As Rivals Outsource, Lenovo Keeps Production In-House

[kanuk]

A good read, thought some here might find it interesting.

The facility, its equipment and its employees are all part of Lenovo. It is one of eight company-owned factories around the world with three more to be built in China and Brazil. That is a departure from the common industry practice, in which companies from Apple Inc.to Hewlett-Packard Co. increasingly outsource the assembly, and even design, of laptops and other gadgets to contract manufacturers.

Lenovo sees retaining all these functions as a key advantage. "Selling PCs is like selling fresh fruit," says Lenovo Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing. "The speed of innovation is very fast, so you must know how to keep up with the pace, control inventory, to match supply with demand and handle very fast turnover."

This came into play late last year when flooding in Thailand caused a shortage of some types of hard drives for the computer industry. The company had to first battle with other companies to procure more hard drives. But because Lenovo assembles many of its own computers, it was able to quickly shift the mix of products in its pipeline to focus on products for which the hard drives were available, and prioritize products that had higher profit margins, said Gerry Smith, Lenovo's supply chain senior vice president.

FULL ARTICLE: As Rivals Outsource, Lenovo - WSJ.com

[Nighthawk-K16]

Great article, thanks for sharing. It's nice to see a company that actually cares - I've used computers from Apple, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard and nothing touches the ThinkPad in terms of quality (in my opinion).

[Andrew Baxter]

Definitely an interesting behind the scenes read, thanks for sharing. I still hear many people using IBM when they actually mean Lenovo. It's been several years now but in the U.S. it's still an unfamiliar brand name even though they're top three in the world at selling PCs. Tough going to market the brand when it has no name recognition.

[pepper_john]

Great article, thanks for sharing. It's nice to see a company that actually cares - I've used computers from Apple, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard and nothing touches the ThinkPad in terms of quality (in my opinion).

it's not just your opinion, lenovo has been ranked top in reliability,

1. Lenovo/IBM (281)
2. Toshiba (190)
3. Samsung (156)
4. Apple (151)
5. Asus (126)
6. HP/Compaq (100)
7. Dell (68)
8. Sony (64)
9. Acer (40)


2012 Computer Reliability Report: Lenovo Most Reliable, Acer Least Reliable, Apple Declined | Connecticut Consumer Advocate Protector Watchdog | Ct Consumer Complaints |Ct consumer Protection | Ct Advocate | Ct Consumer

and the same in 2011

2011 Computer Reliability Reports: Lenovo, Asus On Top | Connecticut Consumer Advocate Protector Watchdog | Ct Consumer Complaints |Ct consumer Protection | Ct Advocate | Ct Consumer

[Thors.Hammer]

I was under the impression Lenovo uses Foxconn and another assembly company for ThinkPads.

[gerryf19]

Not the thinkpads...maybe the ideapads. Pretty sure I read somewhere the upcoming Lenovo smartphone was going to be built by foxconn as well

[lucida]

FWIW, DELL also builds in house. Its actually doesn't matter where or by whom its built, the key is quality control.

[MrSatan]

from:
PC giant Lenovo rises to challenge Hewlett-Packard in China - Companies & Industries - Morning Whistle - Latest chinese economic, financial, business, political and society news

"Even today, in the villages we use bicycles or donkey trolleys to ship products," said Yang Yuanqing, 48, chairman and chief executive of Lenovo, who once delivered HP computers on a bicycle. His competitors, he added, "don't know how to do business like that."

I want my thinkpad delivered in a donkey too!

[gerryf19]

FWIW, DELL also builds in house. Its actually doesn't matter where or by whom its built, the key is quality control.

That's not true--at least when it comes to laptops. Last I checked, Dell laptops are made by companies like Compal, Quanta and Arima (Inspiron, latitude and alienware, respectively).

[djembe]

My Thinkpad was built by Wistron, as I recall.