Dec. 08, 2004 - 18:43 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

The Other

If it isn't outsourcing it is something else again. An article in this morning's Rocky Mountain News from the Associated Press, in full:

Lenov takes over IBM's PC business

BEJING -- "China's biggest computer maker, Lenovo group, said Wednesday it has acquired a majority stake in International Business Machines Corp.'s personal computer business for $1.25 billion, one of the bigest Chinese overseas acquisitions ever."

"IBM will keep an 18.5 percent stake in the company, said Lenovo's chairman, Liu Chuanzi."

"Lenovo is taking over IBM's desktop PC business, including research and development and manufacturing," Liu said."

"The deal creates a joint venture that would own the IBM-brand personal computer business, which had sales of nearly $13 billion over the 12 months ended in September."

"The acquisition would make Lenovo the third-largest PC company in the world, he said."

"Like other major Chinese manufacturers hoping to expand overseas, Lenovo is planning to leverage a well-known foreign brand name. Liu said the company would be entitled to freely use IBM's brand name in five years' time."

"Lenovo is China's biggest computer maker, claiming a 27 percent market share, and is also the biggest in Asia."

"The announcement today followed reports that a deal was imminent."

"The companies expect that by combinng operations, they'll be able to save money on manufacturing and expand their razor-thin profit margins despite intense pricing pressures. Lenovo also hopes the IBM brand and the company's vast corporate client base will bolster its sagging fortunes."

"IBM still designs its ThinkPad laptops and ThinkCentre desktops but no longer manufactures them at any plant it owns alone."

"Instead all its PCs are either produced through joint ventures or outsourced to other manufacturers."

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My opinions. It seems obvious to me that all facets of United States business are being shifted overseas. This latest, IBM selling to Lenovo and retaining a mousebite share for itself doesn't tell the whole story I think.

Lenovo, according to the newspaper, will take over the business including research, development and manufacturing. So there goes the high tech, mid level and manufacturing ends of the business. All that it seems to me that is retained is the process desiging and CFOs managing the raking in of the money.

The final paragraph lays it out like it is I guess, "IBM still designs its ThinkPad laptops and ThinkCentre desktops but no longer manfactures them at any plants it owns alone. Instead, all its PCs are either produced through joint ventures or outsourced to other manufacturers."

International is part of its name and from what I hear has had part of its business overseas for years. But research, development and manufacturing ? ? ? The way companies like Walmart and others are going now, whole new businesses in China are taking shape and pulling more work from our country.

From things I have read Wal Mart has been active in that area, creating work in China that used to be ours.

When will the corporate brains feel that the overseas companies have the technology to do the design work also, and shift that over there too. What is it that the biggies are trying to tell us ? We have priced ourselves out of the market ? We are no longer of any use to them now ? We won't be making enough wages to buy their product perhaps so we are now declared disposable surplus ?

We as people gave the ball game away after World War Two when we taught other countries our methods and techniques and allowed the situation to exist that they could pay their help whatever they wished to, deny them benefits, work them as many hours as they wished. We forgot to teach ethics I guess.

Thus making way for Corporations of the United States to thrive and survive by taking work from people who expected respect and fair treatment and are not getting it.

Whether by selling off parts of themselves, merging or joint venturing they will see that workers of the U.S. will suffer the loss, one way or The Other . . . . . . . . .

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