IBM immediately called for a meeting. They had thought Lenovo Group is interested in their PC business and had expressed interest in acquiring them more than once.
When IBM agreed, Lenovo Group should be happy.
At the start, Liu Chuanzhi sounded happy. But how come there are so many changes in less than an hour?
Didn't Liu Chuanzhi have a lot of influence in Lenovo Group? Although he is only a minor shareholder, he is the Chairman and the CEO of Taihua Holdings. How come the deal he had agreed to was rejected?
Or did someone else influence Liu Chuanzhi's decision? This person has a lot of influence on Liu Chuanzhi. As such, it was obvious who this person was.
Feng Yu. Feng Yu must have said something to make Liu Chuanzhi change his mind!
Feng Yu's guess is right. IBM's PC business is in trouble. IBM's products are not good, and their main products are high-end laptops. Their desktop PC sales are the worst. Their ThinkCentre, which is a desktop PC business, has almost no market, except for those government orders.
IBM's ThinkPad, which is a laptop business, is doing well. Their main business is high-end laptops, and not many companies can compete with them.
For example, IBM had introduced fingerprint locks and many security features. These features are better than other PC manufacturers.
But this cannot cover up the fact that their PC business is declining and will be making losses soon. If IBM had not reduced their desktop PC business in time, they might be making losses now.
But after losing their desktop PC business, IBM has too many employees. If IBM wants to not make losses, the most direct solution is to lay off employees.
Laying off employees will have a negative impact on a company. It will affect the employees' mood and work atmosphere, and people will see that the company cannot afford the expenses.
If IBM does not lay off employees, there is another solution. Salary cuts are the same as laying off employees. This will affect the employees' mood, and the company's image will be affected.
Without laying off employees and salary cuts, IBM will make losses. Although they could afford this loss, which shareholder would be willing to bear it? After a long time, if they couldn't turn losses into profits, it would drag down the development of the company. At that time, wouldn't they have to go on the path of layoffs or salary cuts?
Therefore, selling the entire PC business at this time was the most cost-effective. Not only did it reduce expenses, but it also generated revenue. It could also focus on software, servers, and other profitable businesses. It could also ensure that IBM's brand value would not drop.
It would be best if they could get a share of Lenovo Group's shares. This way, they will not lose their PC business. Lenovo Group is in the limelight now, and they can make some money from it.
Lenovo Group can also use Lenovo Group's channels to increase their market share in Asia and Eastern Europe. This will increase their profits.
When Lenovo Group's business is bloated and needs to be streamlined, they can sell off their shares. This will be a good sum of money.
But this smart plan had failed. Liu Chuanzhi had told them that he does not want to buy IBM's PC business anymore!
They had discussed for a long time. Could it be that IBM had no choice but to lay off employees? Or should he sell his business to other PC manufacturers? But will the other PC manufacturers be interested in IBM's business?
Even if they are interested, the other PC manufacturers will not be able to help IBM increase its market share in Asia and Eastern Europe. Lenovo Group is the market leader in Asia and Eastern Europe.
At this time, IBM's top management regretted. They should have agreed to Lenovo Group last year. When Lenovo Kingsoft introduced the XOS operating system, they needed support the most. But they had missed this opportunity.
If they had sold off their PC business, they could still get Lenovo Group's shares and form a relationship with Lenovo Kingsoft. With their cooperation, IBM might be able to become the world's IT industry leader!
However, all of these opportunities had been wasted by them. The present was different from the past.
This was because they could not bear to part with Lenovo Group at that time. At that time, they were too arrogant and did not want to be acquired by Lenovo Group.
"Miller, is Liu Chuanzhi very determined?" One of the directors asked.
"Very determined. This is definitely not their negotiation strategy." Miller wanted to say that even if this was their negotiation strategy, they can only accept it.
But Liu Chuanzhi was determined and did not want to buy from them.
"Miller, go and contact the other manufacturers. Also, reduce our desktop PC business. In the future, we will also sell our laptops to the government. "IBM's CEO said.
"I have my reservations about reducing our desktop PC business. Although our sales to the government are doing well, we will lose our competitive advantage if we lose our desktop PC. After all, laptops are more expensive than desktop PC. "Another director said.
"I also think it is not right to contact other manufacturers to sell our PC business. Even if we can sell our PC business, the prices will not be high. Also, after we lose our desktop PC business, our selling prices will be lower. That's why there is a conflict between reducing our PC business and selling our entire business. "Another director said.
"Why don't we discuss this with Liu or go to Feng Yu? We have so many patented technologies, and when we sell our entire PC business, we will also include these patented technologies. These technologies will be beneficial to Lenovo Group. Our R&D direction is different. "
Miller seemed to have thought of something. He hesitated for a long time before saying, "I remember Liu once told me that he liked some of our patented PC technologies the most. Why don't we sell those patented technologies to Lenovo Group in exchange for some cash? "
"Since our sales are affected, and we had planned to develop new technologies in the future, we will also need to sell our technologies. As for our PC business, I think we should contact Japanese, Korean, or Taiwanese manufacturers. These North American manufacturers are in the same market as us, and it will lower our value. "
Miller's suggestion was agreed by the board of directors. They thought for a while, and this is the simplest solution. Those Japanese manufacturers are also interested in buying their PC business. Why don't we hint to them and let them contact us first? After that, we can list out the patents and sell them the authorization fees. This is the most profitable way.
Liu Chuanzhi was thinking about how to negotiate with IBM to purchase their patented technology when he received a call from Miller.
"Miller, I told you that Lenovo Group had given up on this acquisition."
"No, Liu, I think you will definitely be interested in the business I'm discussing with you. Don't you want IBM's patented PC technology? "
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