Lenovo and Microsoft: A New Love Affair? 微软可能结盟联想？
Just a day after I ridiculed a new mobile phone alliance between Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and China Unicom (HKEx: 762) (previous post), we’re seeing signs of another new China tie-up between the world’s largest software maker and PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992) that looks much more intriguing. Whereas the Unicom alliance looked set to fail for a number of reasons, this new potential love affair between Microsoft and Lenovo could stand a better chance of success because it contains strong incentives for both sides. What’s more, each company is the global leader in its main product area, but both are still minor players in the mobile computing category that is likely to become the wave of the future for computer makers.
Let’s have a closer look at the newest developments between this pair of potential lovebirds, starting with news that Microsoft’s very own CEO Steve Ballmer personally visited a number of Lenovo officials in Beijing last week, including the company’s own CEO Yang Yuanqing. (English article) Ballmer’s other stops on his Lenovo tour included visits to the company’s mobile Internet and digital home business groups. The 2 chief executives reportedly discussed ways they could cooperate in the mobile computing space, including the smartphone and tablet PC sectors.
In what looks like a related development, Lenovo has just formally announced the introduction of a model from its core ThinkPad series of computers that has been optimized for Microsoft’s latest Windows operating system, which uses touch-screen technology. (company announcement) This particular announcement looks a bit like a public relations exercise, since the ThinkPad is probably already available with most other major operating systems, including older versions of Windows and Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) Chrome, a variant of its popular Android OS for smartphones.
Taken by itself, this ThinkPad announcement looks a lot like Microsoft’s announcement last week with Unicom, sounding more like a PR exercise than anything of real substance. That earlier announcement saw Unicom and Microsoft announce a broader alliance to promote Windows Mobile 8, Microsoft’s OS for smartphones that is playing catch-up to Android and Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) popular iOS used in its iPhones.
But when combined with news of the Ballmer visit, this latest Lenovo announcement hints that maybe the 2 companies could form a broader and more powerful tie-up that could strongly benefit both companies. While Lenovo is the world’s leading PC maker, it is still just a bit player in both smartphones and tablet PCs. The same is true for Microsoft, which dominates the market for desktop PC operating systems, but controls just a small fraction of the market for mobile computing devices.
Both companies have lots of resources to put into a potential new alliance, which could give the tie-up even more chances of success. The main obstacle both companies will face is their lack of presence in mobile computing, since neither is well established in the space. What’s more, Lenovo may not like the fact that it will also have to compete with Microsoft, which is developing its own line of mobile computing devices.
Still, at the end of the day this could really be a potent alliance if both companies are serious really about it. If they are, look for some products that are not only interesting and innovative but also quite attractively priced to potentially emerge from this intriguing new tie-up.
Bottom line: A potential major new alliance between Microsoft and Lenovo could help both make strong inroads into the mobile computing space.
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