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Lenovo Building U.S. Headquarters in the Triangle


DanRNC

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I had a feeling this would happen and I'm glad it did. Several friends of mine will also be quite relieved :)

The article also sums up some of the great economic developments in Wake County lately:

"Lenovo's headquarters move will be the fourth major economic development announcement in Wake County by an international company in the past 12 months: Switzerland-based Credit Suisse is building a regional headquarters operation in Research Triangle Park. London-based GlaxoSmithKline is expanding its manufacturing facility in Zebulon. And Canadian banking firm RBC Centura will be moving its U.S. headquarters from Rocky Mount to downtown Raleigh."

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This is great. I have numerous friends at Lenovo. I don't think the average person in the Triangle realizes that ThinkPad notebooks and ThinkCentre Desktops are basically run out of RTP, even when it was run by IBM. Although HQs are in Purchase, NY and Beijing, the nuts and bolts are in RTP with development for notebooks in Japan. A lot of high salaries in Lenovo.

Also, has anyone noticed that Lenovo is one of the 4 sponsors on center ice at the RBC game. They also advertise on the TV Canes games.

:thumbsup:

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Most people don't know the IBM PC and all of its derivitives, incuding the Thinkpad and the architecture that most people use today were basically controlled and developed in RTP once IBM decided to pull out of Boca Raton in the early 90s. The Chinese Communist government, aka Leveno, control all of these assets now.

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I got a call for a job at Lenovo, but didn't even want to apply because I didn't want to eventually train my replacement in the Far East.

With this building commitment, it sounds like they want to keep a sizable US presence... I don't know

how long that will last, but it is promising. Now I would strongly consider appling if given the chance again.

With this and the Dell plant, the piedmont portion of I-40 is shaping up to be force for the future of computing.

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Most people don't know the IBM PC and all of its derivitives, incuding the Thinkpad and the architecture that most people use today were basically controlled and developed in RTP once IBM decided to pull out of Boca Raton in the early 90s. The Chinese Communist government, aka Leveno, control all of these assets now.

I disagree with the above comment as far as ownership. Lenovo is not owned by "the communist government". Lenovo is traded on Hong Kong board. The government owns part of Lenovo, much like many of the large industries, in China. This could be advantageous to give the company stability in a product sector that is notorious for loosing money----and BIG MONEY !!! I don't think the government is driving decisions for the company. If they did, current American management would leave and it would stop any further investment.

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I got a call for a job at Lenovo, but didn't even want to apply because I didn't want to eventually train my replacement in the Far East.

With this building commitment, it sounds like they want to keep a sizable US presence... I don't know

how long that will last, but it is promising. Now I would strongly consider appling if given the chance again.

With this and the Dell plant, the piedmont portion of I-40 is shaping up to be force for the future of computing.

I would not let that stop you. Lenovo has some of the best American management there is and it is a WW company. They are ahead of the curve when it comes to progressive management, logistics, OEM mfg and cost cutting measures in the WW market. I have trained my replacement in China (actually 2 people) before and to be honest, my main replacement was smarter than me. It is a flat world (Thomas Friedman) and you must compete or they will take it away. It could happen to almost all of us.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It looks as if Lenovo will build its HQs in Morrisville on its own $84 million campus called Innovation Center. Whats more the state only had to eat $8 million. What is interesting is NC gave Dell $245 million to hire a little over 1000 people with average salaries of $35,000 where Lenovo will employ 2200 people with average salaries of $70,000. You have to wonder about this logic.

TBJ Story

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The state has a love affair with manufacturing. Another good example is the Dole Foods plant that ended up in Gaston Co. Some places refused to even talk with them because of their pay (~$6 hr), however, the state was pushing hard for them. They need to recognize that just because there is a job doesn't mean it is a good thing, especially when it means giving away so much for so little in return.

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It looks as if Lenovo will build its HQs in Morrisville on its own $84 million campus called Innovation Center. Whats more the state only had to eat $8 million. What is interesting is NC gave Dell $245 million to hire a little over 1000 people with average salaries of $35,000 where Lenovo will employ 2200 people with average salaries of $70,000. You have to wonder about this logic.
Your numbers are a little misleading; 1800 of those 2200 people at Lenovo are already employed in the Triangle at IBM. According to the TBJ article 400 new jobs are being created at an average salary of $70,000. But obviously 400 high-paying jobs for a public investment of $8 million is a better outcome than $245 million for 1000 jobs with respectable but by no means high salaries. One notable difference is that the jobs at Dell can be filled by locals who (for example) lost jobs when a textile plant closed. New manufacturing jobs are damn hard to come by in the US these days. Most of the jobs at Lenovo will probably be filled by out-of-state people and recent immigrants from India and China.

Another factor was that NC was just paying to get the Dell name (a well-known, successful, and internationally popular tech company) to locate in the state. The state did not dole out $245 million in cold hard cash from the general fund on the spot; we are talking about tax breaks over a period of decades. I've not seen a breakdown so I don't know exactly where the breaks are coming from or whether it's in 2005 dollars or year-of-expendature dollars or what. I'm not disputing that the Dell tax incentive package was excessive, which it was, and horrendously so; but I imagine the "$245 million" figure tossed around by the media is somewhat misleading.

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Today I saw a proposed picture of the Lenovo campus. It consist of 3 or 4 large office buildings roughly 4-5 stories high near each other, but with fairly large surface lots around. Standard layout for high tech business. The buildings have a medium moderate look to it but looks nice. The goal is to have everyone near each other so they don't have to drive or telecommute all the time.

That is the key to Lenovo's business as people need to talk/make decisions with each other quickly and talk through issues...... as PC --development/sales/etc is fast and furious and all functions (marketing, Development, Procurement, Supply Chain, Mfg, service etc) make and agree to decisions, many outside of formal Management structure.

I know "MANY MANY" people at Lenovo including management/Executives and I think they are some of the best management in the country, if not the world. They were the "cream of the crop" at IBM and many came to the PC business because of Thinkpad, one of the most recognizable Brands in the world......and the nuts and bolts of that Brand and the reason it has been so sucessful ......is here in the Triangle.

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I know "MANY MANY" people at Lenovo including management/Executives and I think they are some of the best management in the country, if not the world. They were the "cream of the crop" at IBM and many came to the PC business because of Thinkpad, one of the most recognizable Brands in the world......and the nuts and bolts of that Brand and the reason it has been so sucessful ......is here in the Triangle.

Yet is is a business that lost tens of billions over the years and even IBM has forgotten the last time it made a profit. If the key to good managment and a measurement of success is to make money, I believe they failed at the job. It's been this way all the way back to the days when they derailed themselves with the PS/2. IBM is not known for divesting itself of businesses that are hugely profitable. It will be interesting to see how Lenovo attempts to correct this shortcoming.

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I disagree that most of the new workers will come from China or India. Out of state, possibly, but that is fine as this area has always been known to import quality labor/minds. There is also a very qualified work force here in this area as well. The bottom line is that more jobs (even those that already exist here) at double the average salary at Lenovo compared to Dell were landed at pittance compared to that deal.

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Yet is is a business that lost tens of billions over the years and even IBM has forgotten the last time it made a profit. If the key to good managment and a measurement of success is to make money, I believe they failed at the job. It's been this way all the way back to the days when they derailed themselves with the PS/2. IBM is not known for divesting itself of businesses that are hugely profitable. It will be interesting to see how Lenovo attempts to correct this shortcoming.

Yea, but if you had to pay the "vig" they had to the mafia mothership, you would understand why. IBM never lost 10s of billions, maybe the industry has over 20 years, but I doubt that when look at over a 20 year period with profit and loss.

How can they improve profit: Rid themselves of processes that were born in 50's mainframe business that had to be followed that now can be pared down. Not to even mention a service structure that is based as a profit center that as a division, you only pay out and don't receive profit/revenue. A monopoly inside a competitve business. Much of that will be shed.

Also, all the order management/mfg systems had to be set up to match the entire corporations processes and not the PC division. All that is a cost center that is paid on each PO, not to inlcude set up charges. It like pulling the 300 pd fat man uphill in a wagon. Yes, they have had problems like desktop but Thinkpad has been hidden in there and can make money. Lenovo is king of cheaper desktops and that is where they will come in. Plus, they can shed some of the unprofitable options business that they had to carry as part of IBM. Not to mention that they can also get into businesses like other electronics products like Dell. They could never do that under the IBM umbrella. Another item is they don't have to give away their PCs/notebooks so a customer will buy services/mainframes like before. Also, they can now promote their products instead of waiting their turn under the mothership's marketing programs.

Give them time and they will be able to deal directly and more nimble. It is no where near a sure thing but if any group can do it, they can.

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