Best Buy to stock shelves with ThinkPads

[newt43]

Hello all:

Looks like Lenovo is making a super aggressive push into the retail sector. The story from CNET news:

http://news.com.com/Best+Buy+to+stock+s ... 59690.html

I think this is qualitatively different from the decision to sell TPs at Office Depot, since at least that outlet is geared toward businesses, and is consistent with the general image of the TP line as serious business machines. But Best Buy is pretty mass market. My worry is that this could devalue the Thinkpad brand. I always thought TP would be to Lenovo like Lexus is to Toyota. Or maybe the folks at Lenovo have discovered that the strategy of having a "luxury" brand doesn't work in the computer racket. Maybe somebody who knows more about branding than I do can help explain what the likely decision calculus was here?

I'm not complaining, just kind of puzzled.

Stay well!

[christopher_wolf]

They are just trying to shift the externality of the Thinkpad, namely "Excellent Professional Business Machine," as a major selling point to the consumer crowd. If they plan it right, it could take off come next quarter and they would most likely see a boost in sales.

[DIGITALgimpus]

Problem I see is that most people who buy in places like BestBuy, CompUSA, Fry's etc. these days tend to be more price oriented, than quality oriented.

Apple had the same problem... their solution was to create stores, and put them in malls with more upper-class stores.

It will be interesting to see how this works out. My bet is they will mainly be pushing the lower end Thinkpads.

[smugiri]

Problem I see is that most people who buy in places like BestBuy, CompUSA, Fry's etc. these days tend to be more price oriented, than quality oriented.

Apple had the same problem... their solution was to create stores, and put them in malls with more upper-class stores.

It will be interesting to see how this works out. My bet is they will mainly be pushing the lower end Thinkpads.

Yep, I agree.

I think you will find lots of low end T42/T43s with $800 to $1000 price tags (256MB, DVD only or DVD/CDRW, 20gb drives, 802.11b only, stuff like that in the R or T series chasis) and serious pushing of the Z60 if you ask for something better.

I suspect you will never find X series or T4xp/T6xp series machine in any store - they will all probably be web/special order.

[tfflivemb2]

Not to mention the new "Thinkpad Bashers" that will appear because their "low end" Thinkpads (should Lenovo actually begin making them) will not operate like the highend Thinkpads.

[440roadrunner]

"low end" Thinkpads (should Lenovo actually begin making them) will not operate like the highend

I agree. Years ago, Black and Decker made a HUGE mistake by flooding the "K Mart" type of market with tons and tons over very low end power tools, but keeping the Black and Decker name. Later, I worked at a big industrial supply house, and handled the industrial line for B&D. Even though (back then) these were hardy tools, you couldn't give them away. We finally dropped the line, and carried someone else.

[schen]

I've always been involved with Stereo/Home Theater, but for a few years also work in a Boutigue type HiFi store part time. We carried several brands that had been in the "high-end/mid-high" realm for years such as Nakamichi and Yamaha. On a particularly quiet evening, we started discussing how not only the image, but the quality of the product of those companies began to slip very quickly after they got involved with "mass-merchanisers" like Best Buy. Nakamichi did very poorly and has yet to recover their original prominance. Yamaha had a seperate line (although it was still under the Yamaha brand), and it very quickly erroded their upper end customer base due in part to the perceptions that carried over. I'm certain some of it was simple snobbery, but some of it had to do with that each companies' quality control began to slip as they focused more on quantity.

Don't get me wrong, I do go to Best Buy on occassion to pick up a thing or two; I just hope the ThinkPads don't go the Nakamichi route as a result of this dubious partnership.

[DIGITALgimpus]

IMHO they should just go the Apple model. A few exclusive stores, to showcase their hardware, even do training for IT, and serve as a showroom for businesses.

[newt43]

I also think the Apple model is the way to go, but the chance of Lenovo going that way is small-- they seem to have made their choice. The interesting question now is which laptop brand will attempt to move into the rarefied spot that Thinkpad *seems* to be vacating. I hear great things about Fujitsus. It wouldn't be such a stretch for them to start marketing themselves as the Cadillac of notebooks.

[DIGITALgimpus]

Yup, Fujitsu has really worked hard on building their tech and their brand.

IMHO Apple still tops. IBM/Lenovo 2nd, then I guess Fujitsu, though I've only seen a few of their newer systems, and never had a good chance to give it a go.

[sugo]

Hopefully they will stock the future X60s with HSDPA live demo ...

[egibbs]

Here's my take on it...

IBM lost money for years on their PC business using the current business model.

I doubt if Lenovo bought the business expecting to continue to lose money.

If they want to succeed in the consumer arena they need to learn to swim with some very tough fish.

One way to do that is to jump in the water, see what happens, and make adjustments as you go along.

As others have said, I doubt if you will see high end TPs at Best Buy fighting for shelf space with $600 Dells. Likely be the low end machines.

The consumer PC business is extrordinarily tough. Only a very few people have figured out how to consistently make a profit selling machines on razor thin margins. You certainly can't do it with the level of service and support we have become accustomed to as IBM customers. One support call wipes out the $7 margin on a Dell.

Be interesting to see how it shakes out. We'll probably see two tiers of TPs develop - consumer machines and business machines, much like HP and Dell already have.

Ed Gibbs

[GomJabbar]

IMHO they should just go the Apple model. A few exclusive stores, to showcase their hardware, even do training for IT, and serve as a showroom for businesses.

Interestingly, I was at one of the more upscale malls in my area a couple of days ago. I noticed a new Sony store similar to the Apple stores I've seen previously. Several months ago at another rather upscale mall I saw a Nokia store along the same line. I believe a similar model could be a good idea for Lenovo and the ThinkPad line. Even if people buy online or from other retailers, the brick and mortar company store is a good place to showcase the ThinkPad line and stoke the image. These stores may have to be owned and operated by Lenovo so that they could stay open regardless of their actual in-store sales.

[DIGITALgimpus]

Interestingly, I was at one of the more upscale malls in my area a couple of days ago. I noticed a new Sony store similar to the Apple stores I've seen previously. Several months ago at another rather upscale mall I saw a Nokia store along the same line. I believe a similar model could be a good idea for Lenovo and the ThinkPad line. Even if people buy online or from other retailers, the brick and mortar company store is a good place to showcase the ThinkPad line and stoke the image. These stores may have to be owned and operated by Lenovo so that they could stay open regardless of their actual in-store sales.

Yup.

Interestingly, Apple doesn't care much about actual sales in the stores... what they want is exposure (it's a giant add). Just want people to go in and play with the various toys, and talk to sales reps.

Can buy online, which ships the new computer right to the buyers door.

Great model IMHO.

[underclocker]

I think it will be nice to have a place to actually see and touch a TP before buying one. It's nearly impossible to do now.

[draco2527]

"Best Buy for Business" site:

http://www.bestbuybusiness.com/bbfb/en/ ... enovo.html

[egibbs]

"See price in cart" - WTF?

If they are hiding the prices from shopping search engines, they must not be very competitive.

Ed Gibbs