Lenovo axes small Windows tablets in the US after struggling to compete with Apple's iPad mini [u]
Major Microsoft hardware partner Lenovo will pull its 8-inch Windows tablets from the U.S. market, the Chinese company said Wednesday, citing lack of demand for smaller touchscreen devices running Microsoft's controversial Windows 8 operating system.
Lenovo will continue to offer its larger 10- and 12-inch Windows tablets in America, according to PC World, as U.S. consumers have shown "stronger interest" in those devices. Remaining stock of the 8-inch variants will be diverted to markets in South America and Asia.
"In other markets, particularly Brazil, China, and Japan, the demand for ThinkPad 8 has been much stronger, so we are adjusting our ThinkPad 8 inventories to meet increasing demand in those markets. If market demand for ThinkPad 8 changes, we will re-evaluate our strategy," Lenovo spokesperson Raymond Gorman told the publication.
Apple's iPad mini presents stiff competition for tablet makers seeking to persuade consumers to invest in both a smartphone and a small tablet, especially as so-called "phablets" -- smartphones with displays nearly the size of a tablet -- gain in popularity.
The same market conditions that lead to Lenovo's move may have convinced Microsoft not to release a smaller tablet of its own. The Redmond, Wash.-based company was widely expected to unveil an ARM-powered "Surface Mini" earlier this month, and though the device never materialized, references found in the user manual for the new Surface Pro 3 suggest that the more diminutive version was scrapped late in development.
Lenovo's news adds to what has been a bleak month for Microsoft as it seeks to reinvent itself under new CEO Satya Nadella. Earlier this week, the company announced the largest round of layoffs in its history, shedding some 12,500 jobs from its Nokia unit and 5,500 positions from other departments.
Update: In a statement posted to its website following Friday's report, Lenovo clarified that it will not abandon the U.S. market for small-screen Windows tablets.
Lenovo will continue to offer its larger 10- and 12-inch Windows tablets in America, according to PC World, as U.S. consumers have shown "stronger interest" in those devices. Remaining stock of the 8-inch variants will be diverted to markets in South America and Asia.
"In other markets, particularly Brazil, China, and Japan, the demand for ThinkPad 8 has been much stronger, so we are adjusting our ThinkPad 8 inventories to meet increasing demand in those markets. If market demand for ThinkPad 8 changes, we will re-evaluate our strategy," Lenovo spokesperson Raymond Gorman told the publication.
Apple's iPad mini presents stiff competition for tablet makers seeking to persuade consumers to invest in both a smartphone and a small tablet, especially as so-called "phablets" -- smartphones with displays nearly the size of a tablet -- gain in popularity.
The same market conditions that lead to Lenovo's move may have convinced Microsoft not to release a smaller tablet of its own. The Redmond, Wash.-based company was widely expected to unveil an ARM-powered "Surface Mini" earlier this month, and though the device never materialized, references found in the user manual for the new Surface Pro 3 suggest that the more diminutive version was scrapped late in development.
Lenovo's news adds to what has been a bleak month for Microsoft as it seeks to reinvent itself under new CEO Satya Nadella. Earlier this week, the company announced the largest round of layoffs in its history, shedding some 12,500 jobs from its Nokia unit and 5,500 positions from other departments.
Update: In a statement posted to its website following Friday's report, Lenovo clarified that it will not abandon the U.S. market for small-screen Windows tablets.
We will continue to bring new Windows devices to market across different screen sizes, including a new 8-inch tablet and 10-inch tablet coming this holiday. Our model mix changes as per customer demand, and although we are no longer selling ThinkPad 8 in the U.S., and we have sold out of Miix 8-inch, we are not getting out of the small-screen Windows tablet business as was reported by the media. In short, we will continue to sell both 8 and 10 inch Windows tablets in both the U.S. and non-U.S markets.
Comments
"You gotta be daft to buy any tablet but an iPad." -John Lennon, circa 1969.
That should've been the headline!
Best.
A few folks have suggested that Microsoft go back to being a software only company in the last day or so, and pull out of hardware. This points to the fact if they did they'd be up a creak without a paddle. Someone has to make the hardware for their crap OS so as to be able to fill storage areas and land fills. If not Microsoft, who else?
And comen agayn as faste as they may gon,
Hold up thy iPadyn, thou fannboyn!--quod he;
— Chaucer, circa 1390.
However, since it is crap, let's just blame Apple.
Think about it: less demand for < 10" tablets. Lenovo will start focusing on the 10" tablet market.
Windows windows windows!
Only non iOS tablets count as computers (for arbitrary reasons).
/s
Lenovo: "Today we'd like to announce we are discontinuing all Windows-based tablets due to consumer apathy...plus, our CEO has a migraine."
"iPad that iPad, and that's all that iPad"
Popeye, circa 1930s
And comen agayn as faste as they may gon,
Hold up thy iPadyn, thou fannboyn!--quod he;
— Chaucer, circa 1390.
I love it! Made me laugh. I mean, "Dig it!"
Best.
"iPad that iPad, and that's all that iPad"
Popeye, circa 1930s
Funny, Das.
Another one bites the dust.
Let's hope others learn from Lenovo.
Even Apple's iPad Sales were not astronomical last quarter, hence the IBM deal.
-Exodus 34:1
Could we please start calling Microsoft "the beleaguered company" now? Pretty please?
YouTube has been acting up for me lately. Please insert the Moses Ten Commandments scene from History of the world part 1.
Oh. Wait.
/s
"The LORD said to Moses, "Create a new document on an iPad like the first one, and I will write on them the words that were on the first iPad, which you broke."
-Exodus 34:1
Funny, Jung.
Careful, my son....Or God may turn your jawbone into an ass! Hmmmm. I think that's how it goes?
"Ask, and it shall be given you…"
–Matthew 7:7
[VIDEO]
"Ask, and it shall be given you…"
–Matthew 7:7
I thought God sounds like James Mason?
maybe I missed it but where did Lenovo say it is discontinuing smaller Windows tablets in the US because of the iPad? Or is AI just assuming that's the reason why?
It's a logical deduction since that's the market space. Some companies are selling lots of small tablets. Others are not. They are competing for a slice of that particular pie and they are losing based on poor sales.
It's an elementary notion of the free market economy.
It can be applied to pizzas, toilet paper, candles, whatever.
Lenovo doesn't necessary have to admit it in an official press release for it to be true.
In the same way, Blockbuster doesn't have to state in a press release that Netflix crushed them.
If you wish to understand business better, you should familiarize yourself with the basic concepts of the free market economy as well as the notion of competition. This knowledge can also help you in other areas, such as investing.
Richard III