Lenovo pledges fidelity to its channel partners
Chinese vendor reassures VARs of its intentions with plans to extend reseller network
Lenovo has moved to reassure resellers following IBM’s sale of its PC division to the Chinese manufacturer (CRN, 10 January) by underlining its dedication to indirect partners and saying it plans to expand its reseller network.
Karen Williams, head of UK marketing at Lenovo, said: “Since the acquisition we have worked hard to maintain our channel and ensure that resellers get the same benefits. We have not changed our strategy and the channel is important to us.
“We want to work with our current resellers, but will look at new resellers in the future. The majority of our business is through the channel, and customers want the local value-add that resellers offer.”
Greg Carlow, managing director of IBM reseller Repton, said: “Nothing has changed at all. The IBM products still arrive from an IBM distributor. This may change in the future as Lenovo looks to sell its own brands, but I expect Lenovo to stick with the channel in the short to medium term.”
Carlow added that Lenovo is keen to assess end-user issues and address some of the value-add topics in the industry.
Bob Tarzey, service director at analyst firm Quocirca said Lenovo’s recent financial results were positive. The company’s overall net profit grew to HK$357m in the April-June quarter from HK$337m in the same period a year ago. But he said Lenovo will need to reduce costs if it is to compete with Dell and Hewlett-Packard, and that the channel will remain important to the vendor.
“It would be crazy to distance itself from the channel it has, but to achieve growth it needs more resellers. The channel will remain the only model that will work for it,” he said.