there’s very few non-Windows tablet manufacturers that have been successful in the business market.

re: ‘focusing on downgrading Windows 8 to Windows 7’
Again – totally misleading.  Every OEM makes Windows 7 available on a subset of their PCs & Lenovo is no different.  They neither market their PCs differently, nor do they have any special programs or web sites that somehow make it easier. 

Again, there’s no difference between what Lenovo offers in terms of Windows 7 support & HP, Dell, Toshiba, etc.  Don’t believe me?  You’ll need to take my word for it on the Enterprise side of the house that Windows 7 is READILY available to any customer that wants it but I’d think it’d be obvious that any OEM that didn’t ship PCs with the OS chosen by their customer, be it Vista, 7, or 8, would find themselves with a very disgruntled customer. 

But as for consumer sales, Lenovo offers the exact same types of offerings as their competitors.  Some devices are Windows 8 ONLY, others are available with either Win7 or Win8, and some are Windows 7 only… just like other Windows OEMs.  Just look at the following links.  Windows 7 is an offering available at all of these OEMs:

imageSOME HINTS AROUND THE REASONS FOR LENOVO’S SUCCESS
Y’see unlike some people, I actually work with Enterprise customers & that’s the primary customer base for Lenovo, so I think I have a fairly good idea about where Lenovo’s success comes from.

The real reasons for Lenovo’s success?  Well, Occam’s Razor comes to mind:  THEIR PRODUCTS ARE STUNNINGLY GOOD.  Just look at what they’re selling, who they’re selling to, and what their competition is selling:

      • Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2
        The lightest & thinnest Windows 8 TOUCH tablet available– complete with 10pt capacitive touch Gorilla Glass, active digitizer/stylus, 3G/4G, & TPM security chip.
      • Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 (Touch) 
        The lightest & thinnest 14" TOUCH ultrabook on the market – and adheres to MilSpec for rugged use.
      • Lenovo ThinkPad Twist
        The most versatile convertible Windows 8 TOUCH Tablet, including both 3G/4G, TPM security chip at a low price point.
      • Lenovo ThinkPad Helix
        Won over a dozen “Best of CES 2013” awards, with all the capabilities of the Carbon X1 except a tablet with two batteries in the keyboard & the tablet/display.

imageFORRESTER: “THE PC’S DEATH HAS BEEN GREATLY EXAGGERATED”
It appears that Forrester has taken a better look at the so-called reports on PCs claiming that there was a 14% drop in PC sales that were published and came to the realization that:

  • This was statistics being used ‘opportunistically’
  • No one can come to the conclusion that there was a 14% drop in PC sales because the quoted PC sales figures don’t include PC-based tablets

In other words, none of the amazing Windows PCs from Lenovo above classified as tablets are included in the survey.  Read the post from Forrester yourself.

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