Microsoft's Red Menace: IBM-Lenovo Deal Could Threaten Bill Gate's Empire

From Business 2.0: Microsoft's Red Menace
(article is from January 07, 2005 - but still worth reading)

"When IBM announced (...) that it is selling its PC business to China-based PC maker Lenovo, a fair bit of head scratching ensued. But here's an interesting scenario (and let me stress that it's a hypothetical one), courtesy of tech strategy consultant Boris Petrov, that would make the deal pay off in spades: IBM could use Lenovo to spread Linux in the fastest-growing PC market, China."

"Seen in this light, the Lenovo deal could be a way for IBM to try to outflank archrival Microsoft. Of course, today IBM PCs run on Intel chips and Microsoft's Windows operating system. But IBM is also the biggest corporate backer of the open-source Linux operating system. While Linux is quite popular on servers, it has gone practically nowhere in the desktop market. Trying to push Linux-based desktop computers in the United States or other developed markets is a losing strategy. But China and other developing markets are different."

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Read more:
Interview With Lenovo Co-Founder Liu Chuanzhi: With Lenovo, from Legend to IBM
Lenovo Moves Into Global PC Top Ranks
Linux in China: Red Flag Pins Hopes on Asianux 2.0
China's Greatest Tech Myths - IBM-Lenovo deal, Linux, Piracy