Lenovo to make and sell IBM xServers

IBM has licensed its xSeries server technology to Lenovo so the Chinese manufacturer can make its own Intel-based servers, but resellers are expressing doubts over the move.

Lenovo will sell IBM-based x86 servers to small and midsize businesses through the same channels as its ThinkPad laptops and ThinkCenter desktops, the company said earlier this week. However, it is merely licensing the technology rather than buying it outright, as it did with those laptops and PCs in 2005. IBM will continue selling xSeries servers.

The deal is likely to start rumors that IBM is retreating further from hardware manufacturing, but both companies deny this, saying Lenovo's channels will take the servers to new users. Lenovo's version of xSeries will consist of one- or two-processor systems at the top of a small-business range, while at IBM they will be at the bottom end of a set of servers that extends up to the zSeries mainframes.

"This doesn't make a lot of sense to me," said Nick Christou, director of London-based IT sales and support company Qual-IT. "I would have thought IBM would either keep the brand or sell it." Qual-IT provides laptops and servers to small businesses, and has mostly gone to IBM for its servers till now. "We went with IBM because of the price range, the build quality, and the association people have with the IBM name," Christou said.

Although he claims he has never had to return a single IBM server, Christou said he might desert the xSeries if it no longer had an IBM badge: "I might shift to HP if that was the way it went, to be honest," he said. "We've been looking more at HP servers lately, because what you get for your money is quite good."

Peter Judge of ZDNet UK reported from London.

[Commander_Spock]

UNDERSTANDABLE!

First it was the IBM's PC Company; and, now - "IBM has licensed its xSeries server technology to Lenovo so the Chinese manufacturer can make its own Intel-based servers, but resellers are expressing doubts over the move..." Which will be next? :-) !

[pmfjoe]

So how long....

does IBM have left as a whole company? Will they continue to sell the company off in bits and pieces?

[Commander_Spock]

The "Beautiful Thing"...

... about these moves anyway is: The OS/2 Operating System cannot/will not be Open-Sourced ("January 16, 2008
Mr. Kim Haverblad,
Webmaster & Founder,
OS/2 World.Com
Polis Larssons vag 63
21853 Klagshamn, Sweden

Dear Mr. Haverblad,


Thank you for your letter and continued suggestions recommending an OS/2 open source project.


As stated in our response to your September 2005 letter we have considered the positioning of OS/2 and open source several times in the past, and for a variety of business, technical, and legal reasons we have decided to not pursue any OS/2 open source projects.


IBM has service offerings that continue to be available for customers who need ongoing support for OS/2, although IBM has no plans for product enhancements. IBM has recommended that customers on OS/2 consider migration to alternative solution offerings, and has a broad array of software assets and services to help customers migrate. We would like to ask you to encourage any customers who are still planning their migrations or who have other technical requirements to contact their IBM representative to discuss how these assets and services could be leveraged.") ; So, it will appear that the 800lb Gorilla that is OS/2 might soon go "hunting" big-time again in its favorite places once it smells that "Intel Inside". ;-) :-$ !